don foreman

I'm looking for tips on open car trailer designs that don't weigh a lot, I know there are other threads about this here, but I was hoping for more information on the subject from members.

I do not have the luxury of a dedicated tow vehicle so my Ford F150 will have to do the pulling. I designed my old trailer in 2001 to pull very light 1st gen Civics and it did its job just fine and towed well. I want to go to a dual axle trailer for safety and a little more load capacity. Most real car trailers locally (West Coast USA) are either very expensive or very heavy and use a lot of iron. That was true 13 years ago and not much has changed now. I think other countries are better at designing light weight trailers for car hauling and I was hoping to add some of that wisdom to my next trailer build.

So I thought I would start by asking for some trailer design advice and critiquing the 10ft x 6ft torsion axle trailer I just sold.

Things I think I did OK:

• It used mostly 2”x3” 0.120 (50mmx75mm 3mm) tube and in 13 years it didn’t defect or crack. This is despite being over loaded horribly when borrowed by a friend.
• 0.120” (3mm) Diamond Plate for decking and limited cross members. I used the decking to hold the two 2x3 tubes on both sides together. I used almost no horizontal cross members under the plate. I only put four total, two in front of the axle and two in the rear. I positioned the horizontal cross members 12” (304mm) apart, right under the tire contact points. The rest of the area just had the area spanned by the diamond plate.
• I liked the low ride height both for loading and stability.
• I liked the hand winch a lot.
• I had a 4ft long trailer tongue. I think the length helped the short trailer tow well.
• 13" tires, keeps the trailer low and other small car trailer manufactures like Brian James use even smaller Diameters on their products.

Things I want to improve on the new trailer:

• Build an A Frame tongue under the deck and make the coupler adjustable
• Increase the length of the bed to at least 13ft (3962mm)
• Increase the width to 6.5ft (1981mm)
• Add a two 2200lb rated axles, 4400lb (1995kg) gross weight.
• Possibly switch to dropped leaf spring axles for cost and being able to service the assembly if something wears out. This will raise the deck slightly. I am having trouble finding them in the 2200 models though.
• Ramps, I didn’t like lugging them around. Maybe even design a tilt tongue.
• Maybe put the hand winch to the side like on Brian James’s newer trailers.
• Make a spare tire holder.
• Add some skid wheels to the rear of the trailer to help with dragging.

Here is my old trailer, now sold.


The basic layout of the old trailer.


This trailer design interests me. Its just a picture I found on the internet. It looks to use very small diameter tube but be using the plates on the sides as a truss to strengthen the structure.

Here is another


Brian James Trailers also make very nice trailers that look like they are very light. They have been in business for many years so hopefully their designs are solid.


Thanks, Don

Lo-Buck EF

just buy one and be done. save yourself the headache. this truck scares me, but it does just fine and tows mike's car all over the east coast all season long.

don foreman

The F150 came in a lot of different chassis designs and engines, all have their own towing capacity limitations. Its not a bother to build a trailer that works. My last one did fine for more than a decade.

Davidss

I built a lightweight trailer a few years ago an documented everything:
https://honda-tech.com/road-racing-a...build-3020002/

My trailer is 750lbs with a double axle, brakes, spare tire, and ramps. The ramps are aluminum ATV ramps and store under the car.

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

Here is mine, I bought this from a friend. I believe that it was originally a custom built trailer.

I have never weighed it but the paperwork I have says 1250lbs. looking at how it is built there is not much I can do to lighten it up.

I tow with 2010 Tundra V8. if pulls fine.

don foreman

Thanks for the replies. I posted the same question on garage journal and have been getting some real interesting tips there too. Lightweight Car Trailers - The Garage Journal Board

I found a small little single axle plan that may be useful to someone on the internet. Real similar in measurements to my old trailer except the tongue lets it tilt. The 2mm wall thickness seems a bit thin though.
http://locost7.info/files/other/trailer/snottrailer.pdf

Charlie Moua

iTrader: (3)

i really wanted a light weight steel trailer but the only ones I saw under 1000lbs were a shop in CA.

1600-1700lbs flat bed trailer isn't all that bad but I'd love to find a lighter one. lol

don foreman

Davidss, What was the wall thickness and diameters of the tube on your project? I looked though the thread and maybe I missed it, but I did not see it listed.
I want to go with a "wrapped A frame" tongue on my next trailer. The design I did on my first trailer was not as strong.

don foreman

Just an update. I was able to source some plans from Marshall Engineering in Australia. Their plans are more like a book! At 1100 lbs, the trailer is listed at about 400lbs lighter than any steel car trailer made locally that I could find for sale. Most were even more weight at about 1800 lbs. Its not rated as high weight wise, but its plenty for the cars that I own. I will start on the project once the weather gets a bit better here. Car CArrier