Toyhauler for race car?

[Automobilist]

We're contemplating selling our diesel pusher and buying a toyhauler. We previously owned a 33' Weekend Warrior fifth-wheel, which we enjoyed very much. When we parked our dirt bikes, and bought a few vintage race cars, we decided to go motorhome with a stacker trailer. Currently, we are only racing one car at a time, so the stacker is overkill. We sold the stacker, but still have an 18' enclosed trailer to haul one car.

We also still have our old Weekend Warrior's tow truck: a 2006 Chevy 2500HD diesel. Perfectly good truck that doesn't get much use. So, I'm thinking sell the motorcoach and use the truck with a toyhauler again.

My concerns are; most toyhaulers don't seem to be built all that well. Aside from their typically more spartan interiors, they more commonly have wood framing, etc. Also, our cars are 900#, 1460#, or 1800#. Probably about the same as a lot of buggies, right? I'm also concerned about ramp approach angles. Our cars sit very, very low and need a shallow ramp angle. Of course, that precludes a lifted hauler, and probably means a custom ramp extension to load the car without scraping bottom. Anyone with actual experience with this?

We also carry a scooter, a good amount of tools & spares, jack & stands, and extra tires. Probably need a 37-38' trailer I'm guessing?

Any reports or suggestions from folks hauling race cars with toyhaulers appreciated. The cars are: Triumph Spitfire, Triumph GT6, Formula V

Thanks,

Ed

[VanDiemen23]

From 1999 to 2010 I hauled a Supervee and a Formula Continental in a Carson Funrunner with a 26' box. Much more spartan than anything produced now - back then the beds were made out of plywood - flexsteel wasn't in the business. I checked out all the SoCal manufacturers and Carson was the best made - even better than Weekend Warrior. Less glitz but more sturdy and cheaper to boot.

I paid about 14K for it, sold it for 7K, and ran about 40 race weekends, several vacations across the west, even went back to Indiana and filled it with my dad's boat and all the tools out of his garage and hauled it back to Cali. In ten years the only things that broke were the fridge cooling unit (warranty), the shower pan (silicone) and a window valance.

Compared to my FC, or the SV, your FV and other cars aren't that low, but I mounted a set of stabilizer jacks across the top of the ramp door, and used 12' 2x12s off the back door to get the right angle. A couple of blocks halfway between the door and the ground took care of sag. The trailer floor was 24" above ground IIRC.

For the FC I made a set of paddock wheels out of the tallest motorcycle rims I could get. they give you great leverage and one person can push, chock, adjust, push, chock, etc by themselves for a formula car. With slicks though, it's a LOT harder, so I mounted a harbor freight winch in the bottom of the front closet, and pulled the SV in. I would not suggest driving a sedan in.

I had E-track installed with extra wall reinforcement all around the beltline. Toolbox went inside the door and was accessible with the door open, served a s a stop for the car as well. Most of the rest of the stuff - pit cart, generator, fuel, wood, extra tires - went in the truck bed.

Fully loaded it was 8000lb.

There's a guy in VARA that built a stacker inside a Weekend Warrior tag, hauls two supervees. There's another guy drives an Alfa with a forest river living quarters trailer. You can pretty much get what you want from Santek, Featherlite, Carson, or TPD - all will build living quarters to suit, would probably end up 36' or more if you separate the garage from the house with a wall.

With a lot of tires, etc, you'd probably want to delete the rear windows and have the walls reinforced and your tire racks factory installed.

[nplenzick]

All though I no longer race ( FF and various Porsche's) I too have decided to do the same thing. I currently run a business selling various motorcycle products and we do 20+ shows a year and travel about 20K miles a year. For the past five years we've been doing this with a DP and enclosed trailer. I'm pretty fed up with what it has cost to keep this DP on the road so I have traded it in on a VRV Toy hauler. It's needs to be built and I hope to have by the first of the year. Their doing a few custom things which I spec out. Like you I have not been impressed by the toy haulers that I have seen. They may be great for recreational use but not for the use that we will be using it for. Wasn't crazy about the various wood floors, wood cabinets, and most seemed heavy for what they were. I need something that can take the loading and unloading of our products, tents, and motorcycle. VRV (By Livin Lite) are all aluminum trailers, everything is aluminum, all framing, chassis, cabinets, floor, ext sides and ceiling. Floor gets dirty? Just hose it out! I'm done with wall to wall carpeting, we'll just have a few small area rugs instead. One of my buddies was a welder/fabricator for 35 years. I had him look at one to see if he thought it was built good enough. His reply "I couldn't have done a better job myself"! The 8.5" 26 FB ( front bedroom) with the options I wanted should weigh in at about 5300 lbs, GVW is 10,000. This includes, full bath, lav sink, gallery kitchen, two A/C's, 50 amp service, optional larger refrigerator, conviction/ microwave, heater/hot water heater, two Fantastic ceiling fans, twin propane tanks, two TV's, awning and some other stuff I can't remember. These trailers are not cheap. It looks like ours will come in at around $40K. The 8.5 x 26 Basecamp model looks like it would perfect for you. Here's a link
VRV Cargo and Camping Trailer for ATV, Motorcycles, Quads, GoCarts and much more
Can't wait to get rid of this DP!

[nplenzick]

Oops, I didn't see where you wanted a 37-38 foot trailer so VRV may not be the choice for you. Personally to pull a trailer that big you would need a bigger truck at least a 3500 dually and I would want that trailer to be a fifth wheel.

[MRBB]

The biggest problem you will find is the lift doors don't hold much weight. You might be able to re-enforce it but then is the unit going to take the weight. I just had to lift my Harley 2" AND build a custom ramp to get it in my TH. I'm not sure what the formula is but the weight in the back will take weight off the pin/hitch so something really heavy may take all the weight off and then you will have problems.

[Automobilist]

I'm thinking 36-39' fifth wheel. I know of several folks towing these (and up to 40') with 2500 series trucks. I'm not interested in trading into a heavier truck, as the one we already have is in great shape. I'm looking at used toyhaulers, I doubt we would buy a new RV again. We do about 7 race weekends a year, and don't use the RV for much else. My personal plan is to use the money from selling our stacker and 16' enclosed to fully pay for the toyhauler. Sell the motorhome and put that money into paying down the house mortgage.

[soundman7]

Featherlight trailer will hold up, you can have it built to your speck or you could find one used
Towing a 40' 5th wheel toyhauler with a car in the rear with a 2500 is very problematic to say the least.
All the mass produced toyhauler will not hold up don't wast you time.

Check out racking junk.com for a race car trailer with living quarters

[Automobilist]

Go spend a weekend in the SoCal desert. You'll see plenty of 2500/250 series trucks towing 40' toyhaulers. Our race cars only weigh 1800#, 1500# or 900# each, so hauling one is less than the typical dune buggy/sand car being hauled. Heck, we used to carry six 250# dirt bikes plus full gear in our Weekend Warrior with zero issues. Used to camp fairly far off road into the desert, so I think towing on paved roads to race tracks shouldn't be a problem.

I'm more interested in putting a ton of money into a nice late model 911 than an RV, so we'll only spend about $16,000-20,000 on the trailer this time.

[Mekanic]

If you really didn't need a lot of camper room you could build one/have built of these on a smaller scale.
There are kinds of styles and sizes over at Tow Rigs and Trailers - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum