Mobile Garage: Single Axle Enclosed Trailer ?'s

[kartracer55]

My dad is looking to buy an eclosed single axle trailer for the 06 racing season. 10-14 ft long will work, but 12 ft is Ideal. We have a few questions though. First, are there any key things in the design of the trailer that we should look for? It will see mostly highway use, traveling from track to track. If we find one that is setup for karting used, we would replace the wheel bearings and give it a new set of tires, is there anything else that should be checked out? Also, what brands are top, and which should we stay away from?

The big ones that come up and are locally available are:

Haulmark
Pace American
US Cargo
Feather Lite

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Jim

 

[Gregdoo]

You should look closely at the wiring. I presume because you mention replacing tires and bearings that you are buying used. It is probably unlikely that a single axel trailer would have brakes, but obviously if there are brakes, check them out too.

If you have a full size SUV or pickup, then tow vehicle considerations are not as important as a larger/heavier trailer. If a smaller tow vehicle, I'd look for a v-front, wedge front or one with a lower profile.

Like all things, it depends on what you are expecting it to do. If it is just for transporting a kart and tools, then a lower one would work. If you want it to be a mobile workshop, a taller one is in order. However, the taller you get, the more power and fuel it takes to tow. If you got a tall one, you can probably stack two karts like a race van, but the ramps will take some space.

If it were me, I'd certainly want a torsion axel, instead of steel leaf springs. And for a load that light, don't get a homemade one that has a mobile home axel/spring setup. I'd prefer to have LED lights fully sealed to prevent future lighting and electrical problems, however they are more expensive than the older style.

 

[Fast Orange]

Jim-
Any of the brands you mentioned are quality units,but you will find differing trim packages,interior finishes,etc. that can put prices all over the place.
For what you're doing,try to find a trailer with 15" rims and trailer rated tires-trailer tires do differ from car tires in load rating and construction.
In Jersey,brakes are required on trailers over 1500 lbs-either surge or electric work OK,but in my experience,electric brakes are easier to keep working right.You will need a brake controller for electric brakes,and the trailer should be set up with a system to apply the brakes in event of it breaking away from the tow vehicle.
A few suggestions for shopping for a new trailer-
1) go to one of the off-season race/trade shows in this area.The first that comes to mind is the Motorsports show in Ft.Washington,Pa in mid January-Lots of cart stuff there too.There are usually 3-4 trailer outfits there,with"show specials".
2) believe it or not,Home Cheapo is selling trailers, at least at the stores in this part of Jersey-the pricing isn't too far out of line,but they aren't the cheapest.
3) pick up a copy of Area Auto Racing News-lots of ads-new and used

George

 

[kartracer55]

Thanks for the reply. I know what you mean by leaf springs, but what did you mean by torsion axle?

We would consider buying used if it had already been used for karting, and had E track, and a nice workbench and stuff. Otherwise, it would probably be new.

It needs to be at least 6 feet high, 7-8 would be much better. The kart will get leaned up against and strapped to the wall for transportation. Kinda hard to explain but its how most people do it. As for the tow vehicle, we have a dodge durango with a 360 in it, and it already gets like 11mpg, so nothing suprises us lol.

Jim

 

[kartracer55]

George, Ill def. want to look into the tradeshow you mentioned. Have you ever done buisness or kwon anybody who has done buisness with etraileroutlet.com down around Brick, or hecht Trailers in toms river? These are the only two large Trailer places that I know of.

And you mentioned the law about trailers over 1500lbs needing brakes, is that full or unloaded?

Jim

 

[Fast Orange]

Hecht Trailer has been around a long time,primarily dealing in storage and construction office rentals.In about the past 5 years they started selling smaller trailers.Thet have branches in several locations.I've bought a couple of used office trailers from them for my employer with no problems.
The brake requirement is referenced to the maximum trailer weight rating as per the manufacturer-not what it actually weighs or what weight you register it for.
Stay away from mobile home axles-they are also known as 1 way axles-meant to get to the homesite and not much more.Few,if any repair parts,poor quality brakes,tire sizes hard to find on road.Also way too heavy for your use.
Stay away from tires /rims less than 14"-tire/bearing problems common at high speed.

George

 

[kartracer55]

Thanks. Thats good advice. I was talking with my dad, and we plan on getting car tires because of the speed/distance it will be pulled.

Do you think wed need the highway stabilizers on the hitch for a 12 ft trailer? Some guys run them, some guys dont, and all have opinions on why they do and dont.

Thanks

Jim

 

[Fast Orange]

Loaded/balanced properly,with the Durango and a < 2000 lb trailer,you shouldn't need either sway controls or a weight equalizing hitch.The trick is to get the tongue weight around 10-15% of the total trailer weight.If the trailer weighs 2000 lbs,you want 200-250 lbs on the ball.
Speaking of hitch balls-I prefer 2",with a coupler I can padlock to the ball-theft protection and extra safety on the road.Get a good,name brand (reese,draw-tite) ball mount that uses a ball with a 1" shank.Assemble it as tight as you can get it,check for tightness a few times during first few trips.Even tack-weld that sucker if you can-having your trailer pass you can scare the s@#$ out of you.

George

 

[kartracer55]

Loaded/balanced properly,with the Durango and a < 2000 lb trailer,you shouldn't need either sway controls or a weight equalizing hitch.The trick is to get the tongue weight around 10-15% of the total trailer weight.If the trailer weighs 2000 lbs,you want 200-250 lbs on the ball.
Speaking of hitch balls-I prefer 2",with a coupler I can padlock to the ball-theft protection and extra safety on the road.Get a good,name brand (reese,draw-tite) ball mount that uses a ball with a 1" shank.Assemble it as tight as you can get it,check for tightness a few times during first few trips.Even tack-weld that sucker if you can-having your trailer pass you can scare the s@#$ out of you.

George

Thats what a 650 ft lb IR thunder gun is for lol We dont have a hitch on it yet, but its geared for towing. We would probably put in a transmission cooler as well. So reese or Drawtite eh? Well have to look into the hitch, as well as the load class.

There is some seriously good information in this thread. Thanks alot George!


Jim

 

[Fast Orange]

Jim-
A couple of ideas for the Durango-
1) Get a class III/IV hitch -Reese or Draw-Tite-both are about the best you can get,they usually bolt right on with a minimum of drilling and no welding needed-shop around for pricing-I've gotten good pricing from U-Haul dealers.The nice thing about these is that you can remove the ball mount and save your shins when you walk behind the truck.I've got the scars to prove it.
2) The plug in wiring kits I've seen work pretty good-better than the old hack and splice jobs a lot of hitch installers do.
3) In my personal tow rig,I've changed the lubes in the diffs,x-fer case and transmission to full synthetics-they handle the heat better,help the parts last longer,and save a little bit of gas too.I've got an older Dodge Ram P/U and Amsoil got me the right fluids for my truck.
4) A trans cooler is an excellent idea-the closer you can get the ****** to run @ 200*,the longer it will last.

Another suggestion for the trailer-Get one tall enough that you can stand upright comfortably,but no taller than it has to be-short trailers are a pain to work out of all day,and too much height creates more drag (worse gas milage) aand makes them more succeptible to cross winds and sway from passing trucks.

George

 

[RockCrawlingRobK]

I would go for a dual axle if you are going over 10ft. It will track and tow better. It will also give you more options in the future for bigger toys or even helping someone move.

Good Luck,

RK

 

[MXtras]

Twin axles for a 10' trailer? Uhmm....

Most trailers are made very much the same. The better brand of the less expensive is Haulmark. I have done installations in all of these including Featherlites and I can say that the quality is not all that great, but for most it is just a trailer. I would recommend a Haulmark - very happy with mine.

Definately go with the torsion tubes.

Scott

 

[hotrod66paul]

Try ebay for a new or used trailer.There are tons of them on the site . Last summer I picked up a new Tow-Pro landscape 21ft tandem axle for 1,200.00 . It had the DEXTER torsion axles and brakes. Tow-Pro was going out of business and blowing them out.
To see what a torsion axle is take a look at the Dexter web site. Hop this helps a little.

Paul

 

[kartracer55]

Thanks for all the info guys.

Paul, Ive been keeping my eye out. Alot of guys sell trailers used for karting but sell them with karts too... Def some sweet deals on there, but Some of the trailers are HUGE!

Scott, did you make those mounts for the bikes? Thats a Damn nice set up yoube got.

Thanks everybody

Jim

 

[sberry]

You dont need 650# air gun to tighten the bolt, but, use some light oil on the threads. a dry bolt does not tighten properly.

 

[trovato]

Definately go with the torsion tubes.

Scott

OK, so what's the advantage of the torsion tubes? I have a boat trailer and a car trailer with leaf springs. What am I missing?

 

[sberry]

For one thing they provide independant suspension.

 

[Gregdoo]

I've pulled snowmobile trailers for years. The torsion axel design pulls much nicer than the leaf spring versions. It gives a smoother ride for the load and when driving on a road with potholes or other bumps, it "settles down" much faster. If you had a leaf spring setup with shock absorbers, it might be OK, but most of the lighter duty leaf spring trailers I've seen do not have shocks. Using that image, imagine your car without shocks. The torsion axel seems to combine the spring and shock action into the axle.

In some cases this might not be an advantage, but a torsion axel can also reduce ride height. This is nice when you have to load a heavy load and gives the added advantage of a lower center of gravity for the trailer.

Personally, I would never buy another spring-axle snowmobile or utility trailer.

 

[mikeb9550]

Go for the torsion if you can. Big difference on the stuff inside. Go double axle for 14 - 16 ' or greater. I know you want a 12'er but I personally would go with a 16' double axle and some sort of sway control. The sway bar at the least if you are going to tow a lot of highway. Its there for insurance incase its starts swaying. All it will take is a windy day and a semi blowing past you to make your day go south. I seen a guy loose control towing his race car from the track. His a bump and the trailer started to sway. Almost took me out with him and it was on a bridge. Also make sure it has its own breaks if you are going to load it heavy. Prodigy is about the best controller out there. Might need a WD hitch if the weight is high. Car tires probably wont work since they wont provide the load rating that you need (most likely).

 

[abaran]

One of the big differences between springs and torsion suspension is noted when you towing the trailer either empty or lightly loaded. Leaf sprung trailers tend to bounce around alot when the springs are not compressed whereas torsion axles rid pretty much the same loaded or unloaded.

Me personnally, I would stay away from Hualmark trailers. We purchased two for may last command and I was very disappointed with the quality of the workmanship. Since we special ordered 5Kw generators mounted on the tongue they had to extend the tongue and it looked like they turned a five year old loose with a Mig welder. There were a whole bunch of cold weld spots and a **** load of wire pieces stuck in the weld. After having the trailers for six months it started to show where there was not a whole lot of surface prep done prior to the welding. Due to the large amount of rust we thought we might not be able to take the trailers on the road. Unfortunately, I transferred before the final decision was made on what to do but last word I got was the trailers were still at the command.

When I bought my own trailer I purchased a Pace CargoSport and couldn't be happier. I purchased an 8X16 with rear door ramp and added four corner tie downs and three rows of E track (one on the deck and two along the wall). I loaded it down with all my tools and welders when I left VA to come to MD. At one point I had to repack the trailer due to the fact that my tongue weight as almost 1500lbs. After the repack I still had a tongue weight of 1000lbs but since I was running out of options. I just made sure I watched my speed on the highway and made sure I had plenty of stopping distance between me and the car ahead of me. All in all, the trailer handled great. Quality wise, I put the Pace at the same level as a Wells Cargo but without the price.

Now, if and when I get the garage finished to the point where I can unload the trailer. I'll sell it since I won't be moving for a while (fingers crossed).

My two cents.

Andy

 

[Fast Orange]

Jim-
Another place to check for your trailer- Stephen L. Green, in Farmingdale,NJ-I passed his place today and he had about 50-60 enclosed trailers in his yard,all shapes,sizes and styles.I don't know what brands he sells,but he has been building/selling trailers for quite a few years.He used to advertize the trailers he built and the prices/quality were pretty good.

George

 

[kartracer55]

Andy, thanks for the info, something to be leary of!

Goerge, Another place Ill have to look into. Thanks!

Jim

 

[MrHappy]

Pace.
When we raced karts, we had a 16', then upgraded to a 32' 5th wheel.
Both were fantastic trailers.
Get the largest trailer you can afford and safely tow. You won't regret it.

 

[sboxs]

if you are looking to buy a trailer Franklin trailer rt 73 berlin nj is the best on the east coast they are about 15 minutes north of Atco drag strip

 

[kartracer55]

Hey thanks guys. We just picked up the new kart today actually, so on top of building it, were figureing out what to do about a trailer. The problem is, in my town and a few of the neighbooring towns, you cant store a boat or trailer outside, even if it cant be seen, which means it needs to go into a self storage place.... all of them in this county have a waiting list, so if we cant get a space, were back to an open trailer, which can easily be stored under our deck.

Anybody ever deal with Etraileroutlet.com? They sponserthe Ferris's 3 damn good drivers, they help run karting at raceway park. If they are good, Id like to go there because they support the sport... and thats always a good thing.

Jim

 

[sboxs]

hey kartracer whats it cost to go buy a kart for racing and can a 250lb 53 yr old guy do it

 

[kartracer55]

For a new setup, running a lower power motor, 5k, with decent safety gear.... the higher the HP class, the more $$$$. Also, you need to allow for tires, clutch disks, and broken parts... Starting off, you want have to buy tires as often, but youll be going through clutch disks like they are going out of style from spinning out. My frist season, when I was running jrs, it wound up being about 7k, but since I was so young, my dad picked the tab up, I spent about 500 of my own $$$ on my gear. You can get set up with craftsman tools for well under 100$ buying all new tools(instead of taking out of your tool box) Sae and Metric allen sockets, metric wrenches, pliers, basic stuff... For your second season, your looking at under 2k including motor work and tires, unless you start breaking obscene amounts of parts (everybody gets the bad luck spell though). Money is one thing, but youve got to be willing to spend a decent amount of time at it. People think its just like board walk gokarts, but the truth is, there is a serious possibilty to get seriously hurt. We wear no seatbelts or anything like that, the idea is if you ride up on soembodys tire or roll it in a corner, you get thrown from the kart... not a good situation either way. Also, when you first start out, your toast after a 10 minute track session and ya need to take abreak. People take power steering for granted. Im not mr fitness, but you cant be horribly out of shape either.

If you can find somebody getting out of the sport, you can get thier complete setup for a pretty good price, but dont bother if its been raced more than 2-3 years.

I see your in NJ, Where are you located? If your up far north, ID say check out OVRP.Com (oakland valley race park) Cuddebackville NY.. BEAUTIFUL track with an excellent but very expensive kart shop. Central NJ check out Englishtown

Southern look into Deleware.

If your seriously interested, let me know, I can help you in selecting a class and gear and all that other fun stuff.

Jim

 

[sboxs]

Thanks I'm in south jersey between exit 2 and 3 on the turnpike I guess the real question is can a 6'1 250lb guy fit in a cart?

 

[kartracer55]

6'1... yup. Im 6'1 as well, Im a little scrunched compared to the 5 10 drivers in the kart, but Its manageable, If you were 6'4 then itd be a whole 'nother story.

The biggest problem is that you are heavier than most drivers, Im 180(190 with gear) and I have to add about 5 lbs to make wieght. The class I run in is 335, so ya figure -5 for the added weight, and -180, the kart itself weighs about 150... youd be coming in at about 400. Now, Since your over 35, you can run in a class called Yamaha Masters, which is the same engine and everything, but to drive in it you need to be over 35, and the minimum weight is 360.... 40lbs over. That is still alot, as they say every 5 lbs is about .3 seconds... so ya figure at40lbs over, your looking at 2.4 seconds slower per lap than the rest of the field. Thats alot, as The difference between me (finished 7th this season overall) and sean (finished 2nd) is1 - 1 1/2 seconds.

The class youd be best off in is called TaG for touch and go... you can pick up a complete TaG setup for about 5200... watercooled, electric start... its more expensive initially, but you can get 2 seasons out of one and only have to have the thing ringed and head gasket replaced once, whereas with a yamaha your looking at 2 complete rebuilds and 2+ "freshing ups" Your still going to be 30-35lbs over in that class too though. Usually you dont want more than 10lbs... that can be made up with in driving and some damn good chassis tuning.

If you can get down to 200-210, you can enter the Yamaha Masters class, and be right where you want to be for kart and driver weight. There are some that start out in that class, but keep in mind some of those guys are extremely talented drivers... hence Masters.

200-210 will also allow you to enter the TaG class and be right at a competitive weight. TaG is the fastest growing class in the US... the class here brings 25-30 weekly drivers. You might be in luck, I dont know yet. A guy I know from the track is in his mid 50s, and he and a few other guys in that class are fighting for a TaG Masters class, which would aloow for heavier drivers over 35. He says they have a hard time keeping up with the younger guys hahahahaha.

So keep all that in mind. Even at 30lbs over, your at a huge dis advantage, because of the weight and being a rookie. If ya think you can get down to under liek 210, there are more than a few classes you can be competitive in.



Jim

 

[sboxs]

the only way i could get to 210 would be to cut off both my legs and not eat for a month

 

[kartracer55]

the only way i could get to 210 would be to cut off both my legs and not eat for a month

Ha

Well then ya might be too big for karting, but hey what kinda car do you drive? Ever thought about a stock autoX class? You know the Raceway park does have that road course.... should be finished this year.

Jim

 

[sboxs]

do think my car would be OK

 

[kartracer55]

OMG are you freakin serious???? lol

There was an article in Hotrod magazine about a Cam swap and adding a set of headers to keep the new vette streetable yet making over 600hp... thats a 427 right?


IM SOOOOOOO JEALOUS!!!! With a car like that, why the hell do you want to race karts???

Jim

 

[sboxs]

THE CAR SCARES ME
yes its a 427 small block the tires don't stop spinning until 3rd gear