Do I need a trailer?

[byroncobra]

I'm sick of renting/borrowing car trailers, maybe it's time to invest in one.

Have you guys that have one found the cost justified?

Any suggestions on 'must have' and 'don't really need' features?

Budget around $3k not a winebago transporter!

Cheers

[Dens]

Loading lights are a must for doing stuff at night, they run off of your trucks power. I would like to add the extra ramps that add about 6 feet to your ramp and make it not so steep. I have a millennium trailer, they're out of Indiana. It's been a good trailer. Be sure and check out Racingjunk.com

Brad

[stiffy]

Byroncobra,

You need $5k with electric brakes, winch, low acess, storage box, jack holder and as light as possible.

There are alot of companies around that can assist ( in Vic anyway ).

Motorsport Hauler, Trik Trailers, Novo something ( expensive but quality )

Good Luck,

STIFFY

[Merv and Sharon]

Why Greg? At times I have thought this but since registration ... never.

[byroncobra]

Yeah Merv, I've asked myself that a bit, but with large km to race meets and the convenience of carrying stuff I think that it may preserve the car better

[Krait]

Hi Greg,

If you are going to play motorsport then yes, a trailer is piece of mind. It also makes moving the car about the place without relying on others, for whatever reason, a much more straight forward task.

The main issue with a car trailer is storage. My last one (from Qld) spent most of its sleeping life in the street chained to a Sydney telegraph pole, however my current trailer (from Sydney) lives under cover in the shed

For Cobra's a beaver tail is best to facilitate loading. If you have fully covered deck then the trailer can do double duty carting other things around and whether it is up to the task.

Electric brakes are good, but then not so easy to swap tow cars......though perhaps this can be seen as a positive Be mindful about what you are going to tow the trailer with as well.

3k should get you something preloved but you may need to be patient. Ebay usually has a number as does MY105.

Cheers

[boxhead]

3k will get you into second hand market, I personally prefer hydraulic brakes as I use different tow cars all the time.

Get decent light truck tyres.

[OZCOBRA]

"Electric brakes are good, but then not so easy to swap tow cars..."

But they are a requirement in NSW from memory!!!

Box trailers AND"Skeleton type" car trailers
GTM up to 2000kg-Overrun or independent
brakes

GTM over 2000kg-Independent brakes
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registrati...oads/vib03.pdf

[boxhead]

NT requirement was 3000kg GVM of loaded trailer before break away electric brakes required.

[Krait]

NSW regs and Queensland are virtually the same. Based on the presumed requirement of towing a Cobra around an ATM >2000kg trailer seems slightly excessive.

I retrofitted electric brakes to my last car trailer as part of a total overhaul prior to rego transfer and they were great especially coming down Mt Victoria or Mt Ousley, however they were not required by the RTA at the time.

My current trailer is 400kg tare, 2000kg ATM which does not require electric brakes by QT or NSW however they may also be retro'd later.

Practically speaking I liked being able to use the electric brakes manually to reduce push understeer from the trailer on steep inclines and crappy weather.

Cheers

[beauies]

I know its out of budget 3 times over but check out NEVCO

http://www.nevco.com.au/nevco/produc...hp?productId=1

[Modena]

mmmm..those Nevco setups are schweet

[rustyBob]

an enclosed trailer can become extra garage space....keep the car in the trailer and not in the garage.
but you should really have a trailer if you are raceing it makes it easy when you come home late from the track you can leave the car on the trailer and deal with it the next day.
i would not be without a trailer ever again....and you can rent it out to those friends that dont have one of their own.....

[byroncobra]

I'm set up with a controller on my ute for the horse float so elec is good for me.

Plenty of shed space here so storage no problem

Price range is varies like crazy....there's a guy in Bris who fabricates a nice looking quality tilt trailer with elec brakes, load sharing suspension, l/t tyres for about $3300.

[Aussie Mike]

I was at the Ballarat Swap meet a couple of weekends back and saw some trailers from this mob

http://www.tiltatrailer.com.au/

Pretty neat setup. Good for loading a low car like a Cobra and no need for ramps.

Light weight for towing behind a regular car i.e 500KG for the trailer + 1200KG for the cobra keeps you under the 1800KG towing capacity for most big sedans.

[400TT]

Originally Posted by byroncobra

There's a guy in Bris who fabricates a nice looking quality tilt trailer with elec brakes, load sharing suspension, l/t tyres for about $3300.

The trailer I have been using for a last couple of years is a tilt with standard brakes, full floor, gal rims, new l/t tyres, winch mount etc. It costs $3k new. It's not flash and not perfect, but I'm more than happy with it and the value for money I got.

There are probably close to half a dozen club members up here with the same trailer from the the same supplier. That's how I got onto him.

I have PM'd you the contact details of the supplier, might be the same one you have found for $3.3k.

Personally I would go with a tilt with full flat floor. You can just do anything with them.

[spookypt]

My 2c worth is trailers are like helmets... What's your car (head) worth? Million $ car on 50c trailer towed by gemini!! I've seen it on the M1!

Buy the safest set up you can afford and think twice about what your towing it with.

Electric brakes with manual overide AWESOME. No ramps help but depends on trailer design. Winch is great and have it set up so the battery is charging while your driving. Heaps of tie down points... Lots of storage space...

Enclosed trailers are great but depends on your budget...

Don't buy retreads if you can help it. Buy good qlty load rated tyres...

Buy something you can safely garage. They get lifted faster than Elle's Skirt up here!

[stumpeater]

I used this tilt trailer to get from Sunshine Coast (Qld) to Melbourne when I picked up the car, (No Donk). It is rated at 1.4 tonne, with hydraulic brakes. I have never weighed it but is pretty light and being single axle is easy to push around empty. I built it to tow my track-day Nissan which weighs 1080kg and it has done may k's without a problem. I had my sons GTS Skyline on it ( in an emergency) and towed beautifully. The Cobra took a ride on it to the engineers the other day, again no problems, but I will have to weigh the Cobra to see how close to the limit I am before I make a habit of using it!
I use the KISS principle.

[boxhead]

My preferance would always be dual axle.

[LoBelly]

I bought my original trailer from a guy who had a rally datsun, it was small and light but was a bit narrow for my cobra - rear tyres would invariably rub on one of the light surrounds.

My brother and nephew are making trailers now and sold my trailer on the promise of building me another...

The weekend before the Nationals I was asking them "...so do I need to book a trailer...?" but they came through.





I like the rear lights a lot

Its all very simple - like the low manual winch in case of emergencies - and has some nice touches like the tube at the back for tying off stuff.

We thought that having a gap between the wheel tracks was a good idea because it allows the trailer to serve duty as a low rise hoist in the event of track day servicing being required

- this had proved to be useful at ShelbyFest when we had to remove a trailing arm from the rear end and was a godsend at the Nationals when one of welsh plugs popped out on the main straight...

LoTow