Two questions: 1) Low profile trailers 2) car storage

Hi all -

1. Low profile trailers:

Anyone have any experience/thoughts on low-profile enclosed trailers? Typical trailer going to be at least 6 foot high internally, but there are some out there between 4-6 feet. Naturally anything below 6 means some hands and knees required to get in there and maybe just a huge hassle.

Makes for a lighter/compact trailer though which is nice because my tow vehicle is only rated 3,500lbs... but, otherwise terrible idea?

2. Trailer vs. Garage Storage:

Is storing a car in a trailer long-term a bad idea? Better to dedicate space in the garage/rent a climate controlled storage unit?

Thanks.

I view my trailer as one of the 'tools' I take to the track. On any given weekend, I will step in and out of my trailer probably 200 times. So, the only time a trailer with less height would be of benefit to me is while towing down the highway. While at the track a shorter trailer would simply be a sub-standard tool that provided little functionality. The full height box trailers are a pain when pulling down the highway. But this is the only time I dislike the height.

One of my racing buddies has a full height trailer and has a TV mounted on one wall. There is no satellite TV in this trailer, but the TV is used for reviewing video taken from the car. Or, a computer can be hooked to TV screen and review AIM data in a larger format. This is nice because multiple people can view TV screen and not need reading glasses to see it !! There is also a coffee machine right next to the TV that has come in handy countless times more than the TV. (Thanks Jim!)

Another friend told me about being at an event that was quite chilly and windy. It was not pleasant to be in the paddock preparing the car. So, he and his partner rolled the car in and out of the trailer to prep. They fueled, tuned, and he suited up and got in the car while in trailer. The trailer made the nasty weather a bit more manageable.

I store one car in an enclosed trailer and one on a mobile work stand in the 2 car garage . . . along with three+ motorcycles, a mill, work benches, storage shelves etc. etc. Yes it's full Ha.
The car in the trailer is always on transport tires. Good tires are in the garage in the winter and a spare bedroom in the summer. I haven't seen any problems storing cars in a trailer in the summer, so long as the batteries are charged and the cars are on transport wheels.
I use 100LL aviation fuel in the cars so storage in the heat isn't a problem. The same fuel in all my generators so no problem with fuel breakdown there.

I would never store a motorcycle in a trailer. Think about heat cycles on the tires. Even street car tires heat cycle out in the summer in Arizona.

Funny story: My third, truly wonderful, ex wife, before she became an ex, came home from work one day complaining about her BMW's ABS coming on on the freeway. "Something must be wrong with my brakes." I asked, "How old are your tires?" She said "They're Michelins and they have lots of tread." I again asked, "How old?" She said, "Three years". I said your tires are heat cycled out from the Phoenix heat. By new tires and you can keep on tail gaiting on the freeway and your ABS won't come on." She bought new tires and the ABS stopped coming on, Ha.

Maybe I can be a little unkind at times, but the problem with her brakes was solved. 8^) In retrospect I should have bought new tires for her and told her I fixed the brakes. Some of us are slow learners.

Have fun today,

Jim Edmonds
Phoenix, AZ

My trailer I had made is 5' 9 inside. I can walk around in it. I often work on the car in the trailer. It is 8' 8 wide outside. It helps my fuel economy about 1 mpg over a 8' inside trailer....maybe. The loading and unloading is slightly more effort than an open trailer.

I'd love a Brock streamliner trailer but the investment is pretty stiff.

From a few years ago:

https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/sho...ghlight=living

I ended up with an "extra height" inside of nearly 7ft. Yeah, it's a sail, but I live in it at the track.

If you are just towing to join a team's setup, short is probably right.

And, based on where I live I can't comment on Ohio or Arizona for storage.

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Originally Posted by t walgamuth

My trailer I had made is 5' 9 inside...

I'd love a Brock streamliner trailer but the investment is pretty stiff.

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I was in a Brock, and cannot stand upright in it, I’m 5’8

My trailer is now 17 years old. Built it with a V nose and only 6' high (about 5'9" inside) so its roof was level with the top of our Ford Expedition. Worked well with the Expo and works well with my now 11 year old Ford E350 van.

Yes I have to be "aware" when I'm inside. But, it never slowed me down. Even camped in it at the 2005 Runoffs. Now... Butch on the other hand, stays out of it.

If your tow vehicle is only rated 2500lbs then I doubt you can tow any enclosed trailer safely

Takes effort but light and small are doable.
I built an enclosed trailer for my Seven with 1" x 1" 16 ga steel tubing and stressed skin.
Empty weight was 760 lbs.
Fully loaded; Seven (also scratch built), set of mounted rains, additional set of mounted slicks, tools, mountain bike, small canopy, air tank..... Was about 2200 lbs.
Inside height is 46" width about 72". Took some flexability to enter and exit. I was young...
Single axel. Loaded properly it tows well.
At one time I towed with a WRX wagon. One event round trip 3000 miles.
Can be done.

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Originally Posted by mikey

If your tow vehicle is only rated 2500lbs then I doubt you can tow any enclosed trailer safely

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it’s 3,500 sorry miss-typed. Dodge Grand Caravan. Will correct the post.

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Originally Posted by Lotus7

I was in a Brock, and cannot stand upright in it, I’m 5’8

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I suspected that.

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Originally Posted by ChristopherBernard

Takes effort but light and small are doable.
I built an enclosed trailer for my Seven with 1" x 1" 16 ga steel tubing and stressed skin.
Empty weight was 760 lbs.
Fully loaded; Seven (also scratch built), set of mounted rains, additional set of mounted slicks, tools, mountain bike, small canopy, air tank..... Was about 2200 lbs.
Inside height is 46" width about 72". Took some flexability to enter and exit. I was young...
Single axel. Loaded properly it tows well.
At one time I towed with a WRX wagon. One event round trip 3000 miles.
Can be done.

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If building from scratch I'd use two axles no matter the weight. Having had flats before with and without dual axles. With the dual axle it is inconvenient but you can drive a good distance on three wheels. I drove 45 for about 20 miles near Nashville TN once....no issue.

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Originally Posted by FasterRam

it’s 3,500 sorry miss-typed. Dodge Grand Caravan. Will correct the post.

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Honestly, even 3500 is gonna be tricky. My dad has a small 6x12 aluminum enclosed trailer that lists it at 1100lbs, so by the time you put a car & equipment in, you are gonna be right on that limit too.

That being said, one of the Challenge Cup guys did a realllllly nice job on making his own custom enclosed trailer.
https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/sho...ht=BRD+trailer
https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/att...6&d=1491869007https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/att...7&d=1491869007https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/att...8&d=1491869007

That custom trailer is really cool.

Also thinking, maybe this thread is all great news because it’s giving me a reason to shop for a truck. :D

Something to consider, is with the cost of buying a truck & maintaining/fueling/etc all year, is it cheaper overall to just rent a pickup for the couple times a year you need it? Either a van/pickup or a very small U-Haul is more than enough.
If you are going to buy an inexpensive used one, it isn't quite so bad, but if you can save thousands by not having to get a truck just for towing, that is a lot of rentals. We were just talking about it last night, as it's getting time to start thinking about our next tow vehicle too.

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Originally Posted by Matt Clark

Something to consider, is with the cost of buying a truck & maintaining/fueling/etc all year, is it cheaper overall to just rent a pickup for the couple times a year you need it? Either a van/pickup or a very small U-Haul is more than enough.
If you are going to buy an inexpensive used one, it isn't quite so bad, but if you can save thousands by not having to get a truck just for towing, that is a lot of rentals. We were just talking about it last night, as it's getting time to start thinking about our next tow vehicle too.

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Yah, I had an itch for a truck anyway - we do a lot of landscape stuff, have a travel camper, etc.... But, no joke was just browsing around this morning and you forget how crazy expensive they are, even for the little Rangers/Frontiers, etc. Nice they hold their value, but 10 years old, 100k+ miles is still getting you in the 5 digit $$ at least.

I originally bought my trailer to carry my Caterham 7 to track days. It now carries my Mallock to vintage races. My generator and gas cans travel in the trailer, but all my tools and supplies are in the back of my Jeep. I often joke that I depend on the kindness of strangers at the track, but tbh so far (knock on wood) any car repairs at the track have been covered by what I bring. There actually is room to put more in the trailer, I just haven’t bothered to add tie downs to make it happen.

I originally towed with my ex-wife’s Volvo XC60, which I think had a capacity of either 3000 or 3500 lbs. I think the trailer is around 1500. My Jeep has the tow package, and is rated at 5000.

It’s all I’ve known, but love the trailer. It works for me.

Last photo shows the end of the ramps, which store under the floor of the trailer.

Steve

https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/att...id=98084&stc=1https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/att...id=98085&stc=1https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/att...id=98086&stc=1https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/att...id=98087&stc=1

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Originally Posted by FasterRam

Yah, I had an itch for a truck anyway - we do a lot of landscape stuff, have a travel camper, etc.... But, no joke was just browsing around this morning and you forget how crazy expensive they are, even for the little Rangers/Frontiers, etc. Nice they hold their value, but 10 years old, 100k+ miles is still getting you in the 5 digit $$ at least.

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Look harder! I struggled to sell my 1996 Dodge Ram shortbox crew cab (6 speed, Cummins, about 90,000 miles, totally rust free, never hit or painted, blah blah blah) for C$14,000 2 years ago. Yeah it was 2wd, but i specced it our new for towing. That truck has 15 more years in it if the new owner maintains it like I did.

And, at least here in the Great White North, good luck renting a pickup to tow ANY trailer other than the rental company's. If you let them know that's what you are going to do, I have been told that they will not rent you the truck. Read the rental agreement carefully

cheers,
BT

That blue race car looks very cool! Where is the radiator?

Based on 25 years of towing race car trailers:

No.

With no offense intended to anyone who really likes theirs. But I curse every time I step into my pal's (you know who you are), and have on occasion considered setting fire to it.

BT

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Originally Posted by t walgamuth

That blue race car looks very cool! Where is the radiator?

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The radiator is at the front of the chassis. The front portion of the bottom of the shark nose is open.

It’s a pretty small radiator, and cooling has been an issue. When the car was in Texas, the owner had 3 ducts on the top of the nose, which I may ultimately replicate.

https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/att...id=98090&stc=1

It is very cool! I wondered if it was under the front or horizontally in back.. Is it scratch built or a kit or factory built? Just wondering if it could be run in D mod? autocross?

It’s a 1972 Mallock 11b. It was run in the Clubman series in the UK, which still exists. As does Mallock:

https://www.mallocksports.co.uk/

All Clubman cars are front-engined, but the engines are so far back that they have more weight on the rear wheels than front.

Apologies for the thread hi-jack.

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Originally Posted by t walgamuth

It is very cool! I wondered if it was under the front or horizontally in back.. Is it scratch built or a kit or factory built? Just wondering if it could be run in D mod? autocross?

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It's a Mallock. Built by Mallock Racecars. It would be considered a B Mod if anything. D Mod would be "street cars".
Hopefully I know what I'm talking about, I've got a D Mod 7 and a Mallock or two....but...:confused:

Something else to possibly consider...
If - God forbid - the trailer gets stolen, so does everything inside.
Happened some time ago to a friend...his insurance low-balled him on the trailer's value, PLUS covered NOTHING inside.
Lost a vintage Formula Vee, a 2nd set of mounted race tires, tools, etc.

Glenn

Years ago I had a work trailer that was low and after few years of bumping my head I went to one that I could stand up in. My old race trailer had a ceiling height of 6'6" and it was great. My new trailer has the 6'6" height, but I added the built in lighting and metal ceiling that lowered it by a few inches and if I had it to do over again I'd go with 7' height with the ceiling and lights. I tow with a 2005 Dodge 3500 crew cab with 380K + miles with 2 wheel drive and still get 16 MPG towing. My new trailer came about because my old one was sideswiped in a parking lot with the perpetrator nowhere around. When I bought the trailer in 2003 it was around $6K and that's what I insured it for and since the insurance was so cheap I never changed it. The appraiser declared the damage was $6900 so the trailer was "totaled", with a low buy back i bought it back and had the factory repair it for $1300. and the factory declared in writing as 100%, After scrubbing and polishing I sold it in three days on Craigslist for $6K.. I did add a GPS tracker for under $300 and it shows exactly where my trailer is at all times

If you go racing a half dozen times per year, compromising your trailer to save 1-2 miles per gallon, does not make sense to me. For a couple hundred dollars in extra fuel, I would rather have a more functional trailer that carries more stuff.

My concern with storing a car in a trailer ...... is the term "storage". Race cars need love and attention. That love and storage will be compromised if you have to spend hours in travel, or hours in preparation (unloading/reloading), every time you want to work on the car. People who win races and championships rarely keep their cars in "storage".

Someone mentioned getting a dual axle trailer which has it's merits but if you have to travel on toll roads a single will be less toll costs. If you have to come to PA I would suggest avoiding the turnpike if possible since the tolls are out of this world.

Ed

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Originally Posted by Ed Womer

Someone mentioned getting a dual axle trailer which has it's merits but if you have to travel on toll roads a single will be less toll costs. If you have to come to PA I would suggest avoiding the turnpike if possible since the tolls are out of this world.

Ed

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Ed,
I just did the turnpike calculator for PA.. when I go to Pittsburgh international, I get on in Somerset and off at New Castle.. it’s the same amount for 3 or 4 axles... my dually is rated heavier than a passenger car and my EZ Pass reflects that.A little less than $20 for that 99 mile trip and a little over $15. for a car. Before EZPass they had scales at the toll booths and one time my total came up the same as a semi and I wasn’t towing. The attendant said I probably hit the brake as I touched the scale. He gladly adjusted the fee... I wouldn’t think of towing two lane roads and red lights to save $20.. plus the extra time and aggravation. Of course without the EZPass the toll would be $40...

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Originally Posted by grapefarmeral

Ed,
I just did the turnpike calculator for PA.. when I go to Pittsburgh international, I get on in Somerset and off at New Castle.. it’s the same amount for 3 or 4 axles... my dually is rated heavier than a passenger car and my EZ Pass reflects that.A little less than $20 for that 99 mile trip and a little over $15. for a car. Before EZPass they had scales at the toll booths and one time my total came up the same as a semi and I wasn’t towing. The attendant said I probably hit the brake as I touched the scale. He gladly adjusted the fee... I wouldn’t think of towing two lane roads and red lights to save $20.. plus the extra time and aggravation. Of course without the EZPass the toll would be $40...

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I have limped home several times with a flat tire on one wheel of my two axle trailer.

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Originally Posted by FasterRam

Hi all -

1. Low profile trailers:

Anyone have any experience/thoughts on low-profile enclosed trailers? Typical trailer going to be at least 6 foot high internally, but there are some out there between 4-6 feet. Naturally anything below 6 means some hands and knees required to get in there and maybe just a huge hassle.

Makes for a lighter/compact trailer though which is nice because my tow vehicle is only rated 3,500lbs... but, otherwise terrible idea?

2. Trailer vs. Garage Storage:

Is storing a car in a trailer long-term a bad idea? Better to dedicate space in the garage/rent a climate controlled storage unit?

Thanks.

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I think it's a great idea. If you have a one ton diesel then buy a big trailer, but if you have a towing limit get the short trailer. I'll be doing the same thing so I can tow it behind my Sprinter van. I think that going to a 7' wide over an 8' or 8.5' is almost more helpful that reducing the height though based on some of my past experiences.

I store my snowmobiles in an enclosed trailer during the summer. I'm in MN so it's not like Texas but we definitely have a number of very hot days. The humidity and condensation are my biggest concerns. Make sure you have good airflow. I also put a number of poison bait stations around and under it to keep the mice under control.

I have a standard enclosed trailer. It weighs 2800 empty, less than 5000 loaded for the track. I tow it with a 1500 Dodge.

It has a ceiling vent which I keep open for long term storage.

I highly recommend having an extra set of old slicks or rain tires for storage only. It gets HOT and COLD in the trailer. Your tires will get a heat cycle every day in the summer, even in NY state where I am.

Store your good tires in a climate-controlled(stable temp and humidity) area out of sunlight. I wrap mine in black construction trash bags.

I also remove the battery from the Vee off-season and store it in the house on a battery tender.

I just posted a couple of pics of my enclosed trailer I am selling with my Vee. It is just under 6" high, which is a couple of inches lower then my 2013 Tahoe tow vehicle. I bought the trailer in 1975 as an open cargo trailer. It has had a few different coverings over the decades. I did most recent design in 2008. The lid raises and lowers with a winch, so I can walk around inside. There is a tire rack in the front and storage bins on the sides. It is under 1000#. Ready to tow to track with car, tires, etc. is around 3000#. I do carry my toolbox and some spares in the back of the Tahoe.

I have stored my car for months at a time in the trailer. As someone said above, the race cars need attention, so storing for long periods is not the best.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ed Womer

Someone mentioned getting a dual axle trailer which has it's merits but if you have to travel on toll roads a single will be less toll costs. If you have to come to PA I would suggest avoiding the turnpike if possible since the tolls are out of this world.

Ed

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I-70 & I-68 are good way from the Mid-Atlantic to Ohio and beyond and don't use the PA Turnpike. Even with EZ-Pass the tolls are ridiculous.