trailer length --suggestions

[stevewrm]

im looking for an enclosed trailer for what my wife calls
my "new obsession" --. i found a pace american shadow gt
20 foot--2000 model year very clean--aprox 5000 miles
price 10,500.

is this long enough and does price seem right

thanks for comments
steve

[Dave Crace]

Steve,
I have been using a friends 16' Haulmark. Easy to manuver in tight spaces, and doesn't take up a ton of room when you are in tight spaces. That being said, if you are going to spend 10K, I would look at the trailerex (sp). Lightweight aluminum, low profile, about 18' or 20' long, comes with a winch to load the car if broken, the ultimate in my opinion. If I can ever talk Rick Brownyard out of his.......

DC

[Great Asp]

How is "our" motor running?

Hope you are enjoying your SPF!

I bought a 24 footer, to allow cabinet and tire storage in the front later. The 24 footers will normally pull better because the wheels are further back. They are also the "norm" for weekend warriors that race, giving them one of the higher resale values IMO.

20 footer will be fine, and I also have a Pace GT.

Eric

[stevewrm]

hey eric,

motor is great!!!!!!!!!!!! had to silicone the areas--4-- where the intake/head/block meet to stop oil leaks.. eric said he had to do for another w/ afr heads.

love the car and am thinking real seriously of going to charolett--
thats why im looking for a trailer.--what did you pay for yours?
options? i may look at new also

are you goin to charolett?

steve

[EdOrlando]

Hi Steve

I spent a lot of time on looking for a trailer. Pace is a great choice.

I got a new 24' Shadow with many options. I went for the 24' because most dealers say it is better for resale especially as a car hauler. If resale target is lawn maintenance, 20' is a good choice. However, I like the room a 24'.

Look at getting a new one before paying $10,500. One must know the options before paying that price. My 24' is fairly loaded and paid $9.700.

If you want details, let me know. I got many and a great source for your Pace.

I love MN. Spent many a days there playing golf. Hazeltine is a great track and waiting for the PGA. However, winter is tough. I could never figure out how MN got so beautiful after the tough winters. I will never forget 17 below and 30 MPH winds. Hardly made it to the motel door.

Regards

EdOrlando

[Great Asp]

Charlotte?.,.....ah I don't know now. I wanted to take my son, and he is starting school and can not get out for the trip, so I may have to wait until spring to go. Also has a business conflict.

I ordered mine with the marble 15 mil thick floor, ATP runners, 10 D rings (if you want the locations, I have them on a jpeg), Shadow GT package, 5000 lb axles (
Eric

[Tommy]

I bought a new 24' Haulmark for $5,000 about three months ago. It's a plain jane with plywood interior, four tie downs, interior lights, electric brakes and brake-away package. The 24 footer is harder to maneuver, but there's plenty of room inside for the extras. Keep in mind that to get the trailer tongue weight right, you can't load the car all the way forward or aft just to make more room for other stuff. You'll need to put the car where it belongs and the bigger trailer makes that easier to do. Also, it appears to me that the resale market for 24' trailers is stronger than that for smaller trailers. That's my 2 cents worth.

[EdOrlando]

Steve

Tommy has made an important statement here. He purchased a very usable new 24' trailer from a quality manufacturer, Haulmark, for much less than the 20' you mentioned. Note that a new 20' trailer is not a whole lot less than a 24'

You need to decide what your real usage will be and what you want the trailer to look like. If you are not sure you should go Tommy's route, plain jane, because you can always sell this trailer for minimal loss and buy a different one later.

Haulmark and Pace have the same pricing when comparing the similar models. I looked at both and tend to like Pace better. That is strickly a personal preference.

I got my trailer in May. I went back to my records and the basic pricing for the 24' Shadow was $6,130 and the GT package $870 or $7,000. I added many other options some which are very functional and others just to make it nice. I believed that I was going to travel extensively and just wanted a nicer trailer. Also I discovered that adding options later can be very expensive. Example is that I added 2 tire compartments for $210 ($105 ea.). This is impractical to do after the trailer is built.

The humor is that I got a good looking trailer but no Cobra. It is 10 months late with no real schedule. Since I cannot spend time on the Cobra, I keep working on the trailer. It is starting to look pretty good. I will never get my money out of this one. Wonder if any car shows give prizes out for the best looking trailer.

Ed Orlando

[stevewrm]

how about with and height? the one i looked at tonight was
8 1/2 wide and 6'9" tall inside. i think the one i prev rented was
8 ft wide. i would like to get one that will fit in my gar . my door is
9ft by 7'10"tall. the guy told me you can get various heights.
i know bigger is always better(or so the BB fans say) but am trying to figure out what is Just big enough. would like to be able to haul w/ my denali xl, for short trips when the motor home is too much hassle.

appreciate all of your comments
steve

[stevewrm]

ed,
isnt classic up in fargo? seems like a loooong time to wait.

any other options that you got on trailer?

my used candidate also has
rubber floor
outside floods
cabinets up front
110v w/ outlets all over
2m # axles--seems light
full white interior
4 110 flor ceiling lights
1 spare tire compartment in floor
no d rings in floor--hes a go carter --uses side rails

steve

[Fast Farmer]

Steve
A couple of important things to check on a new or used trailer are the load rating of the tires and axles and how the vehicle tie downs are fastened to the trailer. Believe it or not, I've seen some pretty nice trailers with D-Ring tie downs fastened with four wood screws in the plywood floor. Guess what happens during a panic stop? Going up in tire rating helps lower tire temps and lesson the chance of blowouts.

I ordered the trailer I wanted and didn't worry about resale. Let my widow decide if she wants to sell or not. We have a Pace American gooseneck type 20 ft. box with that great extra storage area over the hitch. We added a side awning and drivers side door, and an electric winch. We have two strips of E-Track for securing cars to at any point. They work great for different length cars. The interior is all wood. Our trailer has the wider width. Before our purchase, several trailer owners told me to avoid tile or diamond plate in the wheel track areas because the cars will "scoot" sideways easier. I think our trailer is a "Shadow" model. A gooseneck trailer may be a little higher priced than a straight hitch, but 4 years ago we paid around $12500.00.

Once you spec out a trailer of a certain length, adding extra feet of length is not that much more. If you plan to haul anything bigger than Cobra sized, I definitely recommend a 20 ft. box. Keep in mind that the longer the trailer is, the more room you need to turn around, especially in dead end Hotel parking lots. Not all hotels have parking lots that circle the building.

Happy hunting.

Fast Farmer

[EdOrlando]

The Cobra is not being built by Classic in Fargo.

Enough of that. It is time to turn the light out here. I will give you more details on my trailer tomorrow.

EdOrlando

[EdOrlando]

Steve

I sent you an email to give my trailer details and comments. They were too long for the forum.

The used trailer has some expensive features that I did not get. Primarily the interior finish and cabinets. This could be more or less worth $1,500 depending on materials and design. The 2000# axel is probably not correct. I believe Pace supplies only 3500# or 5200# with the 20'. If the axels are 2000#, you should forget this one because weight of trailer and car will exceed 4000# easily.

I think these trailers are too tall for your garage. They are generally over 8 feet off the ground. You need to build custom with a lower overall height. This should be a standard option with most manufacturers and not very expensive. The important thing is do you and your friends want to be able to standup inside without hitting anything attached to ceiling.

The 8 1/2 ft wide is pretty standard for a car hauler. The 8 ft may be tight. One would have to make sure the width between wheel well covers is sufficient. Note that some wheel well covers are tall so you may need to check body width. The 8 1/2 should be no problem for putting in garage as long as you can back straight in. The tandem axel trailers are a lot harder to manipulate than single axel. If need be, you could get a powered dolly from Power Wheel to help with this problem. The powered dolly would probably eliminate or minimize future garage door and trailer damage.

How about the depth of garage? The tongue of most trailers is between 3 to 4 ft. For a 20' you will need 24' or so. Of course you could leave the door partially opened.

Length of trailer ie 18, 20 or 24 ft strictly depends on how much space you want inside. Fast Farmer is right that shorter is easier to manipulate.

If you have doubt about options, go with Tommy's plain jane route first. If you want more later, sell the plain jane and get a new one.

EdOrlando

[LETSRCE]

I think the question should be what are you going to pull it with?
If it's a 1/2 ton p/u with standard wheel base then I think 20' is about as long as you want to go, other wise you could have problems when windy.
The longer the wheel base the better.

I have a 03' Navigator and a 20' is all I'm doing, I would like a 24' but I'm not buying another vehicle just for the trailer.

Joe C.