Do's and Dont's for first enclosed trailer 24'-26'

[RIXXX93GT]

Ill be looking for an enclosed trailer this year and wanted to hear from guys who have been their and done that. Im looking for a 24-26' enclosed.

Heres what I will be hauling.

93 GT 3000 lbs. stock to slightly lowered

ATV- 500 lbs

tools etc another 400 lbs.

I dont run a 20 race schedule and I dont travel thousands of miles racing every year.



Please give opinions on any of these items you have experience with.



1. Brand

2. Axle size and type, 3500, 5200, torsion, spring, dropped or not

3. Frame construction, I beam, tubular

4. Width....are they all the same between inner fenders?

5. Drivers exit door? Seems like it would be really helpful?

6. Anything glaring or something you absolutely must have?

[tdm309]

Well here is my opinion. I have owned a 24 foot and a 32 foot. The 32 I bought new and was much nicer. Here is why. The 32 had the extended nose on it. Meaning that the distance from the front of the box to the hitch was further away. Made is much easier to tow with and back up with the extended nose. Also I would def get one with an electric jack. Much easier then hand cranking it. A drivers side door would be nice although I think that with the height of your car that your door would still hit the wheel well inside I believe. Only way to resolve that would be to build something for the car to sit on in the trailer. Both of my trailers were steel I beam frames with torsion bar suspension and they both seemed to work great. That is about all I have for you. If you have any other questions feel free to ask I will try my best.

[fasthawk]

Alot will have to do with what your going to tow with and the price range your looking at.

[RIXXX93GT]

Alot will have to do with what your going to tow with and the price range your looking at.


Im just interested in replies like Matt's of things people have figured out from experience and couldnt live without or would never do again. Ill scour the country looking for used trailers and keep these suggestions in mind while doing so if I find those things are out of my price range then Ill have to decide if its worth the extra money(youd be surprised what you can buy if your not in a hurry and have cash in hand). I will be towing with an RV 460 FI. We have towed an extremely heavy open trailer for years with it and it hasnt skipped a beat.

[beefcake]

like was said. extended lenght hitch for the turning radius.

the power jack's are awesome

i am looking to buy as well, and the drivers door will be a must for me. even if i need to put a board in to get the door open.

larger wheels if you can find them will tow better, the 16", doesn't seem like many have them

5200lb axles.

[Jeff88coupe]

Yep...definatly the 5000#+ axles with the 6 lug 16" wheels. The 16" trailer tires seem to hold up alot better than the E rated 15" tires. I would definatly also get a weight distributing hitch to use with it. Makes a world of difference towing a 8K#+ enclosed trailer. Also make sure the hitch receiver on your RV is up to the task. I've read that alot of guys have reinforced their RV hitches to the frame if you tow over ~5K # with it.

[fasthawk]

Im just interested in replies like Matt's of things people have figured out from experience and couldnt live without or would never do again. Ill scour the country looking for used trailers and keep these suggestions in mind while doing so if I find those things are out of my price range then Ill have to decide if its worth the extra money(youd be surprised what you can buy if your not in a hurry and have cash in hand). I will be towing with an RV 460 FI. We have towed an extremely heavy open trailer for years with it and it hasnt skipped a beat.

Well if thats the case you should not have to ask any ?s and just buy the best one you can find with all the good stuff. Make sure you get the air and canopy on the side while your at it.

[RIXXX93GT]

Well if thats the case you should not have to ask any ?s and just buy the best one you can find with all the good stuff. Make sure you get the air and canopy on the side while your at it.

Money is always a serious consideration. Seeing as I have never owned one before I am trying to figure out what to stay away from and what to put more importance on. Just the type items I had listed. I am not looking for a/c or heat or generator, cabinets. Entry level trailers seem to come "standard" with #3500 axles, one side door of varying types and I beam construction with electric brakes. If all that is just fine then so be it. If in others experience those axles just dont cut it then thats the information Im hoping to gleen from this thread and would have to adjust my budget accordingly.

[fasthawk]

Money is always a serious consideration. Seeing as I have never owned one before I am trying to figure out what to stay away from and what to put more importance on. Just the type items I had listed. I am not looking for a/c or heat or generator, cabinets. Entry level trailers seem to come "standard" with #3500 axles, one side door of varying types and I beam construction with electric brakes. If all that is just fine then so be it. If in others experience those axles just dont cut it then thats the information Im hoping to gleen from this thread and would have to adjust my budget accordingly.

Like i said its all got to do with a budget,of course the the 16 inch tires with torrison axle with i beam frame will be the best and add disk brake setup to. But that trailer will be heavier to pull.I had a v10 super duty f450 and they are only rated for 15k max i think. If i were you i would check towing cap of your motor home because you may be close to 10k when all is said and done with a better built trailer.

[RIXXX93GT]

Yep...definatly the 5000#+ axles with the 6 lug 16" wheels. The 16" trailer tires seem to hold up alot better than the E rated 15" tires. I would definatly also get a weight distributing hitch to use with it. Makes a world of difference towing a 8K#+ enclosed trailer. Also make sure the hitch receiver on your RV is up to the task. I've read that alot of guys have reinforced their RV hitches to the frame if you tow over ~5K # with it.

I have done the re-enforcement on the frame already Jeff. Thats the kind of info Im looking for ...thanks.:bigthumb

[Jeff88coupe]

No problem. You may want to search over on YB on this topic..it's been covered there many times.

[NXcoupe]

I would not want another one with the suspension that is on my trailer, not because it doesn't work well, it does, but because it wears the inside edge of the tires off of it. I would get a driver's side door to allow you to open your car door and get in and out. Just screw 2 X 6's onto the floor one row on each side for your tires to roll up onto, raises the car up so you can open the door up and get in and out. My car sits on the ground, and it works well, so it will work for yours too. Make sure the interior has the white or some other color plastic walls, the plywood is ok, but gets dirty quickly and looks like hell. We are painting the interior of mine this spring. I would get the extended front as well, allows for more pivoting. Put a winch in the floor of it up front so you can winch the car up inside. Electric tongue jack, electric tongue jack, electric tongue jack. Did I mention an electric tongue jack? Put flooring in it or look for one that does have flooring, not carpet, but something easy to wash off. 26 is minimum, nothing shorter. You'll always regret it if you get a 24 or shorter. Hope this helps.

[RIXXX93GT]

Did you say electric tongue jack? Now when you say that do you mean electric as in electric or what? That is a must!

[NXcoupe]

Did you say electric tongue jack? Now when you say that do you mean electric as in electric or what? That is a must!

lol, yeah, you got me.

[RIXXX93GT]

Figured out my gvwr is 11,500 and the gcwr is 15,300. I have already done the standard frame re-enforcing. I imagine weight distribution hitch and sway control are a must?

[1992MustangDW]

would it be cheaper to buy a trailer you really like and have a door put on it. maybe even move it so you don't have to use 2x4?

[mustangboy]

I pull a 31ft travel trailer and here are a couple of my suggestion after 4 years of pulling. All tires are not created equal. Buy high quality e rated radial tires, I prefer Carlisle. My camper came with cheap trailer tires and it was night and day difference when I changed them out. Also I tried the normal weight distribution/sway control set up and still had alot of sway. I went to the Reese Straight Line setup and once again night and day difference. Here is a link to the style, they sell several styles of that design so make sure you get the one that fits your needs.

http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution/Reese/RP66074.html (http://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Distribution/Reese/RP66074.html)

Also you may need airbags in the back of the rv to help handle the weight. I did them on my Excursion and it really helped with pot holes and big bumps in the road. Also if it were me I would shop for a quality used trailer before I bought a cheap new trailer. Good luck

[RIXXX93GT]

Looked at a trailer at lunch, nice one. Now if we can come to an agreement it may be mine. I have an air bag setup sitting in the box waiting to put on. Just have to gouge out some time.

[tdm309]

Yes the weight distrubution set up and anti sway are a must. you def want that otherwise you are going to have trouble on windy days or if a semi comes flying by you on the interstate. It will sway extremely bad. The air bags on the back of the motorhome are a great idea also. Helps keep the front tires on the ground. Otherwise you will have problems keeping it on the road. They also make a tire suspension set up that goes between your trailer and the back of the motorhome that alot of racers use. That system works great but they are expensive to the tune of 2500. Hope this helps
Oh and make sure you have a heavy class hitch on the back of the motorhome had a friend of mine break the hitch off leaving his house one day because it wasnt strong enough

[RIXXX93GT]

Yea those trailer toader's are the shit but damn they are expensive.