My apologies to anyone who is anxiously awaiting a Scooter Update, but the Ol’ Enabler was in need of some serious attention today. 

I can't even remember the last time that it moved. My neighbor used to borrow it to take his ‘65 Corvette to autocrosses, but we have had so much rain over the past year, I couldn’t even pull it out without destroying my lawn. Needless to say, I am now enjoying the minor drought that is currently killing the grass. Anyway, the trailer is covered with twigs and leaves and mold, the wheels are rusty and the tires are dry rotted. 

This thing needs to be able to move in a Craigslist Minute, so I dragged it out and spent the morning with it. 

It's a 1984 Trailex. My friend bought it new. I saw it for the first time about two years later and immediately proclaimed it to be my Dream Trailer. It may have been the first aluminum trailer that I had ever seen, or at least noticed. About ten years later, I made a standing offer of, "If you ever decide to sell this thing...".

Five or six years later, I got the call. It cost more than I could comfortably spend at the time, but I couldn't let it get away. It was finally mine.

So I guess I've had it for fifteen years or more. I know that I've replaced the tires at least once before, and the tail lights after every time I let someone borrow it. To the best of my memory, it has hauled three Porsche 911s, two or three Miatas, two Jeep TJs, a Corvette, a BMW Z3, an MR2, an MGB, an AE86, and a Subaru Legacy GT during the time of my ownership. Prior to that, it carried two different Showroom Stock Mustangs and one FSJ Grand Wagoneer, which folded one of the original ramps in half.

My morning started off with an hour or so of power washing.

The whole thing was a disgusting mess, but the worst areas were all the little grooves in the extruded aluminum and the area under where I store the ramps. 

There’s some rotted wood that will need to be replaced. The wood pieces act as spacers for the aluminum diamond plate that was added to cover the original open deck. 

The electric  power washer did a pretty good job. I would have preferred to use the gas powered one, but it was buried in my barn behind the mower and snow plow.

It doesn’t look new, but it looks a lot better. Some day, maybe I’ll splash some Zep-Alum on it, but I didn’t have any on hand, and I knew that it would probably kill the rest of my lawn if I did. I’ve used in the past and it really makes aluminum look bright and shiny.  Not great for tires though. 

That's stuff growing on the fenders.

Not perfect, but much better. 

Almost as soon as I had packed up the power washer, five new wheels and tires arrived by UPS. These were looooong overdue. The old radials were dry rotted, and I was still carrying an old bias ply spare, age unknown.

I decided to replace the old white wheels with galvanized ones this time. I don’t love the look, but they won’t rust. 

I still need to replace the wood and order a light kit. Time to convert to LEDs.

why do you have to replace the tail lights every time?

In reply to bluej :

Because people don't know how to back up with a trailer.

Woody said:

In reply to bluej :

Because people don't know how to back up with a trailer.

So why aren't THEY replacing the lights... I couldn't imagine doing that and not trying to fix it. Just sayin..

bluej said:

Woody said:

In reply to bluej :

Because people don't know how to back up with a trailer.

So why aren't THEY replacing the lights... I couldn't imagine doing that and not trying to fix it. Just sayin..

If they cannot back up a trailer I am sure they cannot fix the lights.

Besides, most people SUCK at wiring. Trust me I have unberkeleyed a number of trailers with light issues.

Donebrokeit said:

bluej said:

Woody said:

In reply to bluej :

Because people don't know how to back up with a trailer.

So why aren't THEY replacing the lights... I couldn't imagine doing that and not trying to fix it. Just sayin..

If they cannot back up a trailer I am sure they cannot fix the lights.

 

Besides, most people SUCK at wiring. Trust me I have unberkeleyed a number of trailers with light issues.

I just had to rewire my neighbors trailer.  The multiple hack job repairs were kind of funny.  

I would love an aluminum car trailer, the steel ones I'm used to are just too heavy.

de80q said:

I just had to rewire my neighbors trailer.  The multiple hack job repairs were kind of funny.  

I would love an aluminum car trailer, the steel ones I'm used to are just too heavy.

Heh, the last time I borrowed a trailer it came with pre-broken taillights and I replaced them before my trip. :)

Trailex are special -- most aluminum car trailers aren't actually that much ligher than steel ones.  For example, a FeatherLite 3110 is about 1600 lbs, vs the 1900 that my old steel/wood one was.  By comparison, a Trailex of the same size is under a thousand.  I'm told this is because most of the aluminum trailers out there lose their heat treatment when they're welded together, and since the resulting trailer frame is too big to fit in an oven to inexpensively re-treat they have to use more aluminum.  The Trailex ones are made of bolted-together extruded aluminum pieces which avoids that problem.

This is also why Trailex kinda look like they're made out of an erector set -- they pretty much are. :)

codrus said:

de80q said:

I just had to rewire my neighbors trailer.  The multiple hack job repairs were kind of funny.  

I would love an aluminum car trailer, the steel ones I'm used to are just too heavy.

Heh, the last time I borrowed a trailer it came with pre-broken taillights and I replaced them before my trip. :)

Trailex are special -- most aluminum car trailers aren't actually that much ligher than steel ones.  For example, a FeatherLite 3110 is about 1600 lbs, vs the 1900 that my old steel/wood one was.  By comparison, a Trailex of the same size is under a thousand.  I'm told this is because most of the aluminum trailers out there lose their heat treatment when they're welded together, and since the resulting trailer frame is too big to fit in an oven to inexpensively re-treat they have to use more aluminum.  The Trailex ones are made of bolted-together extruded aluminum pieces which avoids that problem.

This is also why Trailex kinda look like they're made out of an erector set -- they pretty much are. :)

When Travel-Lite was making bent aluminum trailers, they were light as well- my trailer is 700lb.  But they were also meant for smaller cars- mine is rated to 2500lb, and with a tweak to the tounge design, my freind has the same one rated to 3000lb. 

Sorry for the tangent.  But Woody's trailer is pretty cool, based on aluminum extrusion pieces.

In reply to alfadriver :

I'm grateful for the tangent. This is useful information since I'm looking for a trailer. 

One of the local aluminum trailers is getting a reputation for welds breaking. Now I think I understand why.

codrus said:

Trailex are special -- most aluminum car trailers aren't actually that much ligher than steel ones.  For example, a FeatherLite 3110 is about 1600 lbs, vs the 1900 that my old steel/wood one was.  By comparison, a Trailex of the same size is under a thousand.  I'm told this is because most of the aluminum trailers out there lose their heat treatment when they're welded together, and since the resulting trailer frame is too big to fit in an oven to inexpensively re-treat they have to use more aluminum.  The Trailex ones are made of bolted-together extruded aluminum pieces which avoids that problem.

This is also why Trailex kinda look like they're made out of an erector set -- they pretty much are. :)

That's cool to know. I knew that they were extruded, but I didn't understand the science behind it. I did know that it's crazy light and stiff though. I just looked up the specs from the Trailex website.

Midsize Sportscar Trailer (CT-7541)

This trailer has long been know as the original "911" trailer. It is very lightweight (all bolted together) and has a usable deck width of 75", overall width of 99 3/4" and overall length of 19' 5". The 7541 may fit in your garage. Trailer is standard with open center that can be used as a (free lift), full aluminum floor optional. As always make sure your car will fit on this trailer! 2" ball coupler.

(Total weight 845 pounds)

(not my photo)

Mine came with the optional tire rack, which I knew I'd probably never use. I knocked it down and stored it in my attic for a few years, but eventually sold it for half of what I paid for the whole deal.

I thought the Trailex were lighter because they have an open floor vs the closed floor of the Featherlite.  I also coulda sworn my old Featherlite 3110 weighed 1200-1300lbs?

Man, that’s a nice looking trailer. I use a equipment trailer so I can haul tractors and what not and it’s way to heavy and hard to get a low car on.

docwyte said:

I thought the Trailex were lighter because they have an open floor vs the closed floor of the Featherlite.  I also coulda sworn my old Featherlite 3110 weighed 1200-1300lbs?

https://www.fthr.com/-/media/FeatherliteCMS/Files/Weight%20Indexes/Car-Trailer-Weights.pdf

They have a 1300 pound trailer, but it's the smallest one they make.  The Trailex that size is 700.

The 950 (Trailex), 1600 (featherlite), 1900 (cheap steel Carson that I owned) comparison I was making was for ~ 18 foot trailers.

Next up: China's Sketchiest $54 LED Light Kit.

In reply to Woody :

Wow, that looks just like the $24 one I got from Amazon, plastic license plate holder and all

RevRico said:

In reply to Woody :

Wow, that looks just like the $24 one I got from Amazon, plastic license plate holder and all

I needed the "Over 80 inch" kit, with side and rear markers and a 25 foot harness. Believe me, I looked at almost every kit.