18' to 20' car hauler....
 

Hey guys, i am looking for an 18' to 20' car hauler for my 83 Chevy C10. I will be taking my C10 to the drag races on the trailer and possibly some long distance road trips to big shows/events. I want a trailer that is reliable, reasonably priced and built to last a long time. I would prefer a steel floor over a wood floor and would like as low of an approach angle on the ramps as possible. I have looked into Big Tex's 70DM trailer as well as some other trailers. I would prefer a bumper pull over a GN as my truck has never had a ball or 5er hitch in the bed and id like to keep it that way if at all possible. Let me know what you guys come up with!

just my 2 cents,
and there is no perfect answer,

i would get only a goose neck,
and i don't care that much if it has a steel floor or a wooden floor, i've used both. i like dove tail goose necks

lastly, for trucks and trailers i'm real partial to used from ebay....

just one opinion

once you have had a GN you will never go back.............I pull lotsa stuff and would never have it any other way than GN

JMHO...............each to his own

on ebay you can customize your search and look only at trailers with in a reasonable distance from you....
here are a couple but remember if you drive far to pick them up, add at lest a buck a mile to their cost.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Goose...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2007-...QQcmdZViewItem

if i had a need for a car hauler and money was no object, i would probably buy a new feather light dove tail goose neck...(aluminum)

so whats the advantages of a gooseneck over a bumper pull....

Click here

X3 on the GN

ok ok, but now comes the issue with costing quite a bit more and having to mount one in the bed of my truck.....how much more is a gooseneck trailer of the same layout that im looking for than a bumper pull

for many years 90% of the miles on all my company's trucks were pulling trailers....

straight pull trailers are okay when their total weight is about 4K pounds,
when you start going above 4K goose necks are the only way to go.

a year ago i rented a straight pull car hauler....
when empty the damn thing beat me up just pulling it across town....
it pulled better when i had a truck on it...
remember a car hauler is not a light weight trailer..
my guess is that they all weigh 3.5K to 5K....
add the weight of the truck you're hauling and it's a little bit of a pull...

so IMHO only, cost difference between a straight pull and a GN is not important nor is it a factor.... if you can't afford a GN don't buy anything, see if you can rent or borrow a trailer....

http://www.truckaccessoryusa.net/Cat...tches/list.php

here's one of many hitches also the one i'm using.

For a 20' bumper pull car hauler, I recommend MacLander. I have an 18'+2' w/ wood floor. It tows awesome! Best bumper pull I've ever had behind either truck. Be careful with a steel floor, make sure the segments are welded ALL the way across the deck. Most are not, that's why I went with wood.

Good luck!


Craig

hey Craig thanks for sharing, and i'm glad you're happy with your trailer....

previous opinions were overly biased in favor of GNs

ok so im gonna look at some GNs now....you guys talked me into it....lol

Glad we didn't have to beat it into ya :tttt::s:

for what hes doing i dont think he really needs a gn. it does pull better but the gn adds quite a bit of cost. ive pulled my little wheelin truck on a 16' trailer for a long time now. and its never bothered me on that trailer. now my horse trailer, its bumper pull and i wish it was gn every time i pull it.

as far as cattle or livestock...gn is the only way to go because it's a lot easier to control the shifting load back there. If at all possible get a gooseneck because it will be able to haul a lot more than the bumper pull will comfortably.

A bumper pull trailer will pull as nice as a GN as long as it's set-up right. So if you take the time to level the rig, even out the weight, and secure everything down it'll pull like a dream. GN's are far the more manuverable of the two since you can turn sharper and go over rougher ground.

I'm not sure how much your C10 weighs but I'd start there and match the trailer to it and add a slight bit more for safety.

well, as of a year ago its race weight with me in it was 3980 lbs

Along with the benefits already mentioned one more to consider.

PEOPLE BORROWING IT.

Any tom, dick, harry, or schmuck friend that you cant say no to, can throw on a hitch and bug you to borrow a bumper pull.

Not everyone has a gooseneck hitch. And those that do usually have experience with pulling a trailer.

that's a good point...
heard it before but didn't want to mention it....

hey, can i borrow your trailer???? LOL LOL LOL

Also, people that have GNs are less likely to ask.

Sharing trailers is something that I'm not very fond of. Somehow theycome back with mystery marks and flats. But nobody knows how they got there.

If you can go with the added cost of the foosenech then it will be much nicer.

I'm building a new trailer to haul everything from my 1500 conversion truck (oil pan currently has 2.1" ground clearance) to a crew cab long bed dually.

It will be about 26-28ft of deck with low pro fenders, 102" wide, gooseneck, toolbox full width of trailer and equal in height to the GN, etc...

THE GN will tend to pull better at the greater weights, maneauver (sp) better/tighter, etc...

With a lot of weight on a BP think more like the tail wagging the dog.

~Wes~