Car-towed utility trailer

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drummingpariah
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Car-towed utility trailer

Post by drummingpariah »

With next year as my first season racing the 240z (once it's put together) and no tow vehicle/trailer/etc, I'm trying to come up with a way to bring a few spare parts to the track in case I break something. Bringing a spare body or engine isn't practical (if I break either of those, I'm going to have to pay for a tow home) but the transmission, diff, axles, wheels/tires, brakes all seem reasonable to carry spares along. Bringing along spares requires that I bring a basic toolset (battery-powered impact gun, sockets, jack, jack stands) as well. The problem I'm running into is that the 240z just doesn't have much space in it, so I've been considering a small car-towed trailer as an economical option (buying a truck/trailer isn't cheap). Because I'm already reinforcing the unibody rails and adding a cage, I imagine adding a low-capacity tow hook shouldn't be too much extra work.

In summary:
I want to tow a small trailer using the car I'll be driving for the weekend with some limp-home essentials loaded up on it. Something along these lines:
Image

I've noticed that anyone with a trailer has a full-blown car trailer and a truck to haul it. Ideally, I'd like an enclosed trailer with a hot tub and massage table, but my budget only allows for so much. Is there a compelling reason to avoid going through with this plan, or are there any special considerations that I may not think of? My towing experience is limited to hauling a number of RV's around a campground with a tractor and moving boats in a boatyard, this is my first time planning out how much weight I'm hauling, and what I'm hauling it with.

Thanks guys (and ladies)
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Rabbit Farmer
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Re: Car-towed utility trailer

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

A great option would be a small enclosed utility trailer to keep everything dry and to offer more space. There are always a lot of these trailers for sale on craigslist (perhaps even racingjunk.com).

Steve
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drummingpariah
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Re: Car-towed utility trailer

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My concern would be keeping the overall weight low enough to be able to tow with a ~150hp Datsun. Weight adds up pretty quickly, and if I were to bring along all the spares I want like a spare engine and a hoist, I'd hit 1000lbs of total trailer weight pretty quickly (pulled by a car that weighs just under 2000lbs). Racingjunk is all a bit more 'dedicated' than I am at this point, I couldn't find any trailers on there under 16ft.

NOW I think I see what you were referring to. Something like this?
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walterclark
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Re: Car-towed utility trailer

Post by walterclark »

From what I read on the GRM board the light utility trailer like you pictured is popular with the autox crowd and maybe as much as I would want to tow with a small car.

I cant speak for its durability but HF sells a couple that seem like a decent starting point. They are light, have around 1000 net carry capacity and look to be easy to customize say with a large utility box to hold things, plus 4 tires. If you would tow at interstate speeds I would go with the tallest tire model you can afford to reduce bearing and tire wear - look for tires that are DOT approved, a lot of the really tiny tired trailers are not and I think not really suited to highway use. Perhaps like this at the entry level: http://www.harborfreight.com/1090-lb-ca ... 90153.html Of course you would want to know the total footprint of the 4 tires and utility box before deciding on a trailer so you dont end up with one that is too small to hold them. The one above might just be a bit too small for 4 big tires and some utility boxes (many of which are around 48" wide and made to fit in a pickup truck bed).
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Re: Car-towed utility trailer

Post by Chief Geek »

drummingpariah wrote:keeping the overall weight low enough to be able to tow with a ~150hp Datsun
If Jamie's Honda Odyssey can haul an M3, tools, and camping gear to Colorado and the M3 to the top of Pike's, I can't believe power is really the limit. You'd still be way faster than a loaded semi.

So long as you don't "need" to do 75 mph uphill on the interstate, I'm betting the controlling factors are stability, stopping, and wear on the 240. Having had a daily driver with an honest 0-60 time of 24 sec, power is over-rated when there's no clock. ('95 M-B E300 Diesel, 120 hp, 4200 lb, worked great.)

Paul
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Re: Car-towed utility trailer

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

I thought I replied earlier, but don't see it now.

Here is what I was thinking of.... 5x8 utility trailer.

Steve

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