Trailering

[DGatzby]

No biggie, it works good for me. Mine was $7k. The 20’ length, tilt option and even upgraded good looking wheels for the cost was nice. The Heeper as I call it, pulls it pretty good with the little Hemi. With adding the posts on that 20’ trailer, the ability to have four wheels/tires with me is a real big thing too. I can’t do a big pick-em-up, she might finish me off for that one. Plus I have flat run out of garages, as the Architectural Chairman of the HOA, it may look bad to park outside in violation. Those restrictions are bad, but damn the homes seem to sell fast in the ‘hood. Sometimes with no signs! I’ll play along.

Jimmy, that little thing looks cramped with the big long Challenger on it, ha, just sayin dude.

 

[Jimmy N.]

Yeah, that 18-footer wasn't bought with Challengers in mind, but at the time the alternative was a 30' gooseneck deckover with a fixed beaver tail. No way the 'Cat would make that breakover angle.

I'm frequently one trailer behind compared to vehicles, it seems like. But at least I ordered the toyhauler with enough garage space to fit a 'Cat.

 

[DGatzby]

Yeah, that 18-footer wasn't bought with Challengers in mind, but at the time the alternative was a 30' gooseneck deckover with a fixed beaver tail. No way the 'Cat would make that breakover angle.

I'm frequently one trailer behind compared to vehicles, it seems like. But at least I ordered the toyhauler with enough garage space to fit a 'Cat. View attachment 37426

There ya go! Those pics with no snow/cold are starting to look good. I knew you had to have something else. Man this sucks up here now. The flipping weather won’t even get close to freezing for two more weeks. Not hardly zero all this week. Speaking of trailers, glad I grabbed the battery from that thing, and it is warm and comfy. The trailer is about a 1/2 mile from here.

 

[HellcatMatt]

Mac’s through the wheel tie downs. Simple and fast

 

[Jimmy N.]

There ya go! Those pics with no snow/cold are starting to look good. I knew you had to have something else. Man this sucks up here now. The flipping weather won’t even get close to freezing for two more weeks. Not hardly zero all this week.

Funny how that works. I'm hoping for colder overnight temps as it's been quite warm here lately, and not all that cold at night. Why, you ask?
I need to retrieve the snow blower from the shed, and don't want to sink into the grass, leaving tracks with the tractor. Although, there is still about a foot of snow on the ground.

A little late to get the snow blower out? Well, I left it inside this year in hopes of that making us get some more snow. It kinda worked.
But now I bought a skid steer and am eager to see how it runs the snow blower.

 

[Finface]

Yeah, that 18-footer wasn't bought with Challengers in mind, but at the time the alternative was a 30' gooseneck deckover with a fixed beaver tail. No way the 'Cat would make that breakover angle.

I'm frequently one trailer behind compared to vehicles, it seems like. But at least I ordered the toyhauler with enough garage space to fit a 'Cat. View attachment 37426

While many will be admiring your mobile Hellcat garage/living quarters rig (as I do), I am mostly admiring your gravel driveway *grin*!

 

[Jimmy N.]

Hah! And you're "admiring" the small section of it that's a patchwork of various sizes of gravel, added based on what I had on hand when expanding the size of it over time.

Pavement? Meh, that's for city slickers.

 

[Finface]

IMO it don’t get much better than the transition my tilt and those ramps do also. Looks like the same angles basically. Must be several kinds. That Big-Tex has a bigger capacity also. How much is it?

I've got a Big Tex dealership about 10 miles away. I got a "ballpark" quote for the 14OT, which comes in 22 and 24 foot lengths (add another 6 feet it looks like) of "8,500 to 8,700". That's without options like a spare tire, or winch. The guy said the tilt bed can be stopped at any point so the rear "knife edge" could be lowered onto race ramps.

 

[Jimmy N.]

With that kind of a trailer you'll probably get at least 7,000-lb axles, which is fine, but you also get the suspension to go with it.
If my 32-foot gooseneck had leaf spring suspension, I wouldn't want to transport only a 5K lb. car on it. With air suspension it rides nicely, no matter how small the load.

Personal preference, but I really like 5,200-lb. axles, as a happy medium. I will not deal with the common 3,500-lb. axles anymore.

 

[Marc W]

I have a couple things to contribute. First... I use a winch to load and unload all the time now. I never have to climb in or out of the car in the trailer and the procedure is so trouble free and easy there’s no chance of screwing anything up. The winch has a wireless remote that is used to control both in and out. Also... for me I have to have an enclosed trailer. The idea of leaving my car in the open, exposed to the motel zombies all night when traveling, is not something I can live with. A nice 24 to 28 ft car hauler with a low dove tail for loading in the most basic form with 6k axles will be $10k. I’m not talking a crappy cargo trailer. A real race car trailer. One thing to consider is... if taken care of, when the time comes, you can get most of your money back. They really don’t deprecate if we’ll kept. The other thing (big thing) is when you’re at the track all day (multiple days), you have a comfortable pit habitat. People who spend time at the races know what I’m talking about. A couple of ‘yeah buts’. You have to install one of the winch tow rings on the front of the car. I use axle straps with my ratchet straps to X the rear and I have the Petty tie down connections on the front.

 

[Jimmy N.]

Or, order the trailer with a side door and there's no need for a winch.
Well, they can be handy anyway, but the side door makes it easy to get in and out of the car.

 

[HellcatMatt]

Or, order the trailer with a side door and there's no need for a winch.
Well, they can be handy anyway, but the side door makes it easy to get in and out of the car.

You really need the full lift up side with removable fenders. I have the “standard” side door and even using race ramps, the bottom edge of the car door still catches the base of the trailer door opening making the intended feature almost useless....I still have to climb out the car window but having the side door makes it easier to get in and out of the trailer, however.
I’m still happy I have the side door but hindsight, I should have ordered the lift up side

 

[Jimmy N.]

Ah, sorry, that's what I meant by "side door". A large section, not just a regular door.
And I lucked out when ordering the trailer four inches taller than stock (for better clearance in remote areas) as they lowered the fenders accordingly.
No need to remove the fender even with the 'Cat.

 

[Marc W]

Haha. My experience after using the winch was.... what the hell am I driving this thing in here for??? Besides.... good luck pushing it in when it breaks. Side door ain’t going to help with that.

 

[Finface]

With that kind of a trailer you'll probably get at least 7,000-lb axles, which is fine, but you also get the suspension to go with it.
If my 32-foot gooseneck had leaf spring suspension, I wouldn't want to transport only a 5K lb. car on it. With air suspension it rides nicely, no matter how small the load.

Personal preference, but I really like 5,200-lb. axles, as a happy medium. I will not deal with the common 3,500-lb. axles anymore.

The trailer does have 7,000 axles. I have zero experience with trailers so appreciate any and all advice.

Was your air suspension trailer about $8,700?

 

[Jimmy N.]

Haha. My experience after using the winch was.... what the hell am I driving this thing in here for??? Besides.... good luck pushing it in when it breaks. Side door ain’t going to help with that.

Yeah, there's a reason I mentioned that winches can be handy anyway.

The trailer does have 7,000 axles. I have zero experience with trailers so appreciate any and all advice.

Was your air suspension trailer about $8,700?

You could possibly order it with lower rated springs, or swap them out yourself.
I'm about to put air springs on my little 18-footer. Better ride yet, and I could lower it for loading and unloading.

I wish my 32-footer was even close to 8.7K. More like 15K over that.
Which is what happens when adding a hydraulic dove tail, disc brakes, air suspension, etc. to a trailer with a 25K GVWR,

 

[Finface]

I have a couple things to contribute. First... I use a winch to load and unload all the time now. I never have to climb in or out of the car in the trailer and the procedure is so trouble free and easy there’s no chance of screwing anything up. The winch has a wireless remote that is used to control both in and out. Also... for me I have to have an enclosed trailer. The idea of leaving my car in the open, exposed to the motel zombies all night when traveling, is not something I can live with. A nice 24 to 28 ft car hauler with a low dove tail for loading in the most basic form with 6k axles will be $10k. I’m not talking a crappy cargo trailer. A real race car trailer. One thing to consider is... if taken care of, when the time comes, you can get most of your money back. They really don’t deprecate if we’ll kept. The other thing (big thing) is when you’re at the track all day (multiple days), you have a comfortable pit habitat. People who spend time at the races know what I’m talking about. A couple of ‘yeah buts’. You have to install one of the winch tow rings on the front of the car. I use axle straps with my ratchet straps to X the rear and I have the Petty tie down connections on the front. View attachment 37444 View attachment 37445 View attachment 37446 View attachment 37447 View attachment 37448

Very nice! Saw some nice enclosed trailers at the HPDE events I attended. Not right for me, but sweet.

 

[Finface]

No biggie, it works good for me. Mine was $7k. The 20’ length, tilt option and even upgraded good looking wheels for the cost was nice. The Heeper as I call it, pulls it pretty good with the little Hemi. With adding the posts on that 20’ trailer, the ability to have four wheels/tires with me is a real big thing too. I can’t do a big pick-em-up, she might finish me off for that one. Plus I have flat run out of garages, as the Architectural Chairman of the HOA, it may look bad to park outside in violation. Those restrictions are bad, but damn the homes seem to sell fast in the ‘hood. Sometimes with no signs! I’ll play along.

Jimmy, that little thing looks cramped with the big long Challenger on it, ha, just sayin dude.

@WidebodyCat we have someone with a good eye direct me up. I drive it. I have a whole 1.5” to spare on each side! The Race Ramp set makes it a no brainer from road to trailer. Once we have the rear wheels on the tilt bed we lower the bed to drive it the remainder of the way into its place.

Unload, I have just got in it and on full tilt just slowly backed it off. Again have someone watch and direct. That part is usually quick.

Here is a video of your trailer, DGatzby. Looks nicer than the BigTex model. The height of the over the wheel trailer makes the ramp pretty steep. Maybe not insurmountable though

https://www.hhtrailer.com/product/aluminum-speedloader-tiltbed/

I'm thinking with a winch you could pull your car on the trailer if it ever couldn't be driven (but still rolled). Maybe even with a flat tire you could temporarily pump up with just air going on, and going off. With a winch you could have someone in the car, with the engine running so the driver could have power steering and brakes, but that driver wouldn't risk a "throttle burst" (self-induced or not) that could have the car going too far when loading. Nice and slow, steering between the fenders even easier.

The video shows a guy lifting off the fender. Would that give you another inch or so on each side?

Finface

 

[Bennysc1]

I purchased a Texas Roll back trailer and absolutely love it. It fully slides back and I can load low spoiler front ends without scraping or touching. To bad the trailer manufacturer caught fire years ago and never reopened. I plan on holding on to this trailer. No ramps required

 

[DGatzby]

Here is a video of your trailer, DGatzby. Looks nicer than the BigTex model. The height of the over the wheel trailer makes the ramp pretty steep. Maybe not insurmountable though

https://www.hhtrailer.com/product/aluminum-speedloader-tiltbed/

I'm thinking with a winch you could pull your car on the trailer if it ever couldn't be driven (but still rolled). Maybe even with a flat tire you could temporarily pump up with just air going on, and going off. With a winch you could have someone in the car, with the engine running so the driver could have power steering and brakes, but that driver wouldn't risk a "throttle burst" (self-induced or not) that could have the car going too far when loading. Nice and slow, steering between the fenders even easier.

The video shows a guy lifting off the fender. Would that give you another inch or so on each side?

Finface

Removing the fenders don’t matter. I have never needed to even disengage the latches on mine. There is about an 1.5” space on each side from the tire edge to the trailer edge. The body of the car clears easy. Once your car is passing through the fenders you better be lined up straight.