Enclosed trailer comments

[dlovitt]

I am looking for comments from those of you who use an enclosed car carrier to haul your toad. Pros and cons. How difficult is it to secure your auto in the trailer, etc.

[goldwingerx2]

We load our Smart car and Goldwing in an enclosed trailer for the trip south and back each winter. I just strap each wheel to the 4 tie down brackets and tighten them up checking them after about 25 miles and then again at every stop. Do the same set-up with the Wing behind the Smart car. Works great.

[Dave1960]

I have towed a 16 foot enclosed trailer with our 38 foot motorhome to take our Toyota Prius or motorcycles with us. Over the past 2 years, I have pulled the trailer about 5000 miles with the motorhome. The motorhome pulls it with no problems. I always ask for pull-through campsites and have only had one occasion that I was unable to get a pull-through site and had to disconnect the trailer. There was no room at the site for the trailer, but the park staff were able to find somewhere for me to store the trailer.

It is reall easy to load and secure the vehicle. I have a side door on the trailer which helps a lot. I also have started using a Tilt-a-Hitch to raise the front of the trailer without unhooking it from the motorhome when loading and unloading.

I have found the trailer to be as easy to tow as the Jeep when towed four down. The biggest benefit of a trailer versus dolly or four-down is the ability to back up.

[bigskymt]

We occasionally use our 20' enclosed behind our 39' M/H. It has a ramp door and floor tie downs. Plenty of room for toad, ATV and extras. No need to stop every 400 miles to start the toad, disconnect to back-up or remove keys & secure for overnighting. We arrive with a clean toad that has a Class A hitch to 'spot' the trailer in case of parking issues.

[drnitrous]

Looking at your sig it appears you have at least a 40ft with a 650isx. I have a 42 ft 400 ISL tag axle and pull my racing operation with it. It is a 32ft floor with 5 ft tounge, triple axle. Pulling it is no problem at interstate speed, we are 79 ft long. Granted what I do with mine is probably different than what you plan to do. I have very few issues making corners and getting into fuel stops using common sense. Securing the vehicles is not much of an issue in a well designed trailer, in fact its easy. The benefits are large, you have a garage on wheels, tons of storage, etc. The biggest downfall as I see it would be parking it all in campgrounds. I don't have that problem as the facilities I go to are set up fo 85 foot rigs, I don't take it to camp grounds. Having pulled trailers without a tag axle I would say keep it short and low if you don't have a tag axle, if you do have a tag axle and you get the axle pressure right, you don't even know its back there. I've pulled in 60 mph side straight winds and it goes right down the road provided you use common sense. I will give credit to Mike Canter for that, he knows Monaco Class A Tags like he knows race cars, he's brilliant, helped me a ton on handling. For now RV length is under the radar, they really don't mess with us much, all the truck conversions are running 80 ft plus, and there are thousands of them out there. Bottom line, it will pull it no problem, even in the mountains, and it has minimal effects on fuel economy as I still get 8 mpg. The only disadvantage is if you can't get it into the campgrounds you like to stay in. Just my .02, hope it helps.
brent

[VanDiemen23]

I pull a 18' box behind my 30' Beaver Monterey. I ordered a very long tongue to ensure I couldn't jack it into the coach and that may have been a mistake - I think I got it behind the air shadow of the coach and I've been suffering some pretty bad gas mileage as a result.

I'm under 60' total so I fit in most big rig RV parks, but we like state parks, forest campgrounds, etc, so we're going the dolly route when we go out for traveling instead of racing.

If you get a trailer with torsion axles pay attention to getting it level when loaded so you don't overload one set of tires - torsion trailers don't equalize the load as well as spring trailers - but they are significantly lower and easier to load. go for the 10000lb axle set too. Will give you more margin over a 7500 lb set.

I haul a formula car in the box and if you get basket tie downs custom made for your tire sizes (mac's tie-downs) and e-track in the floor you don't even need to constantly check the tie downs - they stay in place. You must consider your own physical size though - getting around the fenders and feeding the straps through if you are a big guy in such a confined space can be a PITA - as is getting out of a car with doors that can't open very far (an over fender streetside door helps).

You can make the process easier with a miata, lotus, 914, fiat, etc as a toad - lots of room to work around those!

Also - leave the car in neutral or else you will beat the daylights out of the gears (manual) or parking tang (automatic) if any slop develops.

[Luckiest Dre]

I do not meet the requirements as I do not pull a trailer. I do have some unanswered doubts as well as I am making the same consideration. Where will I store the trailer when I am not using it? I am not talking about the CG. I now store my DP in a 50ft single stall building with no room for the trailer. It would cost me more money to store. Using a trailer I would be thinking of hauling a golf cart and Mini Cooper inside. Not exactly vehicles that would easily move the trailer around when not hooked up to the MH. Presently my toad uses the air from the MH for braking. I would need to add an electric brake for the trailer or rely on surge brakes.
Using a trailer adds different towing setups and that cost money! Getting rid of the larger vehicle means hauling large items in the trunk or pickup bed is out, The only way otherwise would be to hook up the newly acquired trailer to the MH and make a trip to the lumber yard with it! There never seems to be an answer that covers all!

[dlovitt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckiest Dre I do not meet the requirements as I do not pull a trailer. I do have some unanswered doubts as well as I am making the same consideration. Where will I store the trailer when I am not using it? I am not talking about the CG. I now store my DP in a 50ft single stall building with no room for the trailer. It would cost me more money to store. Using a trailer I would be thinking of hauling a golf cart and Mini Cooper inside. Not exactly vehicles that would easily move the trailer around when not hooked up to the MH. Presently my toad uses the air from the MH for braking. I would need to add an electric brake for the trailer or rely on surge brakes. Using a trailer adds different towing setups and that cost money! Getting rid of the larger vehicle means hauling large items in the trunk or pickup bed is out, The only way otherwise would be to hook up the newly acquired trailer to the MH and make a trip to the lumber yard with it! There never seems to be an answer that covers all!

These are exactly the issues I'm concerned about. Thanks for your comments.

[WILD-BILL]

I haul a 28' trailer with mine and store it all hooked up in in outside secured lot used mostly by OTR truckers.

As for brakes, I'm not sure if any f the trailer manufacturers make one with surge brakes. I wouldn't recommend them anyway as you can't use a WD hitch with them.

I would also like to recommend getting one with 10k# axles, a long "RV" tongue, and 16" wheels.

[VanDiemen23]

Brake controllers just got even simpler (but More expensive). There's one version that stays with the trailer - no running wires or under-dash hookup. Adjustment is done with wireless.

Storage is a whole 'nother problem. I'd store my trailer on my home site and put the motorhome in storage before I'd do it the other way around. Lawn service guys just love to steal 'em. You can paint a big set of numbers or letters on the roof so the cops can see it from the air if it gets stolen. I know one guy that decked his out like a septic service - the thieves will leave it alone. You want a ball lock, tongue lock, and big-a$$ chains through the tires with anti-theft lug-nuts if you are going to leave a plane-jane white trailer in a storage yard near a big city.

I frequently use my trailer as storage when I'm remodeling something in the house, yard, or garage. Look at it as an extra basement.