Question about car trailers

[Paul G]

I am looking for an open car trailer to own. Besides hauling my Charger it will be used for general hauling as well. Some trailers have a dove tail rear some not. Some have brakes on only one axle, some on both. 16', 18', 20' length? Is a 16' adequate or is the 18' required? I plan on keeping it in a 24' deep garage. I am not sure a 20' long trailer will fit in there with the door closed? My tow vehicle is an 01 Ram 1500 with tow package. It has the round plug. What will need to be done to hook up the brakes? Your thoughts.

[chrisII]

if your truck has the tow package you may not nead to do anything to hook up brakes. at one point years ago i know that tow package trucks had a controll buildt in..i may be wrong on this as ive never had a newer truck lol. i myself dont think you nead over a 16 foot,if its balanced right you really only nead around 13 feet to fit your car on it.  im not a big fan of dovetails as they cause most cars to drag. i believe that in some states onlt one axle is required to have brakes, in others its all wheels. if i had my option i would go with 4 wheel brakes, its a no brainer that more breaks = faster stop distance. if you nead all four one time in your life it is worth having them, even if you dont its nice to know they are there.

[Charger4404spd]

You need at least an 18' trailer for the Charger. 16' with 2 ' dovetail is perfect. Be sure to measure distance between fenders. Anything over 83"  if I remember right will be fine.
If your truck doesnt have a trailer brake controller, you will have to add one. Just a few wires to hook up, pretty simple. Dont worry about getting a trailer with dual brakes. One axle brakes work real well. Featherlite makes great aluminum light weight trailers but they are very expensive. $4000 range.
Personally I would get a full metal bed model.

[694spdRT]

Your '01 Dodge should have a brake controller plug in under the dash next to the fuse box if it came with the true factory trailer towing package. If I remember right it is just to the left of the fuse box. A trailer brake contoller plug harness should have been provided by Dodge if you bought the truck new. If it is not there you can buy one from Dodge or get an aftermarket one. 

You then just buy a brake controller and splice it in to the plug in harness. It is really easy and makes a nice clean job.  All you need to do then is plug your new trailer into the round plug and you will have electric brakes. There is an adjustment wheel or slide bar on the brake controller to manually set the trailer brakes depending on your load.

[Highbanked Hauler]

Something you might want to consider is a fan assisted trans.cooler unless the truck has a huge cooler on it.I put a trans.temp.gage in my truck and the first long hill I hit the gage PEGGED at 250 degrees so I don't know what the real temperature was.With the cooler it runs about 170-190*The highest I have seen it is 225* and that was climbing the side of a mountain.

[NHCharger]

You need at least an 18' trailer for the Charger. 16' with 2 ' dovetail is perfect. Be sure to measure distance between fenders. Anything over 83"  if I remember right will be fine.

Yep, what he said. I have an 18' wood deck trailer. It has a 2' dovetail. I have no problem hauling my Chargers on it. A lot of guys will recommend the steel deck trailers. As long as you treat the wood every couple years, including the under side the wood deck will last a long time. Being a contractor I haul assorted junk from time to time and with a wood deck you can screw down 2x4's for stop blocks. Two items to check. The angle of the dovetail, if it's too steep your going to scrape your exhaust system on it. Height of the fenders, if their too high you'll be playing the Dukes having to crawl through the window. I'll check the height on mine tommorrow.
I think some state require brakes on all axles, you might want to check your state, I wouldn't consider towing my Charger with out brakes four all 4 trailer wheels.
As far as the frame of the trailer you want a box frame or C channel. A L channel frame is the weakest and cheapest.

[PocketThunder]

I bought a manual tilt bed trailer from H&H Trailer.  www.hhtrailer.com  this thing is the bomb!  No ramps to mess with, one angle loading...  its the best one i have used..

[Telvis]

I have a 16' extra wide trailer. I haul my car with no problems. It is a dual axle trailer with brakes. I have had it for less than a year but have hauled several cars and a ton of heavy loads long distance. I have never had any problems at all. I have an 05 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. My truck has the Tow package from the factory. It still requires a brake controller. The tow package includes a wiring harness for connecting the controller.

[Todd Wilson]

Your Ram with a tow package should be just fine for towing. It is wired up for a brake controller if its a factory tow package. Should be a plug towards the right of the gas pedal for it. With tow package you should have all the cooling you need. Plan to shut the OD off when pulling and dont cry about MPG when doing so. 1 axle brake is ok but 2 would be better for the trailer.

Get at least a 18foot trailer. Get a dove tail unless you get one of those fancy tilt trailers. If you plan on hauling various things a tilt trailer may or may not be a good thing depending on the model you get. Some you have to get over the center of gravity to get it to come down. Tilt trailers are cool and do their designed job well but they do have extra moving parts that could be a problem later on. Also think about one person loading. Its good to have another person spot you as you load up but not always the case.

Plan for tie downs for the Charger. Most trailers dont have good tie downs in convenient locations for a Charger. I would look into how you are going to tie the Charger down to the trailer and go find a trailer that has these tie downs or can be added easily. Plan to spend money on tie down equipment.  Some people use chains and boomers and others use the nylon ratchet straps. I think nylon when used in the right spots is good but in other spots where it can wear and possibly be cut in half while towing is not a good thing. When hauling the Charger you not only want it to stay on the trailer but you dont want it coming forward if you have to brake hard so you want to think about tie downs towards the rear of the trailer to hold the Charger from going forward. Axle straps and ratchet tie downs work good for this.  This is one complaint I have with my trailer I dont have any good rear areas to tie down to.


I would get a flat trailer with no sides as this is easier for car hauling. You can add wood sides later as most have pockets to fit into  if you ever need to haul some sand or gravel from the quarry  or furniture accross town.

Trailers are something that you wont use for 5 months and then all of a sudden its being used daily for weeks on end and you dont know what you would do with out it. Indoor storage will sure be very good on your trailer as sitting outside gets hard on paint,tires and wood decks over time. Its about 400$ to redeck a 16foot trailer with treated wood right now. Plan for a flat tire and how you are going to deal with it. Invest in a bottle jack and a spare and have it with you at all times.


Todd

[694spdRT]

Your Ram with a tow package should be just fine for towing. It is wired up for a brake controller if its a factory tow package. Should be a plug towards the right of the gas pedal for it.
Todd

I am almost positive both the '01 Ram I had and my dad's '01 Ram had the brake controller plug in to the left of the pedals up by the fuse box because I installed both of them. We had 2500 and 3500 series trucks. Is there a difference with the 1500?

[MGBRingo]

I also have a 20 foot H&H tilt bed trailer.  Best pulling and easiest loading tailer I have ever used.  Check them out.  Mine is a 20 footer alos.   I think 18 feet would be big enough but 20 footer is really nice.

[Charger4404spd]

I also have a 20 foot H&H tilt bed trailer.  Best pulling and easiest loading tailer I have ever used.  Check them out.  Mine is a 20 footer alos.   I think 18 feet would be big enough but 20 footer is really nice.

Nice trailer Ringo, havent seen those before. Guess those are on the expensive side.

[PocketThunder]

I also have a 20 foot H&H tilt bed trailer.  Best pulling and easiest loading tailer I have ever used.  Check them out.  Mine is a 20 footer alos.   I think 18 feet would be big enough but 20 footer is really nice.

Nice trailer Ringo, havent seen those before. Guess those are on the expensive side.

A H&H 20 foot manual tiltbed is only $2500..  thats seems like a good deal to me.  At least up here its hard to get into a 20' 7000# trailer for less than $2000...

[Todd Wilson]

Your Ram with a tow package should be just fine for towing. It is wired up for a brake controller if its a factory tow package. Should be a plug towards the right of the gas pedal for it.
Todd

I am almost positive both the '01 Ram I had and my dad's '01 Ram had the brake controller plug in to the left of the pedals up by the fuse box because I installed both of them. We had 2500 and 3500 series trucks. Is there a difference with the 1500?

1500's I have seen are just to the right of the gas pedal up right under the plastic. Maybe theres a difference in years and or sizes of the truck. Either way if its got the factory tow package the brake controller isnt a big deal to install.


On a side note with the tow package you have a 12volt wire in your trailer plug. Some trailers with batteries allow a charge from the trailer plug. This is on the same circuit as your fuel pump and its not uncommon for the trailer/plug to have a short and pop your fuse which will kill your truck and leave you dead!



Todd

[Old Moparz]

Not much to add to all the above posts except you may want to measure the exact depth of the space inside your garage. A garage with a 24 foot depth, will not actually be 24 feet. The wall thickness front & rear, the garage door thickness, the depth of the door tracks, & also the horizontal struts/supports mounted on the rear face of the overhead door, will all change the available depth. I've put several B-Body cars on my 16' dove tail trailer with no length issues. (a '70 Road Runner, '68 & '69 Chargers & also a '71 Barracuda)

I wanted an 18 foot, but for the same reason as you, I wanted to put the trailer into a 24 foot deep garage with room to spare.


Here's a link to a topic on Moparts.com that had some B-Body & trailer info. Also has links & pics:

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=Test&Number=2161084&Searchpage=4&Main=2160221&Words
=Old_Moparz&topic=&Search=true#Post2161084

One more thing, there is a brake controller device that some people have recommended. (After I bought mine of course.) It automatically adjusts to the weight of the load called Tekonsha Prodigy. They're on ebay all the time for about $79 or so. You may already have a plug connector under the dash so there's no splicing involved.

Here's the link:
http://www.tekonsha.com/prodig.html

[Paul G]

I found the plug under the dash. It is just to the left of the brake pedal above a wire harness. The pigtail plug and instructions were in a plastic bag under the rear seat.

Thanks for the info on the trailer 12v wire fuse also being the fuel pump fuse.

[Todd Wilson]

I been trying to find another picture of my 71 on my 16foot trailer to show you  but I feel like the 16foot trailers are just a tad too short. I would like to have more room on the rear then what a 16foot gives. Also with your 1500, tongue wieght is something you need to be a tad more concerned with then if you had a 2500 or 3500. With the longer trailers you can put the car forward or backward on the trailer to help adjust for this more. This also goes back to what I said in a previous message about proper tie down locations on the trailer.




Todd

[NHCharger]

A H&H 20 foot manual tiltbed is only $2500..  thats seems like a good deal to me.  At least up here its hard to get into a 20' 7000# trailer for less than $2000...

Wow, I consider that a smokin' deal for a trailer like that. My trailer that I described above cost me $2,200.00 including the spare. That was the best trailer I could find under $ 2,500.00 and I still had to drive 1 1/2 hours to get it. I think part of the problem is all the trailer manufacturers are in the south and mid west and we get poked for shipping costs up here.
I'm picking my Charger up Tuesday or Wednesday. I'll post a pic of it on the trailer so you get an idea of the car to trailer size.

[skip68]

Be very careful when tying down, especially if the trailer has a wood deck. I used my dads brand new 20' tilt trailer with a wood deck to get my '68 from L.A. to Sacramento and had to stop every 30 miles or so do to trailer flex..   I checked my tie downs twice before I hit the freeway and they were good, BUT,,,,when I stopped at a rest stop I found the only thing holding my beautiful clean charger on the trailer was the E-brake in the car ........ I lost three truck straps and ALL of my faith in the tilt wood decks That dammmmm trailer had more flex in it than a wet noodle!!! I can't say they are all bad, but just be careful what you get   I'll see what brand it is and post it later............................Chuck........

[R2]

I have a 16' trailer,,,steel bed, dual axle,,,,blah,blah,,,etc,,,,
I pull it with my Ram1500....no problems,,,,i installed a brake box,,,,to control the brake application,,,,
I can pull the Belvedere or Charger with it,,,,with no problems,,,,,
Has hog rings in front and back,,,,with great places to attach your tow straps to....
Trailer NEW was $1600....was supposed to be $2100,,,but they quoted me wrong,,,,and honored the price they initially told me. 
It has a dove tail,,,,and the ramp load on the side....

[Chargen69]

This is what my 69 looks like on my 16' long 82" wide open trailer







I wished I had waited and bought a trailer that tilted, when I loaded this one the first time, the back of the suburban just about was off the ground.  What I have done since is to put a couple of jack stands under the rear of the trailer.

[R2]

Chargin,,,,,NICE !!!
both car AND trailer,,,,,

Do you know the width of your ramps ??
they look nice and wide,,,,mine are 12" wide,,,,,i would love to find some wider,,,not much luck,,,
I can get my car on and off no problem,,,,but it makes me a bit nervous,,,,with the size of the ramps,,,,,

[Chargen69]

When I get home today, I'll measure and let you know.  I know they are twice the size of the tire.

[R2]

Thanks... 
(perhaps you know what "brand" they are,,,or the trailer brand ??)

[Chargen69]

Hey,
the ramps are 15 1/2" wide and 5 feet long, I'm sorry but I dont remember what brand it is, but here is one of there ebay auctions, you can email them and get any info.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4606713255&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCC_Pr12_PcY_BID_Stores_IT