Once I'm finished with the CMC build, I'd like to free up my garage spot. I'm going to have to pay to store the trailer, so I figured I might as well get an enclosed trailer so I can just keep the car in it.

Anyone do it? Any concerns or problems?

Thanks,
Steve

Not a good idea. Lots of cars get stolen that way. The target is always the trailer and the car is the bonus.
I do keep mine in my trailer, but my trailer is in my backyard.

I stored my Firebird in my trailer for years. No concerns with theft as it was on private property and well away from sight.

I used a plastic hall runner from Lowes to catch drips so as to not mess up my carpet. Also had a catch pan under the engine/trans. Real thin thing that I think was for gas/charcoal grills to drip on.

Make sure the top vents are solid and don't leak or can blow up. I used roof cement to keep the seams coated and in the inside dry.

In the winter I would drain the radiator and leave the hoses off/unhooked. Put the crappiest tires on the car and store the rest in your basement. If you have cabinets...get anything out that would freeze or be damaged by freezing.

They make locks that go inside the ball area and I had one of those when it was unhooked and not otherwise secure. Get good round padlocks for the doors. The kind that can't be cut with bolt cutters.

If you're not keeping it on your property...I wouldn't put any kind of stickers on it period and don't make a habit of having the doors open or load/unload the trailer at the storage area. I disagree with Glenn...theives are going after whatever is on the inside such as tools, car parts, ...etc. Very hard to sell a 24 foot stolen trailer on ebay. Much easier to sell roofing/concrete/drywall tools! At least here in the midwest...most trailers are found in the country abandoned with the contents missing.

Sidney

We have had a rash of empty trailers taken around here as of late. They were totally empty. If a guy is gonna steal a 24' enclosed for the contents, they are gonna open it up first. Stealing a trailer is theft, opening it is only vandalism. That carries a much lesser charge.
Trailers never turned up either.

I agree about the decals - makes it a bigger target.

While on this subject - guys here who store their trailers empty in storage lots store the doors unlocked. No need to damage a lock if it is open. They look in and see it is empty and walk away. They will bust locks to get in. I've seen the hinges cut as well leaving the door hanging by the lock.

"Security" and "surveillence" is another way of saying "it's a pain to access your trailer" and "you can watch the guys who stole yer shit on screen".

If you are going that route, get decent, replacement insurance on the car, trailer and contents. Then document the ba-jeezus out of car, trailer and contents.

The sticker thing goes both ways. I read an article written by a thief talking about him stealing cars and trailers and with the advent of social media and the ability to 'get the word out' much quicker than ever before, he was hesitant to steal a very customized car or a trailer that was wrapped or had lots of decals are so much more identifiable than a plain-jane car or a basic white trailer. Folks see them and remember them.

Food for thought.


Costas
cars and such...

Not sure if it's a good thing or not, but there are tons of race trailers around here, being that I live in the middle of NASCAR country. I would think if someone is going to steal a race car, it isn't going to be my Camaro.

I'll probably ensure it so I'm covered if someone steals the car and trailer. I really hope it won't be the issue, but you never know.

Good luck insuring your racecar. Normal auto policies will not touch a racecar and exclude any coverage from racing/track events. If this was your street car that was insured...you might keep Comprehensive coverage (Fire & Theft) on it but read your policy close for exclusions.

Another thing to read is your homeowners policy with regards to exclusion for auto parts. Most of that is specifically excluded on a homeowners policies.

The Trailer policy has some cargo coverage but again...check for exclusions. You don't want to mistakenly think because your trailer is insured that everything inside is covered.

Sorry to be so negative but I'm sure car parts "losses" from questionable claims...lead to these exclusions.

Sidney (Yes I use to work in Underwriting)

Also at least with the UK trailers, you don't want to store the car on the trailer for long periods as the suspension will start to sag. If you do then at least support the trailer body with stands to take pressure off the suspension blocks.

I've been going back and forth for a while now, but I've decided that I will be storing the car in the trailer. Maybe not all the time, but I want the option. Also, I'm thinking an enclosed trailer will be really nice to have while trails ring in bad weather, or even at the track at night.

I want a V nose for aerodynamic reasons. Is an 18 foot enough?

My dad lives 40 minutes away from me and has empty garage space. If I'm storing the car for a while, I'm sure he won't mind if I leave the race car at his house, and trailer in in storage. That way the trailer will be stored empty most of the time.

What's better do you think? Bigger and older? Or newer and smaller? I'm thinking an older 20' would probably be perfect.

You will fit in a 20 ft but I would recommend looking for one with the heavy axles for load.

That said, you likely would wish you had a 24 ft after a while. More room for tools, spares, wheels.

Trailers are on NASA all the time.

Shallow V-nose is useless for aero, I have one. If you're going to get a V, make sure it's at least 4' deep and perferably with a forward slope on it too. If you're looking for aero, you'd be better off with an 8' wide vs. an 8'6" wide. You can fill a 20' quick considering the car takes up 16' and most don't keep it real tight to the ramp door.

You guys that haul to and from the track with an open trailer, how do you deal with the rain?

I'm still thinking an inexpensive enclosed trailer would be best, but I'm entertaining an open because they are so cheap.

With an open trailer, if you're at the event, and it rains, you get wet. We have an open trailer, but it's short enough it fits nicely in a garage. Well, in a garage in an older house, anyway. I understand that most newer homes are significantly-restricted in the garage department. I know of a friend who bought a new house and his Impala SS wouldn't fit!

Anyway, our trailer fits in a garage, we've backed it into the garage, with the car on it, when we're not out at events. It was one of the sales points of this particular trailer. We've had it for nearly 15 years now. =8-O This trailer has the additional 'feature' of being open, so it works nicely for some under-car work. Changing tires, though is quite the hassle, so the car comes off the trailer for that.

We now have a shop that's big enough we could park an enclosed trailer (or a Prevost RV with a slide-out 'garage'), and have considered that. It would be nice to have the dry accomodations, but we usually don't race when it rains anyway.

And yeah, a 20' enclosed is going to be tight. one car, one tool box, one floor jack, two jack stands and perhaps a set of tires, and you're pretty full. You'll be needing some creative packing to include a generator and air compressor.

I'm definitely going to get an enclosed trailer. If I find a screaming deal on a 20', I'll buy it and deal with the small space, but I'm still keeping my eyes open for something larger. I'm not in a huge hurry, but I would like to have something within the next few months. Something like this would be perfect. I might have to rip out some of those cabinets though.

http://greensboro.craigslist.org/cto/3880601273.html


Does anyone rent their trailer when it's not in use? I don't know how insurance would work, but that could help recover some of the cost of the trailer. $200 a weekend maybe? That would add up quick, as long as they don't destroy it.

What do you guys think about that trailer? Does anyone rent their trailer when not in use?

Seems to have 6-lug axles (5200lb/ea) which is what you want. It's not worth it to have a 5-lug (3500lb/ea) axles in a 24' box. The checkerboard floor will peel eventually, they all do. Find out if the brakes work. Lots of people don't care if the brakes work "since I'm towing it with my dually anyway" or "we only went 30 miles away". I've got a trailer around that vintage that had that problem. It needed loaded backing plates and hubs since the surface where the magnets ride was worn out. That was $400 from etrailer.

The wiring will probably need to be re-done at some point if it hasn't yet. Trailer manufacturers seem to like using crappy run-and-tap connectors for everything.

If you don't mind putting in some work, I'd probably try to get it for $2500-3000.

Thanks for the response. I forgot to ask about the brakes, thanks for the reminder. Indefinitely want to make sure they are working, I know they can get expensive fast.


Has a anyone rented out their trailer when not in use? I know you risk someone banging it up, but seems like it would be a good way to recover some of the cost of the trailer and maintaince.

I've thought about it, but thinking about how most people treat rental anything. It's not worth it for me to have a claim against my insurance. It'd have to be through other racers if I rented it out, it would definitely not be a craigslist ad.

If you really want "good" aero, put a trailing v on the back. Most of the drag comes from the rear. But it will be a pain accounting for the extra 4 foot when backing up, unloading etc. But you could save some serious gas if done right, imo.

I've started to notice the 18 wheelers have those pull out flaps that make the rear a trailing V along with the side skirts....I've always wondered how much it helps.