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Need advice for a trailer for hauling a car
Ken, you haven't said what kind of car you're looking at restoring, but, if it's a small'ish car you might want to consider a trailer that is substantially made from heavy angle iron.
Aside from the possible problems caused by the needed raised rails around the deck for structural strength, they make it really handy to screw wood (plywood or planks) to them to form low sides.
I made onesuch trailer for a friend a few years back. It has proved quite handy since.
Basically it's a 7' x 16' box trailer.
This makes it both light & handy.
Best of luck.
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Need advice for a trailer for hauling a car
It's a 71 Opel GT. I had one in high school that I rebuilt and it was totaled when a guy turned in front of me at an intersection. Now I'm buying another for a project. It was a fun car!
They are about 13.5 feet long, 5.5 feet wide, 4 feet tall and weigh about 2200 lbs soaking wet.
The idea of screwing blocks to planks as needed is a good one.
A dealer told me today that a 7x14 7000 lb Iron Eagle trailer (box frame, pull out ramps, sloped rear end for cars with low ground clearance, full pressure treated plank floor, tandem axle with brakes on both axles, winch mount, D-rings for wheel bonnet tie downs, fixed fenders) would run about $3000. Another $200 for a brake controller. He claimed that the weight distributing hitch probably wasn't needed for my truck and this load but hooking it up and loading it would tell.
I dunno about that.
This one had fixed fenders and he said if I needed a few more inches clearance to open the car doors I could screw some additional planks down for the tires to ride on that would raise it up.
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Need advice for a trailer for hauling a car
$200 for a controller through him? Check around. That's about $50 too much IMHO.
$3000 seems steep compared to that's what I spent on a 12,000 GVW with 6' more deck. Check around for a used one for less than half I bet.
Brakes on both axles on a 7K is very unusual.
Adding planks for height--classy  Just climb through the window if possible.
Reminds me of two guys I saw on the Coast hauling a full size Ford LTD with a downsize Chevy Blazer pulling a car trailer. The Ford wasn't technically ON the trailer. Rather, ONLY the bumper guards on the Ford's front bumper were on resting on the very rear of the trailer. No chains or anything---doing 45 on an interstate. Only in 'sippi!
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Need advice for a trailer for hauling a car
Simple connector is the socket-on-trailer, ball-on-tow-vehicle. Usually a 2" ball but could be a size bigger or smaller. Fancier is the pintle and ring, for heavier pairs. (Simplest is the pin-in-hole but that's for little garden tractors.)
Good that you have a trailer package but they range from just an add-on ball-holder to all the wiring plus heavier drive system plus sometimes an equalizing hitch, so find out what's already there. Otherwise a weight-equalizing hitch requires an attachment to the vehicle. Better handling, and more forgiving, eg prevents fish-tailing (out of control trailer, due to high speeds and weight too far aft on the trailer). I don't think a simple test-tow would tell if you need one. And if you have the wiring already, there are several conventions for the electrical connector, and the trailer connector must match the truck one.
Single-axle brakes are common. Controller (and electrical connector) should be properly installed and should be designed to let you control how much braking is done by each of the two relatively, because you need less braking by the trailer when it's empty.
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Need advice for a trailer for hauling a car
A weight distributing hitch is basically self-contained---a combination ball mount "head" and torsion bar holder; two torsion bars; and two brackets that stay on the trailer. Ball mount stays on truck as a regular hitch; torsion bars can stay with the trailer or in the truck.
And yes a 10 minute test drive at highway speeds loaded is all you need to determine if you need this setup--especially when either passing a tractor trailer, or being passed by one. The difference is awesome!
I've had the same setup for 25 years now used on 9 trailers and 6 trucks--from 2 Jeep Comanches, a 4x Ranger, to several half and 3/4 ton Rams. I don't use the sway control option--there is plenty of friction at the ball and hitch to keep the traler straight. It is good idea to lube the ball though. I have had the ball show evidence of metal to metal galling.
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Need advice for a trailer for hauling a car
I've been reading up on weight distributing hitches.
Howstuffworks dot com says this:
The most important thing to keep in mind when picking out a weight distribution system is the weight of the load you'll be towing. Weight distribution systems are rated in two ways: the gross trailer weight they can haul, and the tongue weight they can distribute. You want to make sure both of those ratings are above the amount you're looking to tow -- but not too far above it.
For example, if the weight distribution system has a 1,000 pound (454 kilogram) tongue weight capacity but the trailer is loaded with only 300 pounds (136 kilograms) of tongue weight with 50 pounds (23 kilograms) of cargo in the trunk of the towing vehicle, you're about 650 pounds (295 kilograms) under the rating. That can make the distribution unpredictable and dangerous. On the other hand, if the system is rated to 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) of tongue weight but you're attempting to distribute 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms) of tongue weight, the system won't be able to distribute the weight effectively and you'll also have some serious problems. Keep that infamous rule from "The Price Is Right" in mind when choosing a weight distribution system -- you want to bid the closest without going over.
That makes it seem that a different hitch would be needed for running empty or loaded.
That can't be right.
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Need advice for a trailer for hauling a car
No Ken, you're misinterpreting what they are saying.
You really only need to use the WDH (Weight Distributing Hitch) to balance up a load. You wouldn't apply any load if the trailer was empty, only once you've loaded the trailer.
Bear in mind, most of these WDH's are intended for RV's where the weight of the trailer doesn't vary much.
I wouldn't be too worried about a WDH in your case though. The trailer will be ~1,750 pounds empty, you say a small car of ~2,200 pounds, that's still only ~4k pounds, about 2/3rds of what you truck is rated to pull, and easily balanced because of the relatively short wheelbase.
Not that I am in any way recommending them, but the link below is to a trailer along the lines of what I am think of.
BTW, in the way of a little background, in the period 1986-1992 I had a 1986 Toyota (4 cyl.) 4Runner and used to pull a similar trailer as this on a regular basis. It would usually have ~3k pounds on it. No WDH, no problems.
Best of luck.
Link:
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Need advice for a trailer for hauling a car
I agree Murf, but having WDH allows future flexibility or even presently should he need to bias the load---car, parts in such a way that there is too much tongue weight. Having WDH even on an unloaded setup can make long trips enjoyable if the tow vehicle has soft or weak suspension especially on the rear. The entire rig just rides better.
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Need advice for a trailer for hauling a car
I dug out the Tacoma manual and it does appear to be well within weight limits. The manual recommends a WDH and if there's no downside that may be best for a newbie tow driver.
The car needs to be picked up next Thursday so I'll just pay a tow company $250 to bring it home 75 miles. That's a little spendy to do all the time. I'll keep an eye out locally for a used trailer like you guys are recommending and it will be a few months until I'll need to tow it myself (it will take awhile to strip the body due to cold weather and short days).
One more question. I will be going up and down a five mile gravel road that can get some bad washboard at times. Should I look for a boxed frame or do you think angle iron would be sufficient?
Thanks for all the good advice.
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Need advice for a trailer for hauling a car
Ken, there isn't much difference between tube and angle as long as it has the upper rail which forms a sort of truss.
Of course the one advantage of angle is that there's no interior to worry about rusting. Most tube rusts from the inside (unpainted) out usually caused by moisture held by accumulated dirt left when mud settles. Open angles can't collect mud. Plus you can keep putting on paint as it gets blasted off by sand & stones.
Best of luck.
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12-10-2009, 18:39 
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