I didn't mean to start too much of a sidetrack originally.

I did tow a harbor freight trailer with me to Memphis to the NFME in 2005 and I used it for autcrosses with my 2002 Z28. I think I got about 26 mpg or so going to Memphis, but we were towing close to 80 and it's been years (so I might remember wrong). The mileage wasn't bad. A small enclosed trailer may be much worse though, but still cheaper than operating a truck.

Howdy,

I'm with Phil. I tow an enclosed trailer so that I can:

* Bring more crap that I might want (two sets of tires, spares, lots of tools, jacks, etc.

* Be more comfortable when I get there (I've hung out in the trailer on cold days, with a heater running, for instance, get out of the weather, etc.)

* Be more comfortable on the way there (me, wife, & son wouldn't fit in the camaro at all, even if you discount wanting to bring stuff)

* Be able to get back home if something real breaks (i.e. anything in the drivetrain, hub falls apart & ejects wheel, or whatever)

I don't do it to save money.

Mark

(and Phil, I'd say that an enclosed trailer isn't really any more hassle than an open trailer, as long as you have space to store it. Easier in "usability" ways in every way except for tieing down the car, when you have to squeeze in between the car/walls).

I guess I should add...I am single and travel with other people who happen to have tow rigs/trailers...so I always have a backup.

Once I got an enclosed, my life became a lot simpler.
The trailer is stocked and ready to go. All I do is load the car, strap it down and go. No worries about packing or worse NOT packing something I need.

Last I checked there is NO way to economically justify competition.
Quibbling over a couple hundred bucks in fuel while scrubbing off thousands in tires and brakes seems rather senseless to me.

I tow a 4 x 8 Utility trailer behind my Z-28. The trailer has been set up to carry a center mounted set of tires. There are large ABS plastic storage boxes at each end (easily removable if needed). I carry a fairly decent supply of tools, jackstands, floor jack and spares as well as gas cans. I get 22-25 mpg towing in 5th gear from NJ to WGI on interstates.

The bad news: if/when the car breaks at an event, you not only lack a means of getting home, you have both the car and the trailer to deal with. Happened to me last year at WGI. Had the car towed to a friend's garage (152.6 mi. tow) and had to borrow a truck and go back to WGI to fetch the trailer. It was a real PITA.

If funds allowed, I'd take the pltes off the car and trailer it in a heartbeat- so to speak.

It all comes down to how confident you are about your car. For autox (which is much gentler on the car, but not the driver!), a tire trailer seems like a great way to cut costs. If you've worked the bugs out of the car, and the drivetrain is reliable, then the major worry is crash damage, which I would guess for most folks is a remote possibility (and then begging a tow/trailer from a friend for the ride home is still cheap compared to the repair). I've been wanting to drive the Camaro to events, instead of towing with the Durango R/T (4wd, 5.9 gas, 3.91 gears) at 11 mpg / 70 mph. Bumping it to 80+ drops mileage to 9 mpg, while the Camaro gets over 20, even with the 8.1:1 turbo motor (thank you T56 .50 6th gear!). A friend broke down in MD on the way to NFME Memphis last month, and we unloaded the Camaro in a Walmart parking lot at 3am, loaded up his TransAm, and then continued on the way, with me driving the Camaro, and Mark trailering his TA with the Durango. 850 miles later, we arrived, and I was confident in the camaro, with the flawless drive down (it's the most I've driven it in years!). After the 1st track session (in the wet, mind you!), I went to put it in reverse in the paddock, and found it wasn't there. The mainshaft roller bearing had wiped itself out, along with the reverse gear needle bearing and synchro, so I was thankful I had a trailer to drive back with.

Last year at Watkins Glen - broke the spare T56, had to trailer home 300 miles. Before that, cracked both front rotors very hugely at WGI during the last session of the weekend, and just loaded it up on the trailer, instead of staying overnight Sunday to wait for Napa to open on Monday, wrenching, and missing a day of work.

The other benefit of the trailer is you can load the car up at home at your leisure with the brakes bled, race pads on, race tires mounted, and just roll it off at the track, ready to go. With the tire trailer, you'll be wrenching first thing in the morning and unpacking the car at the track. If it rains, then it really sucks!

My thoughts - if you don't push it to the limit AND your car is reliable (i.e. you don't need to do any maintenance above brake pads/fluid at the track), then the tire trailer seems to make sense. If you think there's a chance of something going wrong, and you've relied on the trailer in the past to get home, I'd suck up the extra hundreds in fuel cost, and keep using it. My wife would love if I got rid of the open trailer parked next to the house, rid of the Durango, rid of the Camaro, and traded it all in on a C5 Z06 that I drove to events, but I'll keep refining the Camaro until it's more streetable again. Either that, or sell it all and build a Factory Five Cobra (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

A.

This post has been edited by z28tt: Jun 11 2008, 01:24 PM

A few years after I started autocross, my wife and I were on our way to dinner one night. She mentioned that she noticed the brochure for racing gas on my desk. I only had it because the owner of a speed shop handed it to me while I was getting something else, but I had been drooling a little. She said she knew I spent a lot of money on parts, but she thought shipping in special gasoline was over the top. She also said something similar about car haulers.

Hmmm, I think to myself. Parts are OK, special gas and a hauler are not. I can live with that, no need to debate it any further (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Actually, I could get away with the trailer. I don't have my 3/4 ton anymore, so an open aluminum trailer would be the best bet. I ponder it at times, but I don't really want it in the way between events. I'd probably still change tires at the event, since it goes a lot faster in a roomy parking lot than on my gravel driveway or squeezed into the garage. If I ever go to an event more than an hour or two away, I may rent a trailer just to cover the breakdown issue. Even minor stuff like brakes would be easier to fix leisurely at home instead of dog-tired in the hot sun or rain, and it cuts down on the number of spare parts to carry.

For a long time, my working trailer was a 4x6 from Tractor Supply. After using one of those black plastic Walmart tool boxes for a while, I switched to a 4' rectangular (no overhang) polished aluminum box from tractor supply. It had the most usable room of anything I looked at, and the top is insulated. Between that and the polished finish, it keeps the contents fairly cool and slightly more secure than the black plastic.

My current trailer is roughly 3.5' x 8' and enclosed. It has big doors on both sides that flip up (think gull wing) for easy loading. I built a wooden tire rack that runs lengthwise, biased toward one side, and has a few beams across the top as shelf space. The body is light luan plywood with a 2x4 frame on a steel chassis, and covered with white aluminum. I can haul a lot of crap in it (spares, cooler, old tires to sell, etc), and it gives me a place to put all my stuff to keep it dry in case of rain. That gets me out of needing to strip the car ahead of time. All I need to do is fill the air tank, put a fresh battery on the impact wrench, and I'm ready to go. Except for the tire rack, the trailer was originally built for hauling model airplanes. I found it for sale beside the road because it apparently wasn't big enough.

The enclosed white trailer maintains a stable enough temperature in moderate weather that I can leave the tires loaded outside. In mid-summer or freezing weather, I still move the tires into the garage (or the whole trailer if I'll be using it again soon).

That brings me to the big shortcoming of open tire trailers. Black tires laying in the sun get HOT fast (even more so than when somewhat shaded by a fender, and it's not good for them. Tarps help slightly but it takes several layers to make much difference. One year, I made a tire cover from aluminized bubble wrap insulation, but that was a lot of hassle. I'd give serious thought to building some kind of box for the tires. Even light plywood painted white will make a big difference.

I'd give serious consideration to at least building some kind of box for the tires.

This post has been edited by sgarnett: Jun 11 2008, 01:35 PM

This pic is over 5 years old, and shows a 4x4 (I think) Harbor Freight with a "truck box" on one ends and four tires on the other.

Not my trailer, but I will say it has seen solid triple digit speeds while pulling away from a Mustang at least once. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/rotf.gif)

(IMG:http://chuckb.1le.net/01_trans_am/images/ta_with_tire_trailer.jpg)

This post has been edited by 98_1LE: Jun 11 2008, 02:02 PM

Sean,

Do you have a picture of your trailer?

Not at the moment, but I'll try to grab some.

At an autocross event last year, my friend over revved his Corvette and took out all the valve springs. It was missing and banging at anything over 1,500 rpm. So, we put street tires back on my Camaro and tossed his C4 Corvette on the trailer. I towed him home and Racerdad916 drove my Camaro back to my place. It was only about 50 miles, so it wasn't a major issue (and my friend lives 3 miles from me). He had a tire trailer with him and I wound up putting his tire trailer up on end and strapping it to the side of my bed, we put the black plastic box in the bed, his spare wheels and my spare wheels. The bed was full (good thing it was an 8 foot bed because it was packed solid), but we got all the parts to the right places.

I'm not so sure about that ... I've heard hits on a rev limiter at an AX more time than I ever hear or see at a road course.

I will grant that DE carnage is becoming all too common. A local DE group is taking notice and re-vamping it's instructor criteria and it's run group advancement criteria. I think it's a step in the right direction. WtoW racing is another story altogether. Safety requirements in of itself many times promotes a platform out of class, rendering it uncompetitive.

To keep the subject on topic ...

There was a group of us, maybe 7 or 8 at one time, that attended DE runs at local road courses. By local, within 4 hours of home. We had an agreement that if a car got hurt, a non-hurt car would get towed home while the normally towed car would be driven as not everyone had a trailer.

There were only 2 or 3 of the group that did. And only once in 3 or 4 years did that option ever have to be excercised.

Carnage is always a possibility. But the liklihood is remote if your car is well maintained and prepared.

Another way of looking at it is a $500 tow fee once every 3 years is a LOT cheaper than a $3000 trailer, $20,000 truck and the storage space to park them.

Now you tell me. Geez, I thought I could count on you to help me out here man. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

I'll see you at the DC Pro. I bought my first tow vehicle and trailer in 2000. The truck was a 68 F250 CS I bought for $1500 and a brand new 16' open trailer for $1700. I sold my Ford Ranger for $1000 to get the F250, so it was only $500 to upgrade to the bigger truck. The truck was great and never left me stranded in the 60k miles I had it, but on the 1100 mile tow to Kansas I was missing some of the features of a newer truck (sound deadening (SP?)). You can get trucks cheap and they make great winter beaters.


Living this close to DC, storing the trailer has been an issue. The wife and I are looking to buy a house at the end of this year. Finding a house that has ample parking, garage, and spot to put the trailer has been difficult. The house we are renting right now has a single car wide driveway that is 2" wider then the trailer itself. I'm getting real good at backing the trailer into tight spaces!

I, too, used to pull a small trailer to track events behind the camaro. I blew a clutch disc and thought I could limp 85 miles home since nobody else was heading my way with a trailer. I got half way home and had to put it on the shoulder. I have AAA but they do nothing but charge you commercial rates to tow the trailer home after the car is loaded on their flatbed. That was the final straw. I bought Mitch's open trailer and now I tow the car. Much easier on the nerves. Granted I had to beef up the suburban, but what the heck, just another project!

I certainly wish I had kept that trailer. It was a good one ...

Mitch, it still is. Except it is black, with an airscreen now

damn!

I broke at an autoX earlier this year at Giants Stadium. My rear flexible brake line from the body to the rear failed. $350+/- ($75 hookup fee + 64 miles at $4/mile) later I was home. That single incident convinced me that an open trailer is in my future. The first thought that jumped to my mind was what if this had happened at Pocono, Watkins Glen, Limerock or some other place that was hundreds of miles and hours away? I would have been completely screwed....

I considered the HFT tire trailer, but that's a $500 deal by the time you buy it, outfit it, buy the hitch for your car etc. etc. and it still offers little to no saftey net if you break and only complicates the tow home. That's 1/3 the price of a used open trailer, so if you have the tow vehicle already, I'd go for the open trailer and the greater functionality it offers.

I already own a 97 2500 4x4 CTD and it knocks down 18-20 mpg consistently, so an open trailer makes more sense and offers a much better saftey net in the event of a failure. It is probably overkill if strictly for autoX, but piece of mind is worth something. If I had to buy a dedicated tow vehicle, it'd be a more difficult decision for sure.....but I'd still lean heavily towards a tow vehicle/open trailer if the the events are further than an hour away.

Chris

I've gone from jamming 4 tires/jack/tools in a car to drive hundreds of miles to autocross, had friends with tire trailers and convoyed with them and then also open and enclosed.

If you are indeed climbing the pyramid then I've never seen anyone go smaller or less on the trailer towing capacity. Yes, fuel prices suck, but my dmax will mostly sit in the driveway and I'll daily drive the 1LE. Fuel costs arent too bad if you only drive it when you need it. Racing will never make financial sense, so I'm not even going to go there.

(IMG:http://www.witchdoctormotorsports.com/ch82pic05.jpg)
28' of car/tools/spares/golf cart carrying goodness! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/cool2.gif)

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