Talk to me about trailers

[MrDan]

Hi

We have had our Indy R 18 months now and being doing track days at our local tracks (Oulton and bit of 3 Sisters). I have got the itch to go further afield now and dont really want to be driving it to and from the track.

I need a trailer thats as close to the dimensions of the car as possible so i can put it my single garage whilst on it. (3 x 5m)


Car is about 1700mm wide outside wheel to outside and wheelbase is 2400 ish.

Iv looked at the "ally trailer" and brian james "minnow max" but they both seem overkill for our needs.

any thoughts?

[InitialDave]

Have one built to your specs?

[MrDan]

Hadn’t even entertained that. How hard can it be?!

[InitialDave]

http://www.motivtrailers.co.uk

Did a really good job on one for my dad, and I think cost slightly less than the equivalents available at the time.

[Mr MXT]

For reference my second hand single axle BJ clubman 170 fits my Westfield on perfectly (and mx5, just!) and goes in a single garage, I paid £900 which I think is about the going rate, they hold their value well.

[jeremyc]

I keep my Caterham on a PRG Mini Sport trailer in a single garage.

My Elan will also comfortable fit on the trailer.

[geeks]

Usual suspects already offered up, I would say if you can go for a twin axle trailer, you don't realise just how useful that is until you have a blow out and 50MPH and need to pull over!

[ggdrew]

Single-axle everytime:
Driveway & Paddock manoeuvrability - one handed due to no scuffing of the 4 wheels
Lightweight - no unnecessary send axle & wheels
Stability - no different to a 4-wheel. Just mark correct 'balance' position for your car.
Puncture scenarios - 'blowout' no issue, trailer just tracks as before with no added drama. Plus you can always see the trailer dropping to one side to tell if one tyre is starting to deflate.

No need for added weight & cost of 4-wheeler, just my experience and opinion.

[Turn7]

Minno will always be worth what you paid for it, and will fit into a standard single garage.

Ignore what folk say about single axles - twins are way more stable IMHO.....

[foggy]

From the experience of running both in the past, a well loaded single axle trailer with a bit of nose weight is just as stable as a well loaded twin axle trailer. Similarly poorly loaded they’ll both snake. The advantage of a single is hand manoeuvrability - much easier to push and pull around whatever the situation, although winding the jockey wheel down to lift the front axle of a twin off the ground also helps.

The blowout thing is rubbish - look after the tyres and and replace them if they’re past their best, plus only a pair to replace on a single axle, along with the spare if that’s equally doggy. Given the option I’d go single axle for a light car trailer every time. An advantage of a twin can be smaller wheels meaning the load sits a bit lower.

[singlecoil]

Twin axles are easier to reverse.

[caelite]

geeks said:

Usual suspects already offered up, I would say if you can go for a twin axle trailer, you don't realise just how useful that is until you have a blow out and 50MPH and need to pull over!

I would say it depends on your tow vehicle. If you are driving something substantial, like a pickup, big transit, land rover disco etc etc a single axle really is fine, yes they are easier to load 'wrong' and can be less predictable in the case of a failure, but if you're in a vehicle with 2-3.5 ton tow capacity with a good bit of heft to it, a ~1000kg kit & small trailer is barely going to register even when things go wrong.

Towing with smaller/lighter vehicles I'd say there is a greater level of care needed which is where dual axles offer far greater benefits.

[Burgerbob]

I can't add anything about trailers, but having towed single axle caravans for many years off weights far greater than a trailer with a lightweight car on it, I'd fully agree that for a lightweight car a twin axle tray is not needed.