Car Haulers

[JB]

I have been looking around for new and used car haulers to drag teh Bronco around on since it is nearing completion (sorta). I was once anti-trailer, but I now am realizing that it might not be the safest thing to drive on the highway. It probably is fine, but after driving newer vehicles for the past 2.5 years, it just does not seem like it.

Anyways, I went out to that trailer sales place out off 21 towards 47. They sell Texas Bragg trailers. They sell a 16' plus 2' dovetail car hauler, wood deck, teardrop fenders, wrap around tongue, 2 3500lb axles with brakes on one and I can get it painted any color for $1500-1600 plus tax and probably some other fees. Is this a decent deal? I was expecting a lot more. I don't need anything special, so this seems like a good price. Any thoughts?

Does anyone know anything about this brand? Anyone know where I could find a used one?(I have emailed the guy selling one on Lonestar4x4).

Thanks

[Chadnutz]

Does it have brakes? What is the tongue rated at? What is your hitch rated at? Broncos are heavy.

[jerryg79]

Seems to me like mike could get one for around $1200 with the same features, have you checked the place that Grayson and Jimmy got their trailers?

[Sharpe]

I just went through the trailer shopping ordeal so here's what I would recomend looking for.

Length. I opted for a 20' because I need to be able to haul crewcab parts trucks and didnt want to be limited on what I can haul. This is about the longest you can normaly get for a bumper pull.

Axle weight rating. I went for tandem 5200 pound axles because of the above mentioned crewcab part. A well built carhauler will weigh around 1500-2000 I believe and that doesnt leave enough weight for a variety of fullsize rigs IMO. They will be more expensive but I believe they are worth it. Also, if you can afford it, get 8 lug ones. Mine are only 6 lug. The 8 lug axles have even higher weight ratings and make the spare tire situation that much easier.

Brakes. Obviously, 2 axles are better than one and if you can afford it and are pulling a fullsize, I would recomend brakes and both axles, you cant be too safe.

Dovetail. I was stupid and didnt even think about a dovetail when I got my trailer and when I was dragging a reg cab longbed truck with 4 flat tires onto it, the undercarriage got hung up on the ramps and took some creative work with some wood blocks to get over. If you dont intend to haul long vehicles with flat tires than you dont need a dovetail but it would be nice to have in case you need to haul a car or something.

The hitch. For a normal car hauler, a 2" will be fine. I thought about getting a 2 5/16 hitch for my trailer but the huge shank on that size ball makes finding receiver hitches for it a PITA. I have a bulldog type coupler and it works great.

Wiring. When I got my trailer the wiring was done very ****tily so I tore it all out and re-did it. A $20 investment for piece of mind.

Light plug. Get the large 7-pin connecter, period. The 5 and 6 pin ones will get the job done but you will almost always need an adapter for the vehicle because very few vehicles have those connectors on them. Almost all new vehicles w/ tow packages come with the 7 pin connecter so why mess with an adapter. Plus the 7 pin gives you a couple of auxilary power supplies for running stuff like area lights or other wierd ****.

Paint. I got jewed in this department. When I went to get my trailer I did not pay attention to the undercarage and did not realize the underside wasnt painted until I re-did the wiring. It sux and I will be painting it when I get the chance.

Deck. Wood or steel. My personal preference is wood. Quiter, cheaper and lighter. Strength is not really an issue. I've seen steel decks get big dents where the tires of the trailered vehicle rides so I would avoid steel decks.

Ramps. Slide in or fold up. I would go for slide in as there may come a time when you need to put something extremely long on the trailer and you cant fold the ramps up.

[JB]

The new ones I looked at had 1 brake. I believe that will be fine for what I need it for. My truck is rated to pull 8300lbs, so I assume the hitch is rated for that. Bronco probably weighs just shy of 6k, which might be just at, or maybe a little more than what they trailer is rated for. I would have to find out.

I can not afford much more than $1500, especially for something that I will only use maybe 6-7 times a year.

Where did Grayson and Jimmy get theirs?

[eight]

Your truck will stop that fine with just one braking axle, as long as they work. If its the factory installed receiver hitch that'll be fine too. You're putting a good amount of weight on it so make sure it has good new trailer tires, some builders put cheap car tires or even used ones on new trailers. Also make sure it has a bulldog hitch as many trailers come with cheap hitches. You're pushing it a little with the 3500 lb axles, but it should be fine.

[Fredo]

A place called Terry's Trailers in Oklahoma. Very nice trailers and their prices are good. It all depends on what options you want/need, but their prices are good. We've been very happy with ours. http://www.terrystrailers.com/

[agjohn02]

Texas Bragg and Big Tex are built here in Mt Pleasant. if you want ill check with them and see what the factory direct cost is. MP is actually the trailer capital of the world. there are at least 10 manufacturers here i can think of off the top of my head.

[Graystroke]

I also recommend the extended tongue. I believe ours has a five foot tongue. it pulls better.
one braked axle would be fine IMO. We've had ours for over 10 yrs now and it has hauled a lot of ****. I would also reccomend the stake pockets on the sides. We have sides made of pressure treated wood that go in to place. makes the trailer a lot more useful for other things.

[davido]

I would also check two other items, especially if a utility trailer will do.

Scotti bought his from a local company that rents them. I didn't take a real good look at it, but I think it's a pretty good trailer and I think he got a pretty good price on it.

Also ebay. Especially if you can be a little patient. I checked around for a long time and ended up buying a 1 year old trailer with about 500 miles on it off ebay. Has the built in 2003 tag and the tires still have the little "new things" on them. Saved over $1000 + taxes on it. Not that I wasn't lucky to an extent, but good deals are out there. Like I said, patience.

I was tempted to buy new but steel prices have really driven the prices up. I also thought about going up to OK to get mine from them but at 8+ hours and $100+ in diesel, I decided against it.

I would highly recommend a bulldog hitch also. I trust it a lot more and it's easier to use. It's one of the two big distinguishing points I think. The other is the jack. Flip up or otherwise, it was a must for me. I hate jacks that you have to turn all the way up and down without any quick release. Mine has a flip-up, but the kicker with the Texas Braggs that I saw was that they had the big 12k gooseneck style jacks on their bumper pulls. Built into the front bar, super strong, and have a quick release.

I only have 1 brake and it works fine, but if you drive fast like me, a second probably can't hurt. I definitely agree with the stake sides if you buy a car hauler. The 7 prong is an interesting idea, especially since I have to carry the $8 converter, but it may limit what trucks you can use it on. I have all of the plug-ins for tmy 7 to whatever, but I've never seen one that goes vice versa. Never looked either though. If you haven't already bought your ball, I would HIGHLY recommend a combo ball. Mount the base once and it comes with 3 different size balls. I have used all of mine and they come in EXTREMELY handy. More than once we've gotten somewhere and it wasn't the ball that we thought we needed. Luckily I had the others.

That's about it. Good luck.

[davido]

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313735

[8Runner]

I bought mine from Clifford at a trailer rental accross from sonic on Texas near downtown Bryan (can't remember the name). From everybody I talked to it was a pretty damn good deal. I paid $1000 for a pipe top trailer with a treated wood deck , slide in ramps, and a bulldog hitch. He applied my rental fee of $125 for 4 days on the Clayton trip toward the purchase price, and agreed to hold a check for 3 weeks to effectively split the payment. I also made a deal to go back and swap 1 of the axle to one with brakes for $75 (haven't done it yet). The 4runner pulled and braked fine with my 3/4 ton suburban on the clayton trip, though I definitely wouldn't want to do any steep declines (such as the CO trip) without brakes.

[aggielr]

If possible, I would go with oil bath hubs over greasable ones. I've pulled with both, and the oil bath hubs seem to pull much better and there is far less maintenance.

[fbronco86]

Try trout tire they are in porter,texas. But i am not sure on there price since steel went up.

(281) 354-5600 they sell trailers on the side.

[BMFScout]

buy one from Oklahoma, Take Brandon along and have him pay for gas, then let him tow you home!

[Graystroke]

the other advantage of buing it in OK...no taxes. and when you register it in tx just register it as a homemade trailer.

[fbronco86]

the other advantage of buing it in OK...no taxes. and when you register it in tx just register it as a homemade trailer.

I think the cost of fuel driving to Ok would out way the cost of the taxes. If u are chadnutz u have wear and tear on the car so that would make the cost even higher.

[Shaggy]

i like that you are throwing a slam on chadnutz in here but be careful... if he sees it he may throw in his 2 cents about trailors... and we all know we dont need 50ft trailors and we dont wanna pull 3 rigs

[davido]

If possible, I would go with oil bath hubs over greasable ones. I've pulled with both, and the oil bath hubs seem to pull much better and there is far less maintenance.


That probably best explains the huge disparity in prices. I may be mistaken, but I don't think "light duty" oil bath axles are readily available. I think they're typically 10k# and up which are not that practical on a small car hauler.