Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

I need a trailer and would like suggestions on what options are critical for RC, and in general. I think I've narrowed it down to a Look trailer; they have the ST, Element, and Vision. Do I need things like 16" OC wall studs, one piece aluminum roof, screwless exterior, etc? Any other important features to consider? The plan is for a 5x8 with swinging rear door and a side door. Possibly wedge front with sloped top, or round front and round top.

ST (base model, incredibly reasonable)
http://www.looktrailers.com/LITRATURE-DOC/PDF/16.pdf

Element (likely candidate, plywood sides, nice features)
http://www.looktrailers.com/LITRATURE-DOC/PDF/3.pdf

Vision (possiblity, plywood sides, has screwless exterior, one piece aluminum roof, radial tires)
http://www.looktrailers.com/LITRATURE-DOC/PDF/7.pdf

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

Joe, that is pretty small, what would like to carry? How many planes/Heli's/etc.? How big? Do you travel a lot?

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

2 meter pattern planes. 5x8 is big enough. I'll get 5x10 if I can, but depends on money and garage space.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

Any chance you might go bigger on planes in the next 3-5 years? Or possibly add more?

For me, I have a 7x12 single axle, v-nose, ramp, side door, fully setup for 12v system for charging and lighting.
I don't have vent (wish I did) I had the trailer 8 years now and changed the interior around twice to accommodate changes made in traveling,
comfort, etc. My problem is I like to travel with my hobby shop. I have 100cc planes and smaller. I tow it with a 2011 F-150

This area is totally preference nothing more, nothing less.

Good luck with your project!

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

Thanks guys. I would like to focus on features/options. I am confident I will get the right size trailer for my current and near-future needs when I make my final purchase.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

You can get a lot of opinions, what may be important to someone may not be as important to someone else; you need to consider what your needs are, example: will you be going to a lot of events or just taking the trailer to your home field; reason being, if you go to a lot of extended travel trips to events for a weekend, than extra onboard electronics may be needed other than what comes with the trailer such as a standard interior light, you may needed a separate 12 Volt system, inverter, solar panel for charging 12 volt system, etc; the best thing to do, and this is what i did before I bought my trailer, is go to a few events where guys have a lot of trailers, and look around at all the trailers and ask a bunch of questions and see what works and get somwe cool ideas, there is a long discussion thread here on RCU about Trailer Interiors.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

As a trailer owner, and talking with many other trailer owners, the most important feature is torsion axles. The spring axles are meant for heavy loads, and will severely bounce with a light load such as airplanes, shaking the airframes apart.

I have a torsion axles trailer for planes, and a spring axle utility trailer. It is amazing how smooth the torsion axle trailer is, you can easily forget it is back there.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

Thanks. I realize I could have been more clear. I am interested in construction features/options - 16" vs 24" wall studs, roof material/construction, etc.

I will see what I can do about a torsion suspension. There are shock absorber kits for trailers. I talked to a lot of people too, torsion is preferred but plenty of people have spring suspensions and have no issues with airframe damage.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

<span style="font-family: Arial;">I just purchased a trailer for my RC needs. Now I bought mine used so I got what was there. However, I did a HUGE amount of research before I purchased mine so I knew exactly what I was looking for before I purchased it, so I was being pretty picky in the used trailer I got. My trailer is a 6'x12' made by Continental Cargo.</span><div style="font-family: Arial;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial;">Here are a few of the features that I was looking for that I think will be very pertinent to what you are asking on here.</div><div style="font-family: Arial;"></div><ul>[*]A side access door in the front of the trailer. This was a deal breaker for me and should be for you as well. Among the many reasons for having it are it makes is easier to secure the planes down as you have access to both ends of the planes as you are storing them. This will also help make your trailer more usable as you have more usable storage area now. I use the front portion of my trailer for storage of chargers, radios, tools, fuel cans, a small generator, my folding chairs, my pop-up tent, and any other thing I might need in my trips to the field. I also have built in a small fold down work space so that I have a place to do repairs at the field. If you're going ot have a trailer you might as well make sure it's useful in more ways than just hauling your planes to the field.[*]Trailer height. While this one may not seem important think about it before you dismiss it. My trailer was built with an extra 6" of height in it. Because of this I can EASILY stand up in my trailer. Trust me that this will make life so much better for you, especially if you have the front door in the trailer. You don't want to have to always stoop down when you step into the trailer. I can stand up easily inside of my trailer and it makes using it so much easier.[*]Back ramp. This is extra on many trailers, but for RC uses I think this is very important. having a ramp will make getting larger planes into the trailer easier.[*]Electrical. seriously consider adding a 110v/12v electrical system to the trailer. I have a 12v system in my trailer that powers an inverter to provide 110v inside the trailer. I also have a converter/charger that are used in RV's. This takes whatever voltage coming into it and powers the 12v system of the trailer as well as recharges the batteries. So when I am at home I plug into my house electric and it powers the trailer and recharges the battery at the same time. I haven't done this yet, but will be adding a solar panel on top to help save electricity and keep the battery charged. I also have a small 800 watt generator that I picked up at Harbor Freight for $90 for 110v power when I am at the field.[*]As for the spacing of the wall studs. I really don't think this is going to make much of a difference.[*]Plywood lined walls. Absolutely a must. You are going to want to build some sort of structure inside to haul your planes in, and the plywood on the walls will make building anything that much easier. Yes, you could add later on. But why not have it done for you when you buy it?[*]Screwless exterior. In my opinion this is something they can charge you extra for that really won't make much of a difference at all[*]V-Nose. If you can get a V-nose trailer don't pass it up. This will give you a little bit extra space for storage inside.[*]Hitch box. You'll probably have to add this on yourself, but adding a hitch box will give you some extra storage space. I have my 12v electrical system mounted inside this box on my trailer[*]On the security side of things. Of course it's impossible to make anything foolproof, if somebody wants your stuff hard enough they will find a way to steal it. So here are a few things you can do to help keep it all secure. First, do NOT (absolutely not at all, please don't even think about it) put anything on the outside of your trailer indicating you have RC equipment inside of the trailer. Even putting a graphic of a plane, or your club logo on it can identify your trailer as storing RC. Doing this make the trailer a target. Thieves look for these kind of trailers and will snatch them if they get half a chance. Heck, I'm considering putting "Acme Septic System Maintenance" or "Tony's Diaper Service" on the side of my trailer so that the thieves think twice about breaking into mine ;) :D . When my trailer is parked at my house I have a ball lock on it, A lock that goes up into the ball portion of the hitch and prevents it being hooked up to a vehicles, as well as a lock on the handle of the ball hitch. Also make sure that if you have a receiver hitch on your tow vehicle that the pin holding your hitch in place is of the locking variety. It doesn't do any good to have the hitch locked down if they can simply pull the pin and slide the whole hitch out of the receiver on your truck, and then it's bye-bye for your trailer. For locking the doors on the trailer I make sure I use high security type lock, which are harder to cut. And lastly, if you can when you have the trailer at home chain it to something so that it's secure and can't be rolled away.[/list]<div style="font-family: Arial;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial;">Ok, I think that's about all I can think of right now. Because of many of the things that I mentioned above my trailer has actually turned into an extra room for my RC stuff. I keep my planes stored in it at the house and it's freed up some room in my garage. Sorry that I don't have any pictures of my finished trailer right now as I'm not quite done building it out like I want it. So I just haven't taken any pictures yet. I'll get some shot when I finish it out. But here are a few pictures of the trailer like it was when I purchased it.</div><div style="font-family: Arial;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial;">Ken</div>

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

I've had 5 trailers over the years and I'm never satisfied. We could type for days and still not touch on every possibility. I'm giving you a link to a thread on FG about trailers and their ideas. I know it's over a 100 pages long, but there's lots of ideas with pictures.
http://www.flyinggiants.com/forums/s...ead.php?t=5874

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

That link is no good due to the **** in it...

Bill S.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

Well whata you know. Sorry. I guess you'll just have to go and find it. A lot of good ideas.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

Just replace the **** with the site's web address, phlyingjyants(dot)com

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

It's called "Show us your trailer setup pictures" on ***********

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

V nose for sure. The screw less exterior looks good but this means the sheeting is glued on I've seen motor home sides delaminates after a few years. One piece roof means less potential for leaks. 16" center walls for sure, more structure more strength. Vents, one roof and at least one down low on the side. You will like the ramp rear door more than a regular door, you will use the trailer to haul something other than your planes and the ramp makes loading much easier. Plus it will be twice as. Easy to sell later. I use LED lighting on mine. You can buy the strip led in 15' lengths and just stick it to the roof. I used two strips in my 12' a 12volt gell cell will power these for 2 days!! I had one trailer with a side door on both sides was nice I wish my new one had two

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

They won't let me say giants/flying

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

Two doors is nice. It's only $150 for the extra door. Based on what I've learned so far, the Look Element seems like the best choice. It comes with a slight V-nose, slanted roof at no charge, 16" wall stud spacing, plywood walls vs engineered, 2 vents and a dome light. I will look into adding a roof vent. I think a 5x8 v-nose would be plenty for me but am still considering the 5x10. I have been to two contests over the past 3 weeks - one IMAC contest with lots of 35-43% airplanes, and a pattern contest with 2M planes. The IMAC contest had mostly 6x12, the pattern contest had mostly 5x8, one or two 5x10.

Pattern is an addition. I believe I will be committed for quite a few years.

Good tips on the ramp door. I thought I wanted a swing door so I could access the trailer while inside a garage or something (two rear swing doors is same price as one, and I do have ramps for motorcycle and lawn tractor). But ramp door does sound easier for loading.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

I think I got most of the non-structural options quoted. They want

$49 for roof vent,
$79 for a motorbase plug and $35 for each GFI outlet,
$149 for a 30Amp panel w/lifeline and cable hatch
$49 for stabilizer jacks, and
$149 for additional side door.

Seems to me the only ones worth paying for at this point would be the vent and door. Can get an aftermarket jack for $20. It should be easy enough to run conduit and wire up some outlets. I think I can just add that stuff later to help reduce up-front cost. Not sure about the jack.

Base prices are $1839 for 5x8 and $2039 for 5x10, both with one side door.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

You might try Craigs list. I have seen some for sale in my area. good luck batdogp

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: xx-large;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Money ... MO ... Money Man.</span></span></span>



<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size: xx-large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">and some MO ... Money to pull it with.</span></span></span>

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

I have the smallest Passport model from Haulmark - 7-1/2' x 4'. We fit 18 standard bales of hay inside.

And because of that use I don't have permanent shelves or built-ins. I can fit a 83" w/s giant scale on floats, a .40 size on floats, a twin-engine 53" w/s electric flying boat, a pop-up canopy, four camp chairs, a 4' long "roll-up"camp table,two flight boxes, fuel (gas &amp; glow), a 12v marine deep cycle battery, two UMXfoamies (in the shipping/carry boxes), two tackle boxes of chargers &amp; batteries, spares, food, tent, sleeping bag(s), first aid kit and fire extinguisherfor a weekend float fly with nothing in the car (a VW Jetta) but people and travel-mugs of coffee. I have a long box that slides in with dividers for the wing panels - that makes the rest fairly straightforward. I plan on adding a removable "second level" so I don't have to be as careful stacking and padding.

It will also do two giant scale (on wheels - no floats) and associated gear. Fuselage length is the big determinate.

Which also brings up - what is your tow vehicle? Today's cars have no frames and are limited to what you can pull. P/U Truck or SUV - no problem. I went with a small trailer because I like not feeding those for a commute day-to-day.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

<h3>U might be better off buying a 2 to 3 thousand  dollar OLD Cargo Van or one of these 18 passenger vans.  Strip out the seats and build in racks for your planes, Never have to take'em out except to fix them after a bad day at the field. Or if you have more than 5 or 6 and want to rotate them. We have several guys that have done that and the planes under 56" ws they never even take apart. Just throw a battery in them , taxi out and take off. 2 minutes from van to flight .... the big gassers U still have to mess with.<br type="_moz"/></h3>

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

I drive a Ranger (6-cyl). Next vehicle will likely be a full-size pickup.

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

PS - I bought my trailer new for $1,600. Forgot to add that I carry a full-sized spare for the trailer and a trailer jack stand in the trunk of the car.

Note that if you unhitch at destination to move the car - DO NOT step up into the back of a small trailer without a jack-stand underneath the rear edge. The trailer comes down to you otherwise and unloads itself rather quickly . . . until you jump backwards and the process reverses . . . mostly. D'OH!

http://www.haulmark.com/bumper-pull_...assport-4wide/

RE: Buying a trailer, what do I need?
 

Well that must be what the stabilizer jacks are for! I was wondering who would want levelers for a little cargo trailer.