airstik2003

that is a lot for that size trailer

you can get a 6x6x12or14 for 2500-3000

38

Iflyit

My Feedback: (512)

Maybe I should start a thread on this but what does everyone use to tow their trailer?
I am a car dealer and can try them before I buy them for myself and cant decide on what to get. I don't like pickup truck so they are out. I tried a 1997 Blazer with a 4.3 vortec 6 cyl. but it did not have the power I would like as most of the time it was floored to get up hills and only got around 12-13mpg which a V8 would get probably. I am towing a 6x12 and am thinking about a ford Explorer or Mercury Mountaineer with a V8.

What do you use?

airstik2003

my dad and i pull our 6x6x12 with a 97 GMC Jimmy 4.0L 200 hourses[8D]
it pulls it fine

but i would go with an envoy, expedision,Explorer,jeep, drango, a blazer

these will all pull your trailer fine
but it is your prefenec
i with the envoy bucause they ride the best
IMO

thanks
38

Iflyit

My Feedback: (512)

I dont know of any 97 Jimmy with a 4.0 in it, they have 4.3 and yes it pulls it OK as its the same thing as a Blazer or Bravada, but going up hills can require alot of throttle and it needs to be in 3rd gear, not overdrive.
Have you driven it while towing? You probably can't tell unless you were driving how well it in fact does.
I have alot of hills on the way to the field and the transmission definatly got warm after towing it 20 miles and I could smell the fluid. I got there OK and I guess I could say it did OK, but not the best.

CK1

My Feedback: (60)

Get a Suburban or a Tahoe
You of course will have enough power to pull with but more importantly enough brakes to stop with
A mid size may pull but stopping is questionable

Iflyit

My Feedback: (512)

I was thinking about one of those but I think the gas mileage is worse than a Explorer in normal everyday driving, it may be close though and not worth worrying about. I didn't have any problem stopping with the Blazer, just pulling. The trailer is only around 1500 pounds loaded.

airstik2003

ifly

i'm only 14 but i have a lot of friends who pull trailers and we talk about they a lot
anything with a 4 in it shold go up hills fine
but if you want more power
get a jeep or drango with the 5.7 hemi with 345 horses

38

Iflyit

My Feedback: (512)

Thanks for the info but 4.0 doesn't cut it, too much wind resistance more than likely.

CK1

My Feedback: (60)

Iflyit , For what it may be worth , I have been pulling my 6x12 trailer for at least 7 years now to flyins all over . I've pulled it with a Cherokee , Blazer , pickup, Suburban.
I have also in those many miles needed to stop quickly and so far the only vehicle that seemed to do that effortlessly is the Suburban .
I really would rather give up a few MPG's for a lot more control.
The smaller vehicles do labor more in the mountainous areas and i ended up actually getting worse mileage than with the Suburban , and braking on the long
down grades did tend to fade the brakes on the Jeep and Blazer ( even with the trailer brakes working) and did not on the Suburban .
Just my experience ,for your consideration.

sebo

The dollar exchange for Canada and the US may be different. More bucks for the same item.

ctshepherd

My Feedback: (34)

3,100.00 CAD Canada Dollars = 2,688.29 USD United States Dollars

narpets

FWIW. I used to tow my 8x5 box w/ a 96 Maxima. Only 3L, but tons of torque. I could go up extended grades at 60MPH in 5th gear and the temp gauge never budged. Trailer is about 1K# empty + 100 - 400#s of cargo. The temp guage on the wife's old minivan (2001 Oldsmobile) used to creep up on the same hills... empty w/ just me in it, not towing anything. Now stopping while towing was a real chore w/ the Maxima. It would easily lock all 4 wheels, so braking power wasn't the problem, just stopping distance.
For safety reasons ( trying to stop towing the trailer w/ the car), and the wife wanted a pop-up camper, and we knew the Olds wouldn't pull it, I got a 4Runner. (and 2 weeks later the tranny in the Olds blew up) I looked at just about every midsize SUV; easily the lowest cost to own over 5 years in it's class (well the Pilot was a close second). It is also the top pick for the off-set crash testing, and it comes standard w/ tons of electronic safety,fetures. Tow package is standard, and has a port for a brake modulator. I was surprised at how well it rides..better than some cars. I get about 20-22 MPG mixed driving and 26-28 on the highway normally; computer shows 19.8 when towing on mixed driving, I've never been on the highway for extended times w/ the trailer. It tows the trailer like it isn't even there. Temp guage never budges on long steep hills ( I live in western PA, not mountains, but almost never level ground either). Stopping is a non-event.

Just another opinion of something that works.

BTW You way also to check out some of the pop-up and/or camping forums. That's where the wife looked when she was in the market for the pop-up. Some good, and varied opinions on towing there.

JasonInAugusta

Although not built for planes, here's what I've been working on the past couple of weeks.

It's a 7' x 14' V-nose Cargo trailer.

I wanted it to be stout, so everything was framed up with 2x4s, using MDF tops.



Laid out the top of the benches (36" tall ) around the perimeter.


Futon in the back so the wife/kids can crash out if needed.


Counter area in the V-nose.


Another shot of the nose.


Started work on the floor. Using 18" x 18" vinyl tile.


Floor is pretty much wrapped up, started framing up the workbench.





A little pegboard on the end.


My neighbor runs his own custom cabinet shop, went to his place to do the tops.

Russ got to work spraying the Formica for the edges of the benches...



...after he was done and the edges were installed, I sprayed the tops.


Tops fitted in place:



After we'd finished with the tops, we installed the 20.5" LCD...


...then wrapped the whole bench area with pegboard.


Installed a bar sink...


Then put in an old set 4.1 Klipsch ProMedia 400W computer speakers from the office. My wife reminded me about some Creative 5.1s that we had in storage, I'll stick those in the office.



Last night I installed a set of puck lights that are intended to be used under cabinets in the kitchen. I originally bought these a couple of years ago to go under the shelf of a workbench, but got a flourescent instead. Finally put'm to use.


Rear speakers installed...



Xantrex remote display for the battery charger. Shows charge current and voltage of each battery.


Got a little bit left to go on this one, mostly running all the wiring for 110V outlets as well as 12V terminals.

the-plumber

My 2003 E-350 Extended Super Duty pulls the 7'X16' v-nose tandem like it wan't back there. The van has _massive_ discs on all four corners, and stopping the 37' combined rig is a non-problem. I set the trailer brake controller so the trailer brakes lead the van brakes just slightly.

Since getting the rig stopped in a hurry is a lot more important than fuel mileage (to me, anyway) I don't even know what the fuel mileage is with the 2100 lb. (empty) trailer hooked up.

And I don't care, 'cuz if I can't get it stopped in time all the mileage in the world won't help.

ir8prim8

a side note on that ball lock that was mentioned... i bought one for my construction trailer. when an employee took the key home and i needed to gain access to the trailer. all i had to do was take a cordless sawzall and cut the ball. it took me less then 2 min and was not loud at all. after i found out how easy it is to cut it off i would not suggest this as an anti theft device. all it will do is keep the honest ppl out

Iflyit

My Feedback: (512)

I would say that almost all of the locks made just keep the honest people out for the most part. I had a friend of mine that has a painting bus and he had 2 of those round padlocks on the doors that are supposed to be unable to be cut easily, well they cut both of them and stole all of his paint sprayers. I don't know why they didnt just cut the actual metal latch on the doors as it would have been easier. Guess they couldnt fit them out the side doors so thats why they cut the lock on the back door also.

rcking

My Feedback: (8)

hello

the-plumber hit the nail on the HEAD!


I pull with a GMC SAVANA VAN 2500 it cuts the wind for my trailer very nicley. 5.7 vortec it pulls GREAT ! THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT PULLING A TRAILER IS STOPPING POWER! any vehicle will get you goingup to speed sooner or later but stopping in hurry is a diffrent story
You ask why pull a trailer when i have a van ? no loading or unloading back it up plug it in /plun in planes & radio im ready for the next flyday!
c ya stan

Huntster

Jason in Agusta....... YOU WIN!!!!!!! When can I move in? YOU got it all, EVEN the frickin' kitchen sink!!!! ONLY IN AMERICA!!!!!! I LOVE THIS LAND!!!!

JasonInAugusta

I win? [sm=lol.gif] I didn't know it was a competition. Did I miss sign-ups?

This little trailer should do well. I will end up traveling a good bit with it, and it's perfect for when I travel alone and want to crash out overnight...has everything I need.

My #1 reason for building it like this is so that when the wife and kids travel with me on one of the 7+hr trips to go compete, they can have a place to crash and get out of the weather. One of the big problems when I'm out competing is keeping the kids entertained, so I installed the LCD so the kids can watch movies/sleep on the futon. I also designed it so they can be in the trailer watching movies and I can work on my vehicles without getting in each other's way.

It's also MUCH nicer after the comp is over. I like being able to just close the doors, start the truck, and leave.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

I plan on unloading my trailer everywhere I am leaving it alone or spending the night... I'll just leave the locks off it so they can see there's nothing in it and I won't lose a couple good locks.

Iflyit

My Feedback: (512)

That just defeats one of the purposes of having a trailer.

If you go to an event and stay in a hotel room it wouldn't be very easy to unload it into the room.

the-plumber

It's not trailer contents that are most often stolen, it's the _trailer_. The folks I talked to indicated that if pro trailer thieves want the trailer they'll likely make off with it unless it takes too long to defeat whatever security is in use.

My airplane hauler and my airplane hauler puller are alarmed. If the trailer gets unplugged from the van the alarm goes off. If a trailer door gets opened, the alarm goes off. If the van gets 'bumped' the alarm warns, and a second 'bump' triggers the alarm. Obviously a door opening on the van triggers the alarm, as does breaking glass. If the thieves are using a wrecker to pick up the van, the alarm goes off. If the thieves manage to get the hood open and cut the battery cable, the alarm goes off and keeps on alarming until the auxiliary alarm battery dies (about an hour).

The trailer has a hitch lock and coupler lock (the sort which covers the ball stud and coupler), and has wheel locks which lock both wheels on one side together. The wheel lock rig has plates that cover the lug nuts on both wheels.

If they can't disconnect the trailer, they'll probably give up. If they get the trailer disconnected, they probably won't get it to move very far without lots of tire squealing going on.
In the meantime, the alarm is raising merry hades and has also trigger the remote pager I wear on my belt. The pager will wake me from a sound sleep.

Trailer thieves may run off with my trailer one of these days, but it won't be easy and it certainly won't be done quietly.

Oh, yeah . . . my trailer lives in the back yard, down a 15% grade. The only time I can hook up and drive out with the trailer is when it has not rained in about two weeks. Otherwise it's too slick. Most of the time I have to plug the 9,000 pound winch into the hitch on the van, and hook up to the Ford Ranger that's hooked up to the trailer.

I figured if I have trouble getting the trailer outta th' back yard, so would trailer thieves.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Actually the purpose of the trailer is to transport myself and my wife (caller) to IMAC events with the kid in the carseat in the van.. Can't have the carseat and planes at the same time. Using the trailer to store things... crazy. I spend too much time on my gear to leave it in the yard.

Out of curiosity... how much did you spend on your trailer alarm?

Iflyit

My Feedback: (512)

You probably spent a whole lot more on the car to pull it with and you leave that in the yard.

sillyness

My Feedback: (25)

Actually both cars go in the garage