Flat-bed truck - Trailer

[jimbobsimmonds]

Hi all. Got a friend at work here with me who is starting track days later in this year...

There are a few questions he has:

1: How much is a flatbed truck - Trailer? Any recommendations?:
2: What licenses do you need to drive these?

Also, suggestions for a track car on a £5k budget?

Thanks

[thegreenhell]

1. http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/list.asp?s=944
2. I don't know about restrictions on newer licences, but a standard car licence should suffice if you have the old paper Grandad licence that allows you to drive up to 7.5 tonnes, single-axled. You would need to check your own licence to see what you are allowed to drive.

[V8mate]

Always plenty of trailers for sale on eBay. £1-2k gets you a serviceable unit.

Why not run the car 'road legal' for the first year to see if you enjoy the hobby?

[jimbobsimmonds]

I suggested the road legal route too... My suggestion was E36 325, stripping out the uneccesaries and uprating brakes, suspension etc but we will see if i can convince him...

Pleasantly surprised at the price of transport though...

[V8mate]

I run a road legal E36 coupe track car.

Costs I'd save by trailering:

Insurance: £350
Tax: £205
MOT: £45

So trailer pay-back would be 2-3 years.

[Evangelion]

Isn't it the case now though, that a car has to be insured even if it's SORNed?

[Vixpy1]

Evangelion said:

Isn't it the case now though, that a car has to be insured even if it's SORNed?

No, it has to be insured if it is NOT sorn

[jimbobsimmonds]

V8mate said:

I run a road legal E36 coupe track car.

Costs I'd save by trailering:

Insurance: £350
Tax: £205
MOT: £45

So trailer pay-back would be 2-3 years.

Worth looking at in the future for him...

Out of curiosity what initial set up/recurring costs per track day do you have?

[V8mate]

jimbobsimmonds said:

Out of curiosity what initial set up/recurring costs per track day do you have?

Sorry. I'll just compose myself.

I bought the car for £1300. It had had complete TLC lavished on it up to the point I bought it and wnted for nothing.

I've done two trackdays with it and booked a third. Looking at the total outlay for the 'hobby' in its entirety, i.e. had to buy helmets etc., my expenditure passed £8k last week.

[jimbobsimmonds]

V8mate said:

Sorry. I'll just compose myself.

I bought the car for £1300. It had had complete TLC lavished on it up to the point I bought it and wnted for nothing.

I've done two trackdays with it and booked a third. Looking at the total outlay for the 'hobby' in its entirety, i.e. had to buy helmets etc., my expenditure passed £8k last week.

Good thing im not doing it then it seems...

Might have to wait a few years...

[tim2100]

jimbobsimmonds said:

V8mate said:

Sorry. I'll just compose myself.

I bought the car for £1300. It had had complete TLC lavished on it up to the point I bought it and wnted for nothing.

I've done two trackdays with it and booked a third. Looking at the total outlay for the 'hobby' in its entirety, i.e. had to buy helmets etc., my expenditure passed £8k last week.

Good thing im not doing it then it seems...

Might have to wait a few years...

You don;t have to spend that much to be fair!

it can be done much cheaper with the same car.

325 E36 shed - £600
Strip all weight £0
Bucket seats £300
Harnesses £100
Helmet £100
New sports suspension - £400

Total outlay £1500. You don't have to spend mega cash on tuning the car as you are not racing anybody, purely having fun. It feels great going past some exotic metal, in a £600 nail with rust falling off it!

[Remedy02]

V8mate said:

I run a road legal E36 coupe track car.

Costs I'd save by trailering:

Insurance: £350
Tax: £205
MOT: £45

So trailer pay-back would be 2-3 years.

Hi Pal,

Hope you don't mind me asking but how did you get this insured for £350. I am in the planning stage of getting an E36 328 and using it on track. I checked out insurance and the cheapest I got was £850 thats with 4 years NCD.

Thanks in advance.

[V8mate]

Remedy02 said:

V8mate said:

I run a road legal E36 coupe track car.

Costs I'd save by trailering:

Insurance: £350
Tax: £205
MOT: £45

So trailer pay-back would be 2-3 years.

Hi Pal,

Hope you don't mind me asking but how did you get this insured for £350. I am in the planning stage of getting an E36 328 and using it on track. I checked out insurance and the cheapest I got was £850 thats with 4 years NCD.

Thanks in advance.

Blimey; I thought I was being ripped off.

Adrian Flux. Insured for me and the missus (both in our 40s). 4000 mile pa limit. All mods included.

[Riot X]

The trouble is that you pay a premium for a flatbed as its a working tool and then you have to insure it, I use a trailer, just a small premium for theft and also should i break my car i can get it home. Buy the right trailer(£1kish) and it won't loose money.

[s2t]

Why not hire a trailer c£35/day or £55/weekend

[Hol]

I found the biggest problem with a trailer was storing it, without it getting in the way all the time. If you have room or want to keep the car on it - fine.

But if you want to keep the track car safely in the garage, then very few medium car trailers will fit. Brian James make a few that fit a standard garage opening, but they are really for caterham/westfield type cars or Mk1/2 escort sized cars.

The other issue you have is kerb weight, If the trailer weighs 500kg, even an 800kg stripped out tin top is going to need a large saloon/estate car to pull it (1300kg/85% = 1530kg kerb weight). Whatever you buy as a tow vehicle, it wont be your prefered choice for a main car, so probably more tax/insurance etc.

[iguana]

jimbobsimmonds said:

Hi all. Got a friend at work here with me who is starting track days later in this year...

There are a few questions he has:

1: How much is a flatbed truck - Trailer? Any recommendations?:
2: What licenses do you need to drive these?

Also, suggestions for a track car on a £5k budget?

Thanks

Ebay is your friend, can get a truck thats not scrap for 4k ish, decnet trailer 2k ish. I prefer Mercs & VWs.

Larger 7.5t trucks are cheaper than 3.5t generally. Will need to register a 7.5t as private use unless you want to run under a commercial Operators licence.

Can't help you with licences, but think any age from 17 yr olds can drive a 3.5t tho. Bit restricted on weight you can carry but most trackcars will be within weight limits unless its got some silly heavy bed.

Can always look into transport companies moving your car to & from track days, my company & other transport companies do lots of this in the season, but it may be well out your budget.

[agent006]

s2t said:

Why not hire a trailer c£35/day or £55/weekend

This is what I do. The costs are a bit higher than that but not much. £45 a day plus I insure it on a specific policy for an extra £10/day. I've got space to store my own trailer but I can't be doing with the hassle of when it gets stolen. When not if.

The only problem is if you're marginal on the capacity of your tow car, and can't be certain what trailer you'd get given if you rented.

[AndyLB]

V8mate said:

I run a road legal E36 coupe track car.

Costs I'd save by trailering:

Insurance: £350
Tax: £205
MOT: £45

So trailer pay-back would be 2-3 years.

Not quite true because you can usually sell the trailer for little or no loss when you've done.

[theturbs]

tim2100 said:

You don;t have to spend that much to be fair!

it can be done much cheaper with the same car.

325 E36 shed - £600
Strip all weight £0
Bucket seats £300
Harnesses £100
Helmet £100
New sports suspension - £400

Total outlay £1500. You don't have to spend mega cash on tuning the car as you are not racing anybody, purely having fun. It feels great going past some exotic metal, in a £600 nail with rust falling off it!

I think it would be wise to add brakes to that list. Probably an oil and coolant change too.