The Cal-look Lounge

Me and Adele are on the lookout for a trailer for the bug and I'm just looking for any tips/advice if poss!

What trailers (make and most importantly size) do you guys use (this is more aimed at the UK guys!) are they tilt bed, winch? We definately need one that I can load and unload the car totally on my own because of Adele's back issues. We found a nice trailer with tilt bed and winch for £1100 but its 21ft long(overall length) which makes storage a question..

Any advice/help would be very cool

Thanks
Steve

Best advice for towing is to get hold of a nose weight gauge - people didn't believe that my car had to go onto my trailer with the engine at the back! Put the gauge under the tow ball and move the car about until you've got the weight spot on, then mark it in place. That way, no towing issues - Adele knows how often we'd fly up and down to Pod or Shakey with the car on the back, and the speeds Dad would tow at... ;)

All depends on your Buget,

I have been using my brian James race box for a few years now, and the only fault with it is that the sides arnt flat, so its hard storing stuff in there, but its tows real well, its done thousands of miles.

as for advice on picking one, get a good brand I for williams / Brian James ect. and you cant go far wrong. if your going for the open type then try and get one with a storage box on the front, its always handy having a place for the straps.

4 wheel ones tow better but are harder to move about by hand, tilt beds are easyer to load, and if you can put a winch on it do so, as its much easyer when you bust somthing!

take a look at racecar direct they have a good sellection.

http://www.racecarsdirect.com/category.php?cat=_1_2_3_4_5


martin.

Make sure you've got somewhere safe to store it.  It's heart breaking when some pikey twat steals your's off your driveway.   >:( :'(

 Ive insured mine for 5K with the NFU, only cost £90.00 a year.

I'll do the same if I ever get another one.  Is that insured anywhere i.e. at the track, etc, or just at your home address?

anywhere, but the contents arnt insured.

Berni and Joe G insure there racecars and trailers, if you ask i'm sure they will tell you. cheeper than you would think.


Martin.

Cheers.

Only one.... Brian James trailers, they are the best for towing with our a doubt 100mph behind a V8 Toureg no problem. trust me.

Brian James all the way. The only downside is you sometimes forget your towing
IMHO every other manufacturer seem to make their trailers to heavy. The BJ clubman trailer is great value also.

A good tow vehicle also helps.

Thanks all for your replies  :)

What size trailers do you have or use? I've been looking at around 13ft bed size..?

Hi Steve,

Don't know if you only want a trailer or maybe a transporter.
I'm putting my Mitsubishi Canter up for sale after this weekend.
Got a car to take to the Beaulieu Autojumble and will be at Shakey for the Hot Rod Drags Saturday eve and racing Sunday with my 67. That's this season done.
Only selling it as I want to buy a truck/motorhome to take the car and sleep in for next year. No more tents for me.
It's 3.5 t + 1t towing, electric winch taxed and Mot'ed. Needs a little tarting up but it's mechaniclly ok.

Frank

Hey dude, it's just the trailer we need as we got the motorhome to tow it with  :)

Hi Guys,

I forget the exact name, but there is a BJ (I think) trailer that will fit in a lock-up - which might solve your storage issues - its quite small and narrow and the drawbar folds up too

I know Simonski has got one and he stores his buggy on it together in a lock-up - I think its called a Minnow or something like that...

Try this - http://www.brianjames.co.uk/pages/trailers/minnomax.html

Here's one that I built to haul my drag car. It's very light and tows well, which I attribute to the fact that the trailer axle is located under where the stock jack points on the pan used to be.

Since taking this photo, I've added tie down loops to the front.

(http://www.ellisengineering.net/images/DSC01510_640.jpg)

Here is a very rudimentary drawing of the dimensions (you'll have to convert to cm... ;D)

(http://www.ellisengineering.net//images/asst/trailer.jpg)

Sorry to go Off topic, but is your car finished Eric? I have seen shots of it on BigWig and it looks awesom congrats!

Rob.

Getting back to trailers, I am sure I was told that by law now a car trailer has to be twin axle? Anyone know if that right or another urban myth lol

Besides distributing the weight better, an axle that far back makes the trailer useless for front engine cars.  Less chance of everyone you know wanting to borrow it.  Also screws up the thief.

In Norway the registration papers for your car say that the load on the hitch should be 75 kg (165lbs). When I got my trailer I placed a bathroom scale under the tip of the trailer and rolled the bug forward until it was spot on. This was achieved with the front forward... I have on several occasions been doing 160 km/h (100 miles/h) with it after my relativity light Audi a4 - 1600 kg (3527lbs) and you cant even feel the trailer behind your car. I would give the tow vehicle some thought before deciding on the trailer. Mine is one of these:
(http://www.quattroco.com/utleie/tralle/1.jpg)

I have used my good friend Tim's Brian James Clubman trailer a few times. He uses it for a Mini race car, but my VW fits on it really well. It is a twin axle, but very compact. Measuring up I think it will go in my [single] garage.

A trailer is the last thing I'll buy before going racing next year. I will be ordering a Brian James Clubman from new as they are only about £1100 inc VAT from memory. Well worth buying new rather than 2nd hand as they are not much different on ebay from what I have seen.

cheers,

J.

Hi Jonny,

Yeah I looked at buying new but the cheapest one with a tilt bed is £1569 + VAT then you have to add on a winch so we're looking at £2k+ which is out of our budget. The cheapest twin axle (but no tilt) is £1369 + VAT + winch.

We have found a secure storage facility 15 minutes away from our house so that makes things easier than storing it at our house, the trailer we have found is a Bateson so it's a good brand and this particular trailer retails for over £3k. I think we might take a punt on it as its cheap and if it's not suitable, move it on!

Thanks for everyones help  :)

Steve

Next topic..... Caravans........  :D :D :D :D

Dare I suggest the 'bay of doom...?

Brian James Car Transporter trailer 2006 Item number: 190250388698

Luckily, your laws don't apply in the rest of the world.

My trailer,weight 620 kg.

Hi Stian,

How are You?
I look out to see you guys again, have a save trip to Bitburg and see you Friday, I will arrive around 9 PM.

Nice trailer, this is something that is also at my " wanted" list, It is always nice when you can arrive at a meeting with a shiny car.

See you.