I am in the market for a 30 foot enclosed trailer, probably triple axle for hauling 2 buggies around. What are the best/most cost effective brands? Im looking at pretty bare bones trailers and then finishing out the inside myself to fit my needs/wants. Anything I should look for or need to know?
Enclosed Trailer discussion
- Thread starter skippy
- Start date
- Location
- West Haven, UT
I've had both a 24' Wells Cargo and a 26' Haulmark Edge race trailers. I purchased the Wells Cargo car-hauler in the early 90's in a wrecked condition and rebuilt it myself. It turned out great and we drug that thing all over the western U.S. and into Canada behind two different coaches as well as used it for snowmobiling quite heavily for over 15 years. It held up well but was a bit lighter duty than I wanted so in 2008 I special ordered a 26' Haulmark Edge race trailer and rather than go with triple 5200 pound or even triple 6k pound axles I went with tandem 7k pound axles to avoid the tire scrub common with triple axle trailers. I also ordered it with an extra foot of height and loved that trailer. It had a 14k pound capacity and when we were racing it was typically loaded around 10.5k pounds and towed beautifully. After we got out of racing we hauled our Jeep Wrangler and our Harley Davidson Ultra CVO around behind our coach loaded around 13k pounds and it never faltered. I loved carrying my workshop with me but sold it about three years ago and just flat-tow our Jeep now.
I liked the Haulmark because the floor was built on 16" centers vs. the Wells Cargo that was on 24" centers. The Haulmark felt much more solid of a trailer. I also ordered it with the flush mounted tail lights in the ramp door which allows the ramp door to be full-width vs. a narrower door at the rear with the lights in the rear vertical supports. The ramp also felt more solid as well as the ramp hinge on the Haulmark. I actually had to cut the rear hinge off and replace it on the Wells Cargo about 3 or 4 years before we sold it. I fabricated a new hinge and installed grease zirks on the new hinge which seemed to help.
In my Haulmark I also added an 8k pound winch under the front work bench to aid in pulling cars into the trailer. On the Wells Cargo trailer it had a 4' wide door over the driver's side fender that opened thus allowing you to open the car door and exit the car once inside of the trailer. In theory it sounded like a good idea but I hated that feature and would never have it in another trailer. In the Haulmark rather than have a driver's side exit door I used the winch and it worked great plus less chance of dinging doors on the race cars or Jeep once inside, but with buggies that will be a non-issue.
I ran a couple of 110VAC receptacles and had fluorescent lights in the Wells Cargo and I like having that feature. When I ordered the Haulmark I had the white interior with fluorescent lighting as well as multiple 110VAC outlets so I didn't have to use extension cords when working in the trailer I much preferred that so I would suggest adding at least one at each end if not more. I had two in the front, two over the work bench and two at the rear of the trailer as well as two outside on the curb-side (right side) of the trailer. I also added two 500-watt halogen lights flush mounted in the exterior on the curb side which made it nice for working outside at the track.
As for side doors most come with a 36" wide entry door on the curb side with a recessed step in the floor of the trailer. My Wells Cargo trailer had that and I hated it. In my Haulmark I ordered the 48" wide front curb side door with the flat floor and then added a slide out step to the outside of the trailer which I much preferred. I hated that notched step in the floor of the trailer.
Mike
I liked the Haulmark because the floor was built on 16" centers vs. the Wells Cargo that was on 24" centers. The Haulmark felt much more solid of a trailer. I also ordered it with the flush mounted tail lights in the ramp door which allows the ramp door to be full-width vs. a narrower door at the rear with the lights in the rear vertical supports. The ramp also felt more solid as well as the ramp hinge on the Haulmark. I actually had to cut the rear hinge off and replace it on the Wells Cargo about 3 or 4 years before we sold it. I fabricated a new hinge and installed grease zirks on the new hinge which seemed to help.
In my Haulmark I also added an 8k pound winch under the front work bench to aid in pulling cars into the trailer. On the Wells Cargo trailer it had a 4' wide door over the driver's side fender that opened thus allowing you to open the car door and exit the car once inside of the trailer. In theory it sounded like a good idea but I hated that feature and would never have it in another trailer. In the Haulmark rather than have a driver's side exit door I used the winch and it worked great plus less chance of dinging doors on the race cars or Jeep once inside, but with buggies that will be a non-issue.
I ran a couple of 110VAC receptacles and had fluorescent lights in the Wells Cargo and I like having that feature. When I ordered the Haulmark I had the white interior with fluorescent lighting as well as multiple 110VAC outlets so I didn't have to use extension cords when working in the trailer I much preferred that so I would suggest adding at least one at each end if not more. I had two in the front, two over the work bench and two at the rear of the trailer as well as two outside on the curb-side (right side) of the trailer. I also added two 500-watt halogen lights flush mounted in the exterior on the curb side which made it nice for working outside at the track.
As for side doors most come with a 36" wide entry door on the curb side with a recessed step in the floor of the trailer. My Wells Cargo trailer had that and I hated it. In my Haulmark I ordered the 48" wide front curb side door with the flat floor and then added a slide out step to the outside of the trailer which I much preferred. I hated that notched step in the floor of the trailer.
Mike
The only reason I decided to do triple axles was the added security of being able to limp into town on 2 axles. Ill be hauling about 6k worth of vehicles and then maybe a 1000 pounds worth of toolboxes, spare tires and what not so the payload of triple axles isnt really "needed". I have been looking at the Look and Pace trailers. Both trailers have floor and wall supports on 16" centers both trailers come std with .030 but I have been thinking about upgrading to a .040 or .050 exterior skin and adding a few windows.
- Location
- West Haven, UT
I liked the .040" of my Haulmark as it didn't get the deflection that the .030" on my Wells Cargo did.
One thing I would NOT recommend is the screwless sides on the exterior or interior. They tried talking me into the screwless exterior for a cleaner look which I liked because I saw quite a few at the races and really liked that clean look. However, in our environment with the huge temperature swings from season to season they will not hold. I caved and went screwless on the interior but couldn't bring myself to go screwless on the exterior as my gut didn't like that. I wished I would have listened to my gut as I had nothing but issues with the interior for the first two years until I finally said enough is enough and fabricated some nice polished stainless steel strips to secure the interior panels. Haulmark was good about resecuring my interior panels but I was getting tired of having to deal with emptying out the trailer and taking it to them. I then realized that the guys who weren't having the issues were guys I knew from Arizona and California who didn't have to deal with the large temperature swings. We go from sub-zero to triple digits here whereas those guys only go from 60's to 110~ish and weren't seeming to have any issues with the metal moving enough to break the adhesive loose.
I didn't add windows because of how much I traveled with the coach towing the trailer and it was common for us to pull into a Home Depot, Walmart or casino and crash for the night while traveling to the races and I didn't want people getting nosy and looking inside of my trailer.
I don't know anything about the Look trailers but a couple of friends had Pace trailers and they liked them. I did a lot of research and found ATC and T&E to be among the best trailers built but they are pretty much special order and not as high volume of manufacturers and they were quite a bit more money than others but the quality was second to none. I kept seeing myself with either an ATC or T&E stacker but ended up getting out of racing and no longer needed an enclosed trailer.
One thing I would NOT recommend is the screwless sides on the exterior or interior. They tried talking me into the screwless exterior for a cleaner look which I liked because I saw quite a few at the races and really liked that clean look. However, in our environment with the huge temperature swings from season to season they will not hold. I caved and went screwless on the interior but couldn't bring myself to go screwless on the exterior as my gut didn't like that. I wished I would have listened to my gut as I had nothing but issues with the interior for the first two years until I finally said enough is enough and fabricated some nice polished stainless steel strips to secure the interior panels. Haulmark was good about resecuring my interior panels but I was getting tired of having to deal with emptying out the trailer and taking it to them. I then realized that the guys who weren't having the issues were guys I knew from Arizona and California who didn't have to deal with the large temperature swings. We go from sub-zero to triple digits here whereas those guys only go from 60's to 110~ish and weren't seeming to have any issues with the metal moving enough to break the adhesive loose.
I didn't add windows because of how much I traveled with the coach towing the trailer and it was common for us to pull into a Home Depot, Walmart or casino and crash for the night while traveling to the races and I didn't want people getting nosy and looking inside of my trailer.
I don't know anything about the Look trailers but a couple of friends had Pace trailers and they liked them. I did a lot of research and found ATC and T&E to be among the best trailers built but they are pretty much special order and not as high volume of manufacturers and they were quite a bit more money than others but the quality was second to none. I kept seeing myself with either an ATC or T&E stacker but ended up getting out of racing and no longer needed an enclosed trailer.
I plan on sleeping in the trailer at events so having the windows would make that much more enjoyable and allow for some air flow through the trailer. Security is a concern but we typically go from home to the event and back home. I dont picture security being an issue but you never know.
- Location
- West Haven, UT
Yeah, sounds like you'll be using it a bit different than how I used mine so you should be fine if you'll be in it. I just didn't like the possibility of people eyeballing the contents when I stopped for fuel, overnight in a parking lot or anytime for that matter.
- Location
- Richfield, UT.
No input on brands. If your after cost effective then are you looking at used trailers? I found my 24' 10k Loadrunner for a smoking deal. Here is my thread on my Nonsense.
I am open to used trailers but I cant find something that length and a triple axle.
- Location
- Grantsville, Utah
Why not just carry a complete third axle as a backup? That way you only have wear and tear and maintenance on two axles and four tires, and less drag.
The main reason I was going with a third axle is in the case of a failure I dont have to fix it until I get where Im going, I can just pull the tires off it and keep on driving
BCGPER
Starting Another Thread
- Location
- Sunny Arizona
I went with the Wells Cargo Silver Sport series trailer, 26' long. Smooth sides, all aluminum construction, two 5000# torsion axles with brakes on both.The door is 7'7" wide, with a curbside door of 36". I bought it new, and bare bones on the inside. I insulated the ceiling and walls with 1 1/2" foam, and installed LED lighting and 110V outlets. I installed a rubber floor, and upgraded the original tires with Maxis 8008 10 ply tires. It tows like a dream, I've got no complaints whatsoever. With the price of the trailer and all the upgrades I did to it, I'm in it just over $12K.
Where did you buy your trailer from?
Jesser04
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Kaysville Utah
Do enclosed trailers come with torsion axles? We had a situation with my dads horse trailer years ago and we were able to pull a tire off and get home on 3.
BCGPER
Starting Another Thread
- Location
- Sunny Arizona
Young Trailer Sales at RMR (trying to support RMR, a lot of good that did. I don’t know if they are still into trailers or not.a couple of pics for ya.
