What kind of enclosed trailer should I buy?

Featherlight makes some great trailers.

As far as winches go, any trailer can have one attached.

 

i had a 24' rallye. had a ramp back door and a regular side door. the 308 fit fine. pulled it with a denali.

 

FEATHERLIGHT

 

only way to go, they cost more, dont rust and weigh less, hold their value. the back door is usually the ramp, sometimes you need a little extension ramp to reduce the angle, or jack up the hitch while loading.

 

I've been thinking about this for some time. I'm thinking of buying a used tow truck. You can get covers for them, and your car fits on them, and more importantly, you aren't limited to 55 mph. The major down side is cost. A good one will be over 30k, but with Featherlights costing over 25k for one with everyone on it, not that big a difference.

Art

 

I purchased a 24 Pace Trailer for my F430...and I am very happy...it's one of the biggest maufacturers with several plants in the US. So parts are no problem and there are service centers all over.They will customize it for you and there are several options that you may want to consider. I got the Rallye model which is all aluminum except for the frame with a specially fabricated ramp for the car and side door to permit an easy exit. Also an electric winch is a must. If you like PM as I have the spec sheet for it.

 

Insurance would be your biggest issue with this, and perhaps creature comforts for road trips

Rollbacks and tiltbeds are treated differently by insurance companies than a regular tow rig that pulls a trailer.

Even with a rollback, you may still need some boards to reduce the approach angle to the bed.

 

What vehicle do you plan using to tow the trailer?

 

Don´t buy any trailer. Just drive Fcar!!!!!

 

When it comes to a trailer the trick is weight, and here is why.

The lighter the trailer the more options you have in pulling it. There are a number of aluminum trailer manufacturers, all are good to very good, but they all vary in weight.

For a Scud, I would want a trailer with a raised ramp or track and a driver side escape door. The raised ramp gets the car high enough in the air(4 to 6 inches) so that when you open the drivers side door to get out or in, your door is high enough to pass over the inner wheel hub and the lower lip of the escape door. If you don't get an excape door then you just have to climb in and out of the open window of the car, but then again you don't need a raised ramp if you don't get an escape door

The Scud is light enough that with an aluminum trailer that weighs under 3000 pounds of which there are several, you could pull the trailer with a vehicle that has a 5,500 to 6000 pound tow rating and it would be comfortable. Once you get over 7 to 8 thousand pounds, car plus trailer, then the tow rated vehicles are much bigger and you need a big truck to tow the cheaper heavier all steel trailers. Lets just say your tow vehicle choices get smaller and smaller or looked at another way, only big and bigger tow vehicles will work.

As far as ramps and winches, those can be added as needed after the fact or as part of your purchase and that includes interior lights, battery, cabinets, overhead nets, and decor depending on whether you buy new or used. As for ramps, Race Ramps are inexpensive, super light plastic ramps that make getting your lowered car in and out a breeeze. Winches now come in wired and wireless modes so they are not an issue either.

If you go to the 458 Italia section and lookup http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=342456&page=2 you can see a custom trailer that I have used to carry my 430 as well as my 458. It is an all aluminum trailer by Rance, the model is Renegade. I bought it used, bare bones and then customized it myself.

If you Google aluminum trailer manufacturers and you then search for the manucaturers that you find. You will find new and used C&C, Rance, FeatherLite, ATC, Etc.

Good Luck and remember you can do as much customization as you want or you can pay someone, either the manufacturer or trailer dealer to do the work for you, if you are not so inclined

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/vbclassified.php?do=ad&id=8135

 

I've had a pace american 20foot and loved it. Now I use a United 22foot. My 355 fits perfectly. My car is also lowered. make sure it has a beaver tail. this lowers the angle if the floor at the rear of the trailer so a low car can clear the change of angle between the ramp and the floor of the trailer.

 

Had a good friend that used his Featherlite extensively. He hauls high end brass era cars all over the US. He is driving down the freeway at speed when a guy comes up alongside, honking his horn. Now my friend hauls his trailer with a Peterbuilt/motorhome and as you might guess the engine and road noise is substantial, with lots of power.

So anyway the guy next to him gets his attention and starts pointing to the back of my friends rig. So not knowing what is going on my friend decides to slow down and pull over. as he starts to brake he feels a huge bump from the rear.

Once he gets stopped and goes back to the trailer, he finds the hitch has broken clean off at the trailer frame and was resting on the cross chains. So upon further inspection, it seems that the aluminum hitch has fractured at the welds due to stress fractures. This is a rather common event with aluminum tongues and where they are welded. I have heard of others with aluminum trailers that have had stress fractures at the same points. I would never use an aluminum trailer for that reason.

Consider the weight of either a steel frame or aluminum trailer and you will see there is an insignificant difference in weight. I'd rather have a solid steel frame trailer and know my caris going to arrive as it should.

Howard Musolf
1981 308gtsi
1982 400i Cabriolet
1988 Lotus Esprit Turbo
1923 Frotenac dual overhead cam sprint car
2 many brass era cars

 

A friend has one of these aluminum car trailers and is very happy with it.

See pictures on the website of the 20 foot covered auto transport trailers.

http://www.montrosetrailers.com/

I've helped load & unload his car in it.
I like the way it totally opens up in front and back and along the side of the car.
It makes it a lot easier to tie the car down, etc.

 

It's Featherlite, not Featherlight. IMHO, ATC > Featherlite. Featherlite makes great horse trailers but I like ATC better for vehicle trailers.

Given the OP's lack of knowledge about trailers, I'd suggest going to Pace and ATC sites and reading through the brochures to learn a bit more. Then visit a local dealer to discuss options.