20' Roll Back Car Trailer, not a tilt.....

[Busted_Knuckles]

I bought this about 5 years back, was using it today, and I thought I would share with you guys. Ive only seen one more these ever, so I'm pretty sure they are not "common" In the event you move wheeled vehicles regularly, you'd love one these, this is some the best money I ever spent. I "flip" cars and trucks, and this probably has 25k miles on it chasing stuff. Its been pulled to both coasts and all over the midwest. This would be the next best thing to a roll back tow truck, but it has a much lower approach angle (and no special tags or insurance).

The trailers suspension, is separate from the bed. There is a parking brake on the trailer axles that you set, pull a couple pins and back up, and the bed "rolls back". Drive or winch on the vehicle to be towed, get back in the truck, pull forward, get out, set the pins, release the brake and your off. This has about 1/2 of the approach angle of the "tilt" bed car trailers that are common. Its so low an approach, that two of us can load an AC Cobra on it by pushing it on by hand, and the chin of the car does not hit.

Its 20' long, all steel and has 5500 dexter torsion axles, brakes on all corners, it tows like a dream. I haul mostly jeeps with it, but I also move my 7000lb skid loader, and two different fork lifts with it. It also chases 9k lbs. of hay every month. I have a 12k warn winch that slips into the receiver tube you see welded up front. This jeep runs, so I didn't bring the winch with.

In the event you have everything, you can put this on your list!

This is made and sold by Sloan, they are in north east Texas. Im told he holds a patent on the design, which is why they are not all over the place.

 

[NoFlyZone]

I'm putting it on my "list"!

 

[Identaltech]

I like the ideal.
nice trailer.
after buying my H&H trailer I wouldnt use a trailer with ramps for a car.
My son lost his keys to his car parked at the socker fields at night and the cops wanted to tow it because they didnt want it there over night.
I just tilled the bed till it almost touched and backed it underneath the car straped it down and drove off.
I have yet had a car rub while loading.
It looks like you fenders are low enough to open the doors over is that right?
my neighbor and I pushed this goat onto my trailer.

[/IMG]

 

[eborcim]

I've seen some vo-tech built versions of this trailer around here. So what is the ballpark cost on one of these from Sloan?

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

It looks like you fenders are low enough to open the doors over, is that right?

Low slung cars, no, regular sedans, trucks, yes. The fenders sit on 4 studs for quick removal, it came with "wing nuts" but I replaced them with regular hex nuts, only because I always have a socket set with me.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

I've seen some vo-tech built versions of this trailer around here. So what is the ballpark cost on one of these from Sloan?

This one was $5500 in 2005. I ordered it as seen. The side rail, torsion axles, brakes on both axles, spare tire, full steel deck, reciever for winch, where all options, from what I recall. I usually dont like to dump that kind of money for a trailer, but I owned enough other trailers, that I decided to buy this one and keep if for a long time.. Its aging a little quicker than I like, its do for a blast and paint.

Havent seen a Vo-tech, do they have a website?

 

[nolatoolguy]

Man i wish we had a shorter flatbed trailer

we have a 17 foot dump trailer but its not open deck its got sides

All our deck over axle and flatbeds are at least 30 feet

 

[Artistic Visionz]

I wish I would've had either of these trailers a couple months ago when I was moving.
I paid my brothers friend (in advance) to use his trailer and for his help to move two of my cars. He had helped me before when I picked up my 1950 Studebaker, and since he is a "Repo Man" I thought he knew he was doing. WRONG
We got the Studebaker to my new house fine (thank god) but, when we were bringing my other car over...he did not hook it up right. As I was slowly coming to a stop light in the middle of a busy intersection the car rolled forward, came off the trailer and into the back of my truck.
The trailer did not have any rails (stops) in the front to stop the car from rolling forward. oh yeah...The genius also left the car in neutral!!!
So as a bonus I got a wrecker bill, a ticket for a unsecure load, and a dent in the back of my Expedition...and let's not forget that now when I put the tailgate up or open the rear window the handle sticks so, I have to make sure it's just right or it doesn't close all the way.

BTW, he later told my wife that maybe he was to "High" when he was helping me.

 

[wpgf250]

I bought this about 5 years back, was using it today, and I thought I would share with you guys. Ive only seen one more these ever, so I'm pretty sure they are not "common" In the event you move wheeled vehicles regularly, you'd love one these, this is some the best money I ever spent. I "flip" cars and trucks, and this probably has 25k miles on it chasing stuff. Its been pulled to both coasts and all over the midwest. This would be the next best thing to a roll back tow truck, but it has a much lower approach angle (and no special tags or insurance).

The trailers suspension, is separate from the bed. There is a parking brake on the trailer axles that you set, pull a couple pins and back up, and the bed "rolls back". Drive or winch on the vehicle to be towed, get back in the truck, pull forward, get out, set the pins, release the brake and your off. This has about 1/2 of the approach angle of the "tilt" bed car trailers that are common. Its so low an approach, that two of us can load an AC Cobra on it by pushing it on by hand, and the chin of the car does not hit.

Its 20' long, all steel and has 5500 dexter torsion axles, brakes on all corners, it tows like a dream. I haul mostly jeeps with it, but I also move my 7000lb skid loader, and two different fork lifts with it. It also chases 9k lbs. of hay every month. I have a 12k warn winch that slips into the receiver tube you see welded up front. This jeep runs, so I didn't bring the winch with.

In the event you have everything, you can put this on your list!

This is made and sold by Sloan, they are in north east Texas. Im told he holds a patent on the design, which is why they are not all over the place.

I was wondering if it would be possible for you to take a few pictures of the actual rolling mechanism of your trailer. I am researching to build my own and I really like this design.

Thanks in advance.

 

[white.rock]

What an excellent design for a transporter.
I have never seen any of those trailers down here in New Zealand.
Any chance of some photos of the under carriage and the mechanics of how it all works (rollers, sliders, axles, etc.)?
That would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Hal]

Havent seen a Vo-tech, do they have a website?

Vo-tech = VOcational-TECHnical school

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

I will take some pictures next time I'm cleaning it, I can lift the bed right off the "chassis", I do this when I'm cleaning it.. it basically just comes apart when you lift the front end up. Ive got a 2-5/16" ball on a quick-tach on my skid loader that I use to move trailers around, and I can just lift up the front as high as I want (full size skid loader),

 

[ar2stp48]

Texas Roll Back is one company. I have seen a rep at several of the car shows/swap meets I attend. Started to buy one a year ago but had a trailer with me at the meet and coundnt get two trailer home. Price was less than what someone quoted.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Texas Roll Back is one company. I have seen a rep at several of the car shows/swap meets I attend. Started to buy one a year ago but had a trailer with me at the meet and coundnt get two trailer home. Price was less than what someone quoted.

I googled that, looks like "Texas Roll Back", "Rolled it up", there web site doesnt go anywhere...http://www.texasrollback.net and I cant find much other mention of them.. although some trailer dealers still show them on some of their websites.

 

[A Bar D Ranch]

I bought this about 5 years back, was using it today, and I thought I would share with you guys. Ive only seen one more these ever, so I'm pretty sure they are not "common" In the event you move wheeled vehicles regularly, you'd love one these, this is some the best money I ever spent. I "flip" cars and trucks, and this probably has 25k miles on it chasing stuff. Its been pulled to both coasts and all over the midwest. This would be the next best thing to a roll back tow truck, but it has a much lower approach angle (and no special tags or insurance).

The trailers suspension, is separate from the bed. There is a parking brake on the trailer axles that you set, pull a couple pins and back up, and the bed "rolls back". Drive or winch on the vehicle to be towed, get back in the truck, pull forward, get out, set the pins, release the brake and your off. This has about 1/2 of the approach angle of the "tilt" bed car trailers that are common. Its so low an approach, that two of us can load an AC Cobra on it by pushing it on by hand, and the chin of the car does not hit.

Its 20' long, all steel and has 5500 dexter torsion axles, brakes on all corners, it tows like a dream. I haul mostly jeeps with it, but I also move my 7000lb skid loader, and two different fork lifts with it. It also chases 9k lbs. of hay every month. I have a 12k warn winch that slips into the receiver tube you see welded up front. This jeep runs, so I didn't bring the winch with.

In the event you have everything, you can put this on your list!

This is made and sold by Sloan, they are in north east Texas. Im told he holds a patent on the design, which is why they are not all over the place.

Sloan DOES NOT hold the original patent. Melvin Swanner is the inventor. Sloan just added a hand break to it and patened that. Easy Load Trailers was the Orginial and Sloan and Texas Rollback got the plans from them. Easy Load Trailers is now building the Rollback Trailer again. Look them up.

 

[lwc350]

iwould like a place to purchase plans for roll back car trailer any one know where to find

 

[IndyGarage]

I think it's patented, so you won't find any plans, but patents only last for 18 years, and I know they've been building them for longer than that.

I bought a 1990 Sloan Kwik Load a couple months ago and have been restoring it. It's and 18 foot with steel bed and I think it's only got 3500lb axles.

Unfortunately it was really rusty, which I knew, and I got it for a pretty good price.

What I didn't recognize is that the rust was bad enough to cause structural problems in several places. I did a ton of welding on it and got it back into shape. I just got done with the wiring and now need to install the new LED lights I got. I put all new brakes on it, new 14 gauge fenders, and I'm installing a winch on it now too.

I suppose you could build one yourself pretty easily. You can almost see the mechanism in Busted Knuckles pictures above. The way it works is this:

1. The axles/wheels/fenders are mounted to a "truck" (not the tow truck - like a railroad truck) that is independent of the bed except for wires.

2. The main structure of the truck is three 3 inch square tubes running front to back - one on each side and one in the middle. The axles, and the rest of the truck frame is mounted to the bottom of the square tubes. The square tubes have four 4 inch diameter by about 1 1/2 inch wide steel rollers mounted in them such that the rollers stick up through a cutout about 1 1/2 inches above the tube surface. 4 evenly spaced rollers on 3 tubes = 12 rollers total.

3. The trailer bed is built with three 2 inch wide tracks that the rollers ride in. You can see the closest track in Busted Knuckle's picture #3. It's built such that when the wheels roll forward, the track pushes the front of the trailer up a bit and tilts it. The middle track and the far track are identical. At the front of the track is a stop block - like a railroad stop - which simply stops the forward motion of the "truck". There's a similar stop at the back of the track - but that stop has a small piece of steel sticking out of it that catches the back of the square tube the rollers ride in and keeps the bed from bouncing off the track.

4. Between the wheels, hidden under the removable fenders, there is a heavy spring loaded pin that engages into a hole (actually a slot) in the bed side and locks the "truck" in the rearward position. The pin and the tab on the rear stop hold the truck in the "towing" position, so the bed doesn't fly off the wheels while you are driving.

They weld a simple tab lock for the "T" handle on the pin that holds it in the outward position when you want to load the trailer. Pull the pin - engage the brake and back the truck up and the wheels roll forward to the front stop. You can see the military style manual emergency brake handle on the near the front of the fender - they use electric brakes with a manual option on the rear axle so you can lock the brake to load. (I didn't put the emergency brake back on my trailer - the brakes with the manual option cost double from Dexter and more importantly they aren't auto adjusting - I figure chocks or simply pulling the brake lever on the electric controller accomplishes the same thing.)

5. you'll notice the tongue of the trailer has a pivot built into it near the front of the bed. That's so the front of the trailer can lift up as the wheels move forward. There's a large hitch pin that locks the pivoting arm in place on the front of the trailer. There's a fair amount of heft on the pivot pin - as all the weight of the trailer rides on it.

6. The bed is pretty conventional construction - perimeter box section frame with a identical center box beam and stringers running between them. Steel diamond plate deck welded on top with various tie downs bolted to the deck.

That's about it. Sloan builds some nice tool boxes into the front of the bed on each side - but they have nothing to do with the mechanism. Mine were dented and rusted out - I've got to rebuild them.

Good Luck building one.

 

[IndyGarage]

BTW - if you want a drawing of how it works - here is the patent:

http://www.google.com/patents/US513...7uJHcSwgwe2nvTIAg#v=onepage&q=5137414&f=false

The only thing I see different from mine is the rails seem flat to the bottom of the trailer in the drawings - whereas on mine they actually are lower in the front so the rollers tilt the bed as they roll forward.

I notice also they've changed the locking pin mechanism since the early ones, plus mine doesn't have spring axles.

 

[waynew]

I am building one of these trailers. I built a scale model to be sure I understand the mechanical geometry. Think I got it. Would someone tell me how the brake wiring is installed to allow enough movement to accommodate the 4 plus feet the deck moves relative to the chassis?

 

[58ClassicMan]

Hi guys I own a 29014 model of this rollback and agree with everything said. In fact I liked so much that I became a dealer for Kwik Load in the Alabama, Tennessee and GA areas and have never talked to anyone that has owned or used this rollback trailer that didn't say the same thing... "It is the best trailer that I've ever used." If you know anyone in the south eastern US, please tell them to visit my web site at www.TimeWiseSales.com

I am a classic and antique car collector and look forward to sharing ideas and helping each other as time go on.

 

[armymaddog72]

How did your trailer turn out? Do you have drawings of what you have built? I just purchased a 2013 Can Am Spyder and would like to build a trailer to haul it on if needed and really liked the rollback trailer.

 

[aleccolin]

Hi guys I own a 29014 model of this rollback and agree with everything said. In fact I liked so much that I became a dealer for Kwik Load in the Alabama, Tennessee and GA areas and have never talked to anyone that has owned or used this rollback trailer that didn't say the same thing... "It is the best trailer that I've ever used." If you know anyone in the south eastern US, please tell them to visit my web site at www.TimeWiseSales.com

I am a classic and antique car collector and look forward to sharing ideas and helping each other as time go on.

What's the closest location you have to VA?

 

[Koolkat57]

I have had a Texas Rollback for the last 6 years. 18' all steel deck.
It is the best trailer I have ever seen or used.
It was 4 years old when I bought it, but was brand new, never used or registered.
I had it painted to match my truck, and put bed liner on the deck where the tires go.
I heard that the company had a fire at their plant and they never rebuilt.
I paid $3800 for the trailer, was an excellent deal and a great investment!
KK

 

[CK 2]

I know this is an old thread but I have an 18 ft aluminum 2006 Texas rollback trailer for sale. Has a winch and wind/ rock deflector on the front. Email at [email protected]. If interested.

 

[ybnormal70]

This is my new trailer. 7x20 with 8k axles. I love how it operates.

Kevin

 

[BFRieck]

Looks like yours is winch operated instead of being operated by locking the trailer wheels and moving the towing vehicle. Is that right?

 

[ybnormal70]

If you are talking about mine, it is hydraulic. It has a cylinder at each wheel and a pump/reservoir at the front of the trailer that actuates it. I do have a wireless winch controller setup to operate it remotely if needed.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[aleccolin]

Digging up an old thread, but for the guys who own one of these, is there no suspension on this thing, or am I missing something? Looks like the spindles bolt directly to the carriage with no springs or anything.

Edit: nvm looks like they use torsion axles. Carry on

 

[DHC2020]

i see that the braking system is on the carriage the deck sits on, but legally you need the towing vehicle to also actuate the brakes, how is this accomplished?

 

[ybnormal70]

Mine originally had surge brakes on both axles but it was disconnected when I purchased it. I converted it over to electric brakes with a battery powered break-a-way box if it were ever to come disconnected from the tow rig.

Kevin

 

[1topcat]

I know this is old thread, but I thought it might interest anyone looking on the web for information on these wonderful trailers and end up coming to this page. Its hard to find the Texas Roll Back trailers, especially the Aluminum ones. It was my understanding that they switched over to steel at some point due to costs. I have one of the original Aluminum ones in very good condition and for sale. I am in Ft Myers, FL. I'll try to post some pictures here.

All Aluminum Deck, 5 to 6 degree loading angle, torsion axles, 5 star aluminum mag wheels, fiberglass wind screen and rock shield, 2 locking aluminum storage drawers, solar panel mounted on locking battery box for charging battery to run Smittybilt X20 Winch with wireless remote, Ctek D250sa solar controller charger (mounted in one of the drawers), 2 recessed floor deck lights, 4 swivel D Rings, 4 new Carlisle 215/75/14 6 ply tires, 1 spare tire on same aluminum wheels, removable fenders on pins (super cool for door opening of any car), all new brake shoes and re-packed bearings. Extremely easy to load cars, especially my lower track cars, and can do it by myself. Plus the winch helps me when I have cars and other things that aren't running to load them by myself. Due for my annual cleaning, Aluma Brite makes it look new again. I have had to store it outside for the last 6 months since my lease was up. Need to find it a new home.

 

[1topcat]

These were also built by Sloan under the name Kwik Load, not sure if Sloan made them in Aluminum. Here's a link to demo how easy they load. The Sloan had the hand brake, the Texas Roll Back has no such brake, so you simply chock the wheels. Same effect.