Dragginbutt,
Are you planing on doing anything after you purchase your trailer to equip it better for your needs? In other words, are you going to install any additional tie downs, or any e-track, etc.? There's tons of stuff out there for trailer supplies, and you can never have too many tie down points, if you know what I mean.

Here's a picture of what I have been working on for the last few evenings.




I installed four small tracks for adjustable and removable Track Star brand wheel chocks that are used for tieing down the motorcycles. Two of the tracks can be seen at the front of the trailer, and two more are mounted mid-trailer. I also installed the four recessed swivelling tie downs at the ends of the trailer, and the two 15' sections of e-track in the center of the trailer. Both the tie downs and the e-track are bolted to frame cross members, and are rated for 6,000 lbs. Each 15' section of e-track has 12 grade 8 bolts holding it to the frame cross members and 44 lag bolts that hold them to the wood deck. I ran out of lag bolts tonight, and still need to install a half dozen more tomorrow night, and I need to apply a Penofin wood preservative tomorrow night.

Anyway, you have mentioned that you are concerned about your ATV slipping off of a tall deck height, which makes me think you also don't want a slick trailer deck. Metal decks are a lot slicker than wood decks, and in wet weather they can be downright dangerous. Wood decks are easier to work with when equipping your trailer, they provide better traction, and except for when the metal deck is brand new the wood decks look better as well. Just something to consider.

DV

 

Yeah I agree with you there. That is why the first thing I will do with the metal deck is slap on a coat of non skid deck paint. I have it on my current trailer and it is great stuff. My current trailer is a 10x8.5 tild deck, and I used ot have problems with driving onto the deck, only to have it slide back off. Not any more. That stuff is good and sticky. Even when covered in mud. I like your E-track. The trailer i am getting has rub rails like yours too. There are plenty of tie points along the rails, but it also has two lugs in front, and back to hook into. I will consider more on the deck, but one thing I do not want to have is something that sticks up too far above the surface. I have a sports car that only has a couple inches of clearance that I will be hauling occasionally. (See my website for a picture of the motor) Also looking at a Porsche track day car, so anything that will catch on the bottom will not be a good thing. Nothing expensive, but I don't want to be fixing parts when I could be driving. So you have a numbered car eh? Congratulations. I see you are king of the KTMs too. Cool. I like them a lot. I have been drooling over their racer quads, but will probably replace my Raptor 600 in the next year or two with a new Raptor 700. My dealer sells both, but I like the Yamahas too. Have a shed full of them. I really like the new Rubicon with Power steering too... so many machines.. so little time...
Anyway, thanks for the advice and the pictures.

 

This is the first time I've used e-track, so I'll have to see if I like it or not. It looks promising though. There are some small tapered plastic end caps that I put on tonight that keep you from catching your foot on the ends of the track. The wood sealer wont get here until tomorrow it turns out, so the trailer sits in the garage for another night, then I can seal the wood, and I'm good to go for the weekend. Can't wait to try out the new tie down systems.

The Challenger looks like a twin of the black SRT Challenger Jay Leno has, ... except his is number 4, and mine is number 1629. Oh well, I'm not a celebrity.

DV

 

My brother has the E-track in his enclosed trailer - nice system. However, we did have one of the E-track lock-in clips pull loose one time. Had a heavy IRS Artic Cat pulled down too tight on a long road trip and it popped loose.

Jaybee

 

about the only thing I have planned is adding a winch and a box up front. I was looking at one that has a built in Fuel station in it, but after thinking about it, it may add a lot of tongue weight on it. So I am looking at a portable unit and just putting it in the truck. Other than the winch, I think the trailer is good to go. I'll paint the deck with anti skid of course. I think I am good to go with tie loops.

I like the looks of your trailer, but I'll need the ramps instead of a tilt deck for the race car. Because of the weather around here, I am pretty much decided to go with the metal deck. Even with the advantages of teh wood ones, I think the metal is best choice for me. WIth all the snow and crud you get off the roads in the Winter, it rots them prettty fast out here. Everyone who hauls heavy equipment tells me go with metal... they spent too much time replacing boards. It may be a whole lot different if I lived in a milder climate. Of course, If I were to move away from teh boy, then I'd have gotten the deckover anyway. Shoot, I should just spring for another enclosed trailer and be done with it, but my neighborhood association would frown on 2 26 ft enclosed trailers in my driveway. As it is, I'll be pushing my luck with the one enclosed and one open trailer.

 

I have a bunch of etrack in my enclosed work trailer. I haul a 600 lb machine inside and have it strapped to the wall with it. Fill it with 700 pounds of water and you have some serious weight. I haven't had any issues with clips coming loose yet, but everything is double strapped too. One thing though, I am not applying a side stress to the clips like you may have done. My pull is straight out and pulls into the etrack clip's strength. I'll be sure and keep a close eye on it though. thanks for the warning....

As for the Challenger... I have wanted one for as long as I saw them in a magazine... but when it came itme to deal, I just couldn't pull the trigger. I have 3 newer vehicles now, I don't need a 4th, and I'd be upside down on the one I'd be trading. Add the 10 to 15 K UPCHARGE, and they pretty much priced me out of the market until I have my Cummins Diesel and the wife's Durango paid off. I am making $1600 a month car payments as it is... besides, I just paid off my RX 45K plus in "upgrades" and I just committed on a Porsche project car with my son... so I have too many toys to pay for right now. Oh yeah, add in Momma's new Grizzly and junior's new TRX last year... I will have to drool a little longer. Besides, have you seen what Vipers are going for these days? I might just have to.... nope.. I have a Porsche project car to pay for... Nothing fancy, a completely disasembled 944 turbo. Already has the cage. All the parts are there, but it will take some time to put it all together again. (My older son owns a Porsche race shop and finally talked me into it.)

 

It sounds like a steel deck trailer may be best for where you live Dragginbutt. The thing I don't like about them is that they start looking beat up once the paint or powder coat starts getting scratched up. And we don't get enough moisture in the desert where I live to worry about the durability of wood deck trailers, ... if you put a good wood protectant on them to protect the wood from UV damage.

Here are a couple of pictures for other people looking at wood deck trailers. The first picture is of the pressure treated wood as it comes on the trailer.

The second picture is after applying a coat of Panafin green label wood protectant, which is specifically formulated for pressure treated wood. It is Brazilian Rosewood Oil, and is supposed to provide 99% UV protection for five years minimum.


And Dragginbutt, ... that Porche project sounds like it is going to be alot of fun. Will it be street legal when you're done, or a race car for the track?

DV

 

My car trailor fits 1 sport quad n 3 untility quads parked sideways. . .
I also will hadel a 5,000-7,000 pound vechicles. . . Tho we have loaded it to 8,000-9,000 a few times it's not so happy But once when it was new we put a 10,000-12,000 IHC short wheel based grain truck onto it that was a fun Ride pulling it with a 1/2 ton Ramcharger with 1 ton rear springs. . .

That was the end of Heavy loads n light duty tow Rig's. . .
Now i have Many fine running tow rigs to choose from depending on the load going on the Trailor. . .

Mikey

 

Viper, that looks sweet. Nothing in the work looks as good as finished wood. On the subject off etrack. Do you think turning it the oterh direction would give you any more strength? I was thinking about what was said about pulling loose. I have looded at the connectors and at least on the surface can see how a sideways pull could pull teh clip out due to the metal strength in between the slots. I suspect there is a certain amount of flex there. If you turned it 90 degrees, the track would be stronger, but then you are at the mercy of the clips... so who knows. Time will tell I guess. I saw another type of track used by Triton Trailers that uses a single slot that runs the whole length of the track and you use something that looks like a large bolt head in the slot to act as your clip. It looks like a clean system, but I am not sure if it is any stronger or not. I haven't seen any test results on either system to be honest with you, and I am certainly no engineer. EIther way, I think if you are only holding a 600 pound quad on your deck, either should be good. And let's face it, both systems have been used for years in teh trucking industry to hold a whole lot more weight in place...

I sure like how you mounted yours though. I know it will come in handy, and if there is any question on strength, you still have the rub rails to hook into so you should be good to go.

Who makes the trailer by the way?

The Porsche is really going to be my son's, I get to pay for it (yeah right, I knew that going in, he isn't fooling anybody). He was a little jealous about my RX7, and wanted something of his own. He has a little 914 track car and can't stand getting beat. He thinks the 944 will be faster, so I went along with it. Besides the RX is in paint now, and IS street legal, so I'd hate to ding it on the track. The 944 will be a track only machine. It is basically torn down to a shell. The cage was installed and that is as far as the guy got before he ran out of time and money. It has been sitting at my son's race shop for over 4 years gathering dust, and I got it for under a grand. All the parts are there to put it back on the street, but that would add a lot of work, time and money to the project. And becasue it is on my dime, I am only interested in getting it out and performing on the track. If my son wants to take it further than that, he is going to have to belly up the cash. Right now, I am only looking at mostly labor (his) and time. Beyond that, we will have to re-negotiate.

 

Have fun with that Porche. It sounds like you have a great project ahead of you.

The trailer is made by H&H Trailers. The e-track clips I am using are rated at 6000 lbs each, and I only intend to use them for ATVs and/or motorcycles. The Jeep and the Challenger will be strapped down to the rub rails, simply because if I get to chose a tie down point for either of those vehicles I'm going to chose the strongest tie down point I've got.

And speaking of the Challenger, my brother, my 18 year old son, and I, took a 500 mile road trip in the Challenger today. We drove to Salt Lake City to attend the Auto Expo, and back. I wanted to see the Ford SVT Raptor F150 that they had on display. That is quite a drive to see a pickup truck, but where else are you going to see one of those trucks? Besides, driving the Challenger made the trip a whole lot of fun. We even got 22.7 mpg, which isn't too bad for a 6.1 Hemi, especially considering that I did one tire smoking burnout because my brother wanted to see what it had under the hood. Barret-Jackson is auctioning off the first Ford SVT Raptor F150 in Scottsdale, AZ in about 1 hour. Got to go watch Speed Vision now.

DV