Enclosed Car Hauler

[Excaliber]

Serpent Express alloy trailer, 14 ft, about 1150 to 1250 pounds.

My Trailex, same specs, about 800 pounds. Light as a feather. I thought about going with the Serpent Express retro fit cover, about $3,000, but can't figure out why I should bother.

And obviously nobody on THIS thread gives a rip, the mind set is "locked into" must be enclosed. Paranoid whimps is all I can figure...

[Stoney FFR]

Originally Posted by Excaliber

Serpent Express alloy trailer, 14 ft, about 1150 to 1250 pounds.

My Trailex, same specs, about 800 pounds. Light as a feather. I thought about going with the Serpent Express retro fit cover, about $3,000, but can't figure out why I should bother.

And obviously nobody on THIS thread gives a rip, the mind set is "locked into" must be enclosed. Paranoid whimps is all I can figure...

What are you getting all worked up over?

[Larry N Johnson]

The Serpent Express "Retro Kit" is $1600 plus freight.

[Excaliber]

$1,600, well that's ball park for entry level. Add extra for various options, figure 200-300 for parts you will need to buy locally. $600 or more if you pay someone to fit it, or can haul it to the factory. $3,000 is likely high, but I would budget that and be happy if it came in less when the smoked clears.

What are you getting all worked up over?

Guess we'll need multiple threads to cover the various aspects of auto trailers. One for "enclosed", one for "open", one for "BIG", one for "small", one for electric brakes vs surge brakes, double axle vs single axle brakes, steel or alloy, tool storage, living quarters, the variables are endless. One thread for each individual variable or what?

[Roush #1]

It is hard to explain the value of a Serpent Express ..... until you tow one.

BTW - Last week-end I got 12 mpg round trip from Waco to San Marcos in an 02 Suburban driving the speed limit pulling my 3750# Serpent Express / Lone Star LS427.

Jody

[Excaliber]

Light weight I think is a key element. I've done the steel trailer thing, they can be very very heavy. Now I have the ultra light weight Trailex, night and day difference! Depending on how much you tow, you could easily justify the extra cost of an alloy setup (better mpg, wear and tear on the tow vehicle, less frazzled nerves at the end of the ride). Another plus I didn't realize at first was I can move the trailer around, when it's empty, by myself. No way I could do that with a steel trailer. Makes storing or parking the trailer in a tight spot a real breeze.

I doubt you could move an enclosed trailer, even a light weight one, around by yourself when it's empty.

[Clois Harlan]

Jody,

I am not trying to slam you or anything but I regularly get 13 -15 mpg pulling my 24' Halmark with my 03 F-250 (6.0 diesel). Now saying that I have also got about 10 mpg when I was heading into a strong head wind. But, regardless of my mpg I have to look behind me to see that I still have a trailer because pulling is effortless. I often run the speed limit plus 5-9 mpg if the conditions are right with little or no effect on gas mileage.
A good friend Bill Bonadio, has a Serpent and swears by it and I know he tows with a smaller tow vehicle than I do.

Clois

[am9648]

2001 cargo mate 24' car hauler,4,000lb super winch,elec. tongue jack,weight distrubution hitch with sway control,2 110volt lights inside,tires are about
70%, two 3500lb axles,good spare tire,can pull with 1/2 ton pick up.mechanically sound, good brakes,

PRICED TO SELL THIS WEEK $3,800.00

contact BIG JOHN at: clark4nw@yahoo.com

[Dwight]

Mike Lainhart is thinking about selling his.


Dwight

[COBRANIP]

Question: Considering how light a Cobra is, I would imagine a trailer with tandem 5,000 lb axles would have a much stiffer (rougher) ride (for the Cobra) than a trailer with say, tandem 2500 lb axles? Any opinions?

[Clois Harlan]

I have had both axels on two different trailers and I will tell you that the 5000# torsion axels are better because of all the extra stuff you carry. For example if you intend to take your car to the track you will probably have a set of tires and wheels, 5 or 10 gallions of race fuel, assorted tools, jack stands, jack, etc. It all ads up pretty quickly.

My first trailer was a 20 foot enclosed but I have since bought a 24 foot enclosed and I can tell you my 24' trailer tows better for two reasons. One because it is a lower profile and two because of the weight distrubution. Something that no one has mentioned is a trailer hitch stabilizer package or anti sway bar. This really helps when the semi's pass you at 80 mph. The cost for the anti sway bars are as little as $75 and are worth every penny.

Clois

[vector1]

something clois mentioned above, i have a 20 ft enclosed and pulling with a reg. sized f250 down the road things got pretty scary because i didn't have the car far enough forward and the trailer got to pushing the truck back and forth, this was at higher speeds so i just had to slow down til i could correct the problem. wind off semi's is something to contend with also. longer trailer might pull better as mentioned.

[Excaliber]

A rough ride may also be mitigated by a heavy trailer. Some of these trailers weigh more than the Cobra! Myself, I'm using a big truck to haul the "stuff", small trailer to haul the car.

[Roush #1]

It is very difficult to compare trailers without having owned/pulled one.

I have owned and pulled several enclosed trailers - up to 26', as well as open trailers up to 19' - for the past thirty plus years dragging race cars around the country.

It all shakes down to what you want.

If you want a trailer to transport your car, store your gear and haul both of them around, get an enclosed trailer with hard sides and a heavy duty vehicle to tow it.

If you want an enclosed trailer to haul your Cobra, I think you will be well pleased with a Serpent Express, and tow it with a small pick-up or a full sized SUV.

You can do either of these choices safely - even with a 20 to 30 mph headwind like the north bound IH35 drivers experienced on the way home last week end - but less weight and wind resistance make the smaller trailer more economical, an easier tow, and it stops a lot quicker than the larger/heavier trailer tow vehicle combination.

Jody

BTW....my Serpent Express fits inside a residential two car garage. Yours can as well, if you tell Larry how tall your garage door is before you place your order

[Jerry Clayton]

And it stops a lot quicker than the larger/heavier trailer tow vehicle combination

One of the primary considerations I give to a tow vehicle/trailer package is that it must stop better/quicker than the tow vehicle alone---thats why I currently tow with a Ford F350 super duty crew cab, 7.3 turbo diesel, single rear wheels and a 3 axle 44 foot aluminum Featherlite goose neck --

The 5 axles of braking power will stop very quick, without danger of dumping the load, the 3 torsion flex axles give the best ride of any I've had and the serving/swaying is non-existent. The airflow around the truck cab and tapered front section of the gooseneck is smooth and doesn't create any push/shove/sway in any traffic, whether its coming or going.

And---if we stay under about 73 mph we average 17 mpg and if we go up to around 78-80 it will only drop to about 12 unless we are in the mountain areas.This is on open limited access roads without any stop and go, but the truck will average about 19-19.5 around the chicago metro area and much higher out on open road.

And no I can't park it at home---

[razerwire]

I find many uses for my trailers. Tow rig needs to be matched to the size of trailer. Check weight of trailer empty and with all your stuff in it. Tires have max weight cap. on sidewalls, should have safty margin. I have enclosed trailers and like to have sense of security, wind ,rain,hailstones,ect. Best to have as much safety eq. as you can afford, hitch,brakes on all axles,brake controler,spare tire,ect. Glad I got what at the time seemed like to big of a trailer because I find many uses for them. I was going to buy toy hauler but on close inspection I could not haul sand car and quad and rest of stuff. The specs listed empty weight and then gross weight but did not add weight of extra things like generator, extra bed, tv, ect. When you added that with listed weght there was not enought left to haul my load, thats overlooked by many people and kind of deceptive of manufactors. I tell my experience because many will read, not just the thread starter. I bought a stacker trailer instead of toy hauler and had to look real close at all things. Bus hitch 20,000 lbs, ball drop 20,000 lbs, ball 20,000 lbs ,tires ,axles, brakes all 3 axles, pin that holds ball drop in receiver and with a big trailer its easy to overload. If you match every thing up pulling a trailer is no problem, but if you don't its not fun.

[Roush #1]

I repeat..... "cave magister imperitus"

[Excaliber]

Man some of you guys haul ass pulling that trailer! I get about 14 mpg with my HUGE E-350 (diesel) and 14 ft box Van, but OK, I rarely exceed 60 mph.

Speed limit in California and Oregon is 55 mpg, pulling a trailer, Washington state is 60 mph. Washington state defines it as "any combination of vehicles..."

[badrich]

I just drive my Cobra to events. If I need special tires I'll have my buddy with a truck haul 'em for me. But if I owned a decent truck and had a few more bucks I'd get me one of them Peter Brock Orcas. State-of-the-art! Rich

[Stoney FFR]

Originally Posted by badrich

I just drive my Cobra to events. If I need special tires I'll have my buddy with a truck haul 'em for me. But if I owned a decent truck and had a few more bucks I'd get me one of them Peter Brock Orcas. State-of-the-art! Rich

A few more bucks is right! $15,000

http://www.saac.com/files/orca.pdf