Interesting, I never considered carpeting an enclosed trailer.
One of my gripes vs an open trailer is how dirty I seem to get loading and unloading. With an open you can normally stand to the side. Enclosed I am usually laying down. Racing its fine I will change anyway. If I was unhooking my 911 turbo to go take a drive I would be less happy. (Or more, I would have a 911?!?)
Serpent Express
Speaking as someone who went from an open trailer to an enclosed one and back to open, I'd say both have their place, but for me, an open trailer is a better fit. It's cheaper to buy, easier to tow, more versatile in terms of hauling stuff, and you get better mileage towing with it. Enclosed certainly has it's advantages, and maybe if I was hauling nicer cars and/or spending whole weekends at the track, I'd have kept mine. But for going to fetch projects and bailing out friends and relatives when they have breakdowns, the open trailer is the best solution, IMO.
If driving a 911 on the freeway is boring, driving a rig that is towing a 911 has got to be way worse. Towing an empty tow dolly is enough extra weight/width/length to make me hate driving. A loaded trailer both ways would just suck IMO.
If you are planning drives that are a couple hundred miles or more each way, the extra fuel savings from driving vs towing would eventually be enough to purchase another 911.
If you're set on towing, here's one more idea that could maybe work... use a tow dolly or flat trailer and secure a really good soft car cover over the car to protect it from small rocks/bird poop/etc.? Similar concept to how some brand new luxury cars are transported on open semi-trailer car haulers.
bobzilla said:Patrick said:Your truck is plenty capable AFTER YOU INSTALL A SUPERCHARGER of a normal sized enclosed trailer.
Fixed for my desires.
You forgot the cam and long tubes.
I'm in the open trailer camp and besides the aforementioned ease of towing I'll add some things.
I tow my race cars to the track with a van so my trailer just needs to hold the car. The beauty of that is I have a very small trailer that is easy to store. The smaller trailer is also lighter making it even easier to tow. My trailer also has an open center which also allows me to inspect the underside of the car when I come home from the track. My trailer is also a tilt trailer so I don't even have to worry about ramps. There are some really cool tilt trailers on the market.
As for the security of an open trailer you have a car that locks up and likely has an anti theft device so I consider that a non issue.
I'm going to also dissent and say don't trailer your street-legal car unless it is unsafe. Trailering is a royal pain - I'd much, much rather drive a 911 someplace than my tow rig.
I also sort of take the logic of not wanting to put miles on the car to it's endpoint. If you don't want to put the miles on the 911, why drive it at all? Either it's a museum piece or it's meant to be used.
In reply to Dave M :
Trailers ( enclosed ) while a pain to have around are wonderful for a race car. You arrive at the track with the car clean and protected. And if something bad occurs on track you still can get it and yourself home.
frenchyd said:In reply to Dave M :
Trailers ( enclosed ) while a pain to have around are wonderful for a race car. You arrive at the track with the car clean and protected. And if something bad occurs on track you still can get it and yourself home.
I know, which is why I said street legal! He doesn't have a racecar, right?
I dream about having an enclosed trailer... I moved a motorcycle from Florida to Kentucky once with an enclosed trailer and I've moved a lot of stuff that wasn't a car with a box truck and an open trailer. With a box of some sort, you've got nice walls to attach things to and there's no wind to blow stuff around. For the most part, things will stay where you leave them and if they do fall over, the mess is contained as opposed to all over the road. If you've got a car that isn't weather-resistant, the enclosed trailer makes things much easier for transport. Plus, most of the loading is done inside instead of having to roll around in puddles to strap down to an open trailer.
Conversely, the enclosed trailers are basically a large parachute and will suck gas like crazy. I've seen tow ratings - I think it was for Ford vehicles - where instead of talking about weight, there was a bunch of math to be done around the frontal area of the trailer. Open trailers leverage the aerodynamics of the vehicle that you're hauling, so they wind up being a little more slippery. I also can't imagine getting a couple scoops of mulch dropped into an enclosed trailer.
For your purposes, just moving a track car back and forth, an open trailer would probably be your best bet: It's going to be less expensive, weigh less, a little bit easier to drive, and if you decide you want to upgrade to an enclosed it'll re-sell for what you bought it for or close to it.
Tom1200 said:As for the security of an open trailer you have a car that locks up and likely has an anti theft device so I consider that a non issue.
The added security comes from the car being out of sight. An enclosed trailer is an anonymous white box to the casual passerby, whereas a Porsche on an open trailer is a lot more obvious. Also, the locks and anti-theft device don't do much good if the thief can just steal the trailer it's already tied down to! :)
wae said:I dream about having an enclosed trailer... I moved a motorcycle from Florida to Kentucky once with an enclosed trailer and I've moved a lot of stuff that wasn't a car with a box truck and an open trailer. With a box of some sort, you've got nice walls to attach things to and there's no wind to blow stuff around. For the most part, things will stay where you leave them and if they do fall over, the mess is contained as opposed to all over the road. If you've got a car that isn't weather-resistant, the enclosed trailer makes things much easier for transport. Plus, most of the loading is done inside instead of having to roll around in puddles to strap down to an open trailer.
Conversely, the enclosed trailers are basically a large parachute and will suck gas like crazy. I've seen tow ratings - I think it was for Ford vehicles - where instead of talking about weight, there was a bunch of math to be done around the frontal area of the trailer. Open trailers leverage the aerodynamics of the vehicle that you're hauling, so they wind up being a little more slippery. I also can't imagine getting a couple scoops of mulch dropped into an enclosed trailer.
For your purposes, just moving a track car back and forth, an open trailer would probably be your best bet: It's going to be less expensive, weigh less, a little bit easier to drive, and if you decide you want to upgrade to an enclosed it'll re-sell for what you bought it for or close to it.
I hauled with open for decades before I started building enclosed ones. The reason I hauled enclosed was I'd have the car all clean and shiny as part of my race prep then load it on an open trailer. When I'd arrive at the track there were bugs, trash and road debris that required almost as much effort to clean off as race prep took.
The other thing is the problems of looky lou's swearving all over it on the road and when I stopped to eat often I'd have kids climbing in and on it when I got back out ( a few adults too)
when I tried to deal with those issues with car covers it was almost worse. Not to mention the flapping of the cover tending to mar and a ruin the finish.
Hotels and motels meant Any noise and I was up checking on the car. Sometimes I'd wonder if that car driving slowly by starring at it was just interested or something more.
The trailers I built were very light and aero friendly compared to most enclosed trailers. remember I started pulling them with an S10 Blazer and that little 2.8 V6 with the automatic and 4WD worked plenty hard.
codrus said:Tom1200 said:As for the security of an open trailer you have a car that locks up and likely has an anti theft device so I consider that a non issue.
The added security comes from the car being out of sight. An enclosed trailer is an anonymous white box to the casual passerby, whereas a Porsche on an open trailer is a lot more obvious. Also, the locks and anti-theft device don't do much good if the thief can just steal the trailer it's already tied down to! :)
Out of sight, out of mind. Without windows they wouldn't know if it contained a load of cheap household goods, a load of hay or a valuable car. Plus A few of us used padlocks on the hitch as a locking pin.
I liked the ease of a light 2 wheel open trailer but grew tired of all the extra work. Only hauling a short distance in good weather, that's my favorite way. Longer hauls give me an enclosed trailer please.
pirate said:Serpent Express
I'm feeling that when it's time for a trailer I'll end up building something like this shape. As others have mentioned, pulling a big box of air makes no sense, so why not make the trailer conform to the car a bit more? Studs and plywood then sprayed with rhino-liner to weatherproof the whole thing. Should be cheaper to build and MUCH easier to tow than a 7' tall box.
Daylan C said:bobzilla said:Patrick said:Your truck is plenty capable AFTER YOU INSTALL A SUPERCHARGER of a normal sized enclosed trailer.
Fixed for my desires.
You forgot the cam and long tubes.
I can always count on you having my back
I know a few guys who had their enclosed trailer ripped off ,
they took it for the Trailer as they all look alike !
if you get one , paint something on it so you can pick it out in a parking / storage lot full of white box trailers.
maybe racing strips etc , but not ABC RACE TEAM ,
And a GPS tracker powered by battery+solar
frenchyd said:codrus said:Tom1200 said:As for the security of an open trailer you have a car that locks up and likely has an anti theft device so I consider that a non issue.
The added security comes from the car being out of sight. An enclosed trailer is an anonymous white box to the casual passerby, whereas a Porsche on an open trailer is a lot more obvious. Also, the locks and anti-theft device don't do much good if the thief can just steal the trailer it's already tied down to! :)
Out of sight, out of mind. Without windows they wouldn't know if it contained a load of cheap household goods, a load of hay or a valuable car. Plus A few of us used padlocks on the hitch as a locking pin.
I liked the ease of a light 2 wheel open trailer but grew tired of all the extra work. Only hauling a short distance in good weather, that's my favorite way. Longer hauls give me an enclosed trailer please.
I used to play in a touring band, and got to know many other touring bands. Every single one I ever met who towed their gear around in an enclosed trailer had had the trailer broken into and the gear stolen at least once. Every. One.
I know the OP is probably not planning on parking outside of seedy bars overnight, but there are a lot of thieves who will break into an enclosed trailer just to see if there's anything worth stealing.
In reply to ShinnyGroove :
Which is one of the reasons I built my own trailers. To break into Fiberglas, Kevlar, and steel. You are going to make noise. ( My last used Carbon fiber instead of Kevlar). I was able to buy surplus expired Carbon fiber for very near the price of fiberglas cloth.
To be sure I never did give it the seedy bar overnight test. So you may have a point.
Out of curiosity what did bands use to carry gear that was break-in proof?
@codrus I've known four people who've had their race cars stolen and everyone of them had enclosed trailers. I also know of three others who've had their cars stolen and those were in enclosed trailers as well.
I'm sure people have had their open trailers stolen but it seems like thieves would much rather have the more expensive enclosed trailers and the race car inside is simply collateral damage.
Patrick said:Your truck is plenty capable of a normal sized enclosed trailer.
This. I'm very shocked that it's only rated for 7900. I would tow 10k with it all day if you're an experienced tow driver.
The 6L80 is wonderful. The lower first couple gears more than make up for the 3.42 axle. You'll notice a lot of shifting between the top three gears, so just hold it down one with the shifter. More than enough torque, more than enough cooling.
The ONLY downside I see to that truck with an enclosed trailer is sway. I'm guessing you have some pretty 20" wheels with P-metric tires, or at best some tires that say LT on them, but they may or may not be up to the task. I would try it, but don't expect much control. Tire technology has come a long way but there is nothing that can really replace air volume and sidewall stiffness. Getting sidewall stiffness in a low profile tire has mostly been avoided due to ride quality.
Fortunately, you're looking at only 18' trailers, which makes it really easy. I do have to wonder, though... is 18 enough? There are two sizes of trailer; big enough and not big enough. I went full-on 30' with a 3/4 ton and it was just lovely. I'm not suggesting going with a bigger truck, but I might consider stretching that trailer to 20 or 24 feet and getting a tire/wheel combo that will plant you firmly.
Having said that, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to tow 8000 lbs worth of 18' trailer behind that truck. Do it.
I think people have covered most of the pluses and minuses, but here's a couple of things I would add:
First, if you do go enclosed, I would look really closely at getting one with an escape hatch style side door. Your car is pretty wide, and you won't be able to open the door because of the wheel wells in a standard 8.5' box trailer. I have to crawl in and out of the window of my race car, and it is a narrow 1st gen rx7 that I index about 6 inches right of center when I load it. You do have a convertible, so if you are cool with it you can leave the top down and can climb over the door into the car.
Honestly, opening the door on an open trailer might also be an issue - something to check into with whatever you buy.
Second, my experience with a (cheapo) enclosed trailer is that it will be significantly more work to keep maintained than an open trailer. Mine has found all kinds of ways to leak, and the steel box framing and wood paneling is really flimsy stuff that will rust or rot easily. That stuff is more time consuming/complicated to deal with than standard trailer things like wheel bearings, brakes and wiring which any trailer will need over time.
In reply to sevenracer :
That's going to depend on the trailer design. Porsches tend to have high door sills for chassis stiffness. In our case, a single layer of 2x12 ramps on the trailer floor was enough for a 997 gt3 door to clear the fender. A lower trim 911 like his looks to be with a higher ride height might not even need that. But then again, other trailers might have lower deck heights or taller inner fenders.
One thing to consider though is length and ease of loading/strapping. 911s are long cars, an 18' trailer only leaves 2' on either end of the car... If it's centered in the trailer. But with the 911s rear weight balance I'm not sure you can load it forwards in that short of a trailer, get it far forward enough to get the tongue weight right, and still have room to strap down the front. Which means you need either a longer trailer or to put the car in backwards. That job isn't too hard with a helper, but I really wouldn't want to try it as a one man job.
sevenracer said:I think people have covered most of the pluses and minuses, but here's a couple of things I would add:
First, if you do go enclosed, I would look really closely at getting one with an escape hatch style side door. Your car is pretty wide, and you won't be able to open the door because of the wheel wells in a standard 8.5' box trailer. I have to crawl in and out of the window of my race car, and it is a narrow 1st gen rx7 that I index about 6 inches right of center when I load it. You do have a convertible, so if you are cool with it you can leave the top down and can climb over the door into the car.
Honestly, opening the door on an open trailer might also be an issue - something to check into with whatever you buy.
Second, my experience with a (cheapo) enclosed trailer is that it will be significantly more work to keep maintained than an open trailer. Mine has found all kinds of ways to leak, and the steel box framing and wood paneling is really flimsy stuff that will rust or rot easily. That stuff is more time consuming/complicated to deal with than standard trailer things like wheel bearings, brakes and wiring which any trailer will need over time.
I have been weighing both of these options for some time, and I hadn't thought about the prospect of leaks and rot with an enclosed trailer. That's a good point, which I haven't seen anyone bring up before.
Leaks and rot are not bad unless it's one of the crappy/cheap trailers. Car Mate, Haulmark and the nicer brands seem to hold up just fine.
+1 on the escape door, I don't have one and trying to get out of the car after driving in with the door only open a few inches, crawling over the door bars in the car is brutal. I bough a winch that I still need to mount in the floor to not have to do that anymore.
Paul_VR6 said:Leaks and rot are not bad unless it's one of the crappy/cheap trailers. Car Mate, Haulmark and the nicer brands seem to hold up just fine.
+1 on the escape door, I don't have one and trying to get out of the car after driving in with the door only open a few inches, crawling over the door bars in the car is brutal. I bough a winch that I still need to mount in the floor to not have to do that anymore.
I agree on the leak front. Yes it happens, but you'll typically see it in older, abused, really cheap enclosed trailers.
Personally I think a winch is a better choice than an escape door. Even with the side door, the wheels & fender are likely to be preventing you from opening the door so you're probably still climbing out the window. It needs a bunch of space on the side of the trailer (not so good if it's parked close to something), and it's also the "traffic" side when parked on the side of the road. A winch has none of these problems, plus it'll load a car that's broken. Not really relevant for the situation in this thread, but it's also the right choice for a race car with a touchy clutch that doesn't like creeping up inclines.
As for the enclosed trailer security thing, most of the thefts I've seen have sounded like pre-planned jobs. Trailers loaded with race cars stolen when they were parked outside race shops, at night, in deserted industrial parks. Satellite tracking plus painting some big identifying numbers on the roof are the suggestions that I've heard.
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