Martin - Trailer | FerrariChat

Martin - Trailer

Discussion in 'Florida' started by Ksullender, Mar 15, 2004.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. Ksullender

    Ksullender Formula Junior

    Sep 3, 2003
    887
    USA
    Martin, where did you get your trailer? Did you have to do anything different for clearance issues? Can you give me the specs and if you don't mind what they charged you for it? I'm thinking pretty serious about getting one.

    Thanks
     
  2. Cavallino Motors

    Cavallino Motors F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    May 31, 2001
    14,143
    Florida or Argentina
    Full Name:
    Martin W.
    Don't know where you p[lan on keeping that monster at your house Ken.

    Mine is 18ft bed, 4 ft dovetail, 5ft ramps, steel, front axel electric brakes.
    Mine was $ 1650 from Tampa.

    Again, you will need the right pull vehicle with a 6000Lbs towing capacity at least.

    Registration is $ 100
     
  3. paulie_b

    paulie_b F1 Veteran
    Consultant Owner

    Jan 13, 2003
    6,823
    Jupiter, FL
    Full Name:
    Paul Bianco
    Ken, would it make more sense to rent one when you need to rather than own one?
     
  4. Sloan83qv

    Sloan83qv F1 Rookie
    BANNED

    Mar 8, 2001
    2,537
    with BIG Dave M.
    Full Name:
    Little Dave M.
    Martin,

    You forgot to mention the $100,000 delivery fee.

    Paul
     
  5. Cavallino Motors

    Cavallino Motors F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    May 31, 2001
    14,143
    Florida or Argentina
    Full Name:
    Martin W.
    Wasn't that $107,000 ????
    Hey, just imagine I needed that trailer delivered to Miami, not just Sarasota :)

    Renting is not an option BTW, U-Hauls are too narrow for Ferrari.
     
  6. Eric308gtsiqv

    Eric308gtsiqv Formula 3

    Nov 26, 2001
    1,955
    Orange Park, Florida
    Full Name:
    Eric Eiland
    Been thinking about adding a winch in ours so as to facilitate loading and unloading without needing to be in the car, car running, and manually driving the car in and out. Biggest pain with most haulers is the inboard wheel wells, since the F-cars sit so low and the doors won't clear these, thereby greatly limiting the amount door opening clearance for ingress / egress. The TR is the worst, as you have to climb in and out through the driver's window (sound familiar Martin? :)).

    Also, I'm thinking about getting a set of those "ramp overs", so that the cars will sit over the inset wheel wells. Anyone use these?

    You'll also probably need an additional set of ramps to decrease the incline into the hauler, or your lower spoiler lip may drag (especially on a TR).
     
  7. Ksullender

    Ksullender Formula Junior

    Sep 3, 2003
    887
    USA
    Martin I was going to store it away from my house. Will my explorer tow it? Does the door clear the fender? Is the bed metal or wood? Did you have to get ramp extensions too?

    Thanks
     
  8. Bmyth-FDC

    Bmyth-FDC F1 Rookie

    Oct 4, 2002
    2,742
    Southern California
    Full Name:
    Byron
    Ken,
    Just drive your car to events. :) Saves on the hassles. Martin has to get a trailer b/c sometimes his cars have been known to have faulty trannies. ;) haha....LOL.

    (hee hee couldn't resist!!)
    B.
     
  9. Cavallino Motors

    Cavallino Motors F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    May 31, 2001
    14,143
    Florida or Argentina
    Full Name:
    Martin W.
    Ken,

    my trailer has a full metal bed. I have been told to go that route for strength. It is heavier but better in terms of strength. Also I opted for a removable fender. That for loading F-cars is a MUST!
    I have a removable winch that you can hook to the 5th wheel and hoist a car onto the trailer. If you have a nice trailer like Eric I would built in one as well.
    Ramp extensions are easily self-made. I bought a 10ft 2x10 pressure treated and had a 4x4 pressure treated that I cut 10 inch blocks off. Nailed them together and created a ramp extension that way.
    I recently (best if you do it when the trailer is made for you) added 4 recessed hooks for clicking in race straps. Worst case there is a trailer shop off Griffin that can help you with that.


    Eric,
    I have seen trailers with those over the fender ramps. You can have them custom made like ramps, you can use a wood structure and do it yourself. I have seen it done in an incline with a possibility to slide under the front of the car to hook up the axle straps. That way the car will sit in the incline throughout the transport. You also don't have to worry about the ramp incline once it is on its way in.
    The other I have seen is a aluminum ramp past the housing. Looked really good and professional. There you have to deal with the "getting straight" part though. Maybe a good option in two stages, who knows.


    Byron,
    I don't know what you are talking about? :)
    Are you trying to blame me also for your car having "flying" ambitions? The car was so fast it thought it can just "take-off".
    :)


    I use my car trailer for hauling cars from the mechanic to the warehouse, to my house, to the track. As my inventory was growing I had to bcome self reliant. I could not ask Marion to take me to Murry (my mechanic) or to drive me here or there. A week after I got the trailer I drove up to Jacksonville with a 355 on the back (my old Challenge) and brought back the yellow 355. Drove to Sarasota empty and brought back my 308GT4 Competition. Loaded the car to the freight forwarder to be shipped to Italy. Hauled cars back and forth from Murry and the warehouse.
    I will take the car on the trailer to Sebring in 3 weeks. Simply because if I have a tire blow I have a ride back instead of sitting with a redneck tow truck driver and listen to his dumb stories (Moroso 4 months ago). That was the straw that made me buy one.


    Ken,
    as far as the Explorer, see how much towing capacity it has. You are towing a whole bunch of weight there. Electric brakes are a must. The control unit will run you $ 200 about instaled in your car. The trailer place can do that for you.


    Martin
     
  10. Ksullender

    Ksullender Formula Junior

    Sep 3, 2003
    887
    USA
    The reason I was asking about a trailer was because of moving to Atlanta. I thought instead of paying to move the car just buy a trailer and I can use it for Cavallino next year or any other event.
     
  11. miked

    miked Formula Junior

    Feb 7, 2001
    821
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    I have a wood decked "equipment" trailer that works great for my GT4. The deck is higher that the typical car trailer which results in fenders that are only about 5" high, my doors easily open over the fenders. I had the trailer before the car as I haul tractors, building mat'ls, and other junk, much of which require a full width deck (my deck is 78" between the fenders). The trade-off of a high deck is a steeper and/or longer ramp. I usually use the tongue jack to lift the front of the trailer pretty high (still attached to the tow vehicle) so that the ramp/beavertail/deck transision is as straight as possible. The biggest problem that I had was that there isn't enough room under the car to get good angularity for the hold down straps. My brother works for a new car delivery transporter (Toyota, Lexus, MB etc.) and he gave me some of the "over the tire" straps that they use for tying down Porsches in their enclosed trailers. I modified my trailer to use them and found them to be by far the best tie downs that I have used.
    My brother had a car trailer made for his Dodge Dart 340 so he could haul it to all the Mopar meets. It would be an easy weekend project for someone handy with a welder. Just some C channel, angle iron and deckplate. He used some of the chain winches from their regular car hauler trailers for his tie down system. It never takes him more that a couple of minutes to load/unload his car. As a side note it has been well over 100 mph with the Dart on it while being pulled by his Dakota R/T. He was racing a "ricer" and out ran him trailer and all, kind of like the "Hemi" commercial. He had the trailer build by someone in the Jacksonville FL area where he lives.
    It is important to consider where the trailer axles are relative to the Center of Gravity of the car. Most car trailers are made for front engine cars and have the axles a bit forward to get under the nose heavy vehicle. For a mid engine car (3X8, TR etc.) the axles need to be farther back so that the trailer doesn't end up tail heavy (low tongue weight and a lot of swaying back and forth). Tongue weight can be a bit touchy, I can go from 400 lbs. to 500 lbs just by moving my car forward about 3".
    Here is a few photos of his tie downs.
     
    Bryan S likes this.
  12. paulie_b

    paulie_b F1 Veteran
    Consultant Owner

    Jan 13, 2003
    6,823
    Jupiter, FL
    Full Name:
    Paul Bianco
    I would suggest usiing heavy nylon straps instead of chains so you don't scratch any of the parts especially the wheels.
     
  13. Cavallino Motors

    Cavallino Motors F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    May 31, 2001
    14,143
    Florida or Argentina
    Full Name:
    Martin W.
    by law you are supposed to use chains but that said I use straps only as well.

    There is some good racing straps that work excellent.
     
  14. miked

    miked Formula Junior

    Feb 7, 2001
    821
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Paul;
    He uses chains because it is quick to load/unload and he has used them for years delivering new cars to dealers. Being American Iron, the Dodge has a heavy frame, sits high (easy frame access) and he doesn't care about scratching the paint on the frame. If you look at a carrier hauling new cars you see that they are all chained this way, quick to load/unload and extremely adaptable. Cars have tie down slots, eyes or dealer removed tabs specificately for the carriers. In the pictures you can see multiple hooks at the end of the chain, each for a different style of attachment depending on the vehicle manufacturer.

    For my trailer I use "over the tire" straps on all 4 wheels. I welded in some 2X3 angle iron under the deck with multiple holes to except 1/2" pins. I hook the strap on a pin, up over the tire, down to another pin and then out to a ratchet in front of (or behind) the car. I have found it easy and quick to use, the ratchet and straps don't touch the car (only the tire) and the car never moves in any direction even on the roughest of roads. I can move the pins around to adapt to anything I haul.
    I use to hook straps under my car but had a lot of trouble with getting the proper angle to the ratchets and still hold the car securely. Also the ratchet handle or the straps would sometimes hit the car because of the fixed attachment points. The tire straps solved all those problems.
     
    Bryan S likes this.

Share This Page