From what I read off the registraion its a Hawk car hauler made 1988. It is alminum so I don't think it weighs even 1000lbs. The lack of weight is nice because it allows my 3.5L tow vehicle to pull the car and trailer failry easily though I've never tried to tow a steel car trailer. It has a tilt bed and it tilts enough to for my very low car to get on the trailer with out trouble. The downside is that its so small my car barely fits with stock wheels and won't fit with the +36 wheels I have. It has surge brakes that need some work but they are tollerable. I can buy it for around $2400. Right now I can borrow it but the owner wants to upgrade to an enclosed trailer and I can't pull that.

The side I polished:

Room left on each side:

Tow Vehicle:


I really like the Montero, it is really easy to drive around town, gets good gas mileage. With this setup it has no trouble going up hills and gets 14mpg while towing.

What I'd like to know is how much a steel or aluminum trailer with similar features would cost and what the weight difference is.

Thanks

 

I would pass on a trailer that small, but that's just personal preference. I like to keep as much stuff out of the tow truck as I can and this means more stuff goes on the trailer. While it's certainly not a requirement to have a tire rack, gas can rack, tool boxes (for big stuff like jacks), etc, it certainly is nice to have the option. I also wouldn't want to be that limited in how I distributed the weight or loaded the car. If it were a really cheap price I might say it would be an okay compromise, but for $2400 I certainly would consider a steel trailer for less money or a larger aluminum trailer for a little more money.

 

What he said, especially for the price.

 

if you're going to spend that kind of money, you should be getting what you want, and it should do all the things you need it to do. having to change wheels every time you load/unload the car will be a HUGE pain in the butt.

BTW......you shouldn't be backing the car on the trailer like that IMO.

 

Pass on it. Too small and too much.

 

I guess its not for me then, thanks for the advice.

Why is it bad to load the car backwards? (it only fits that way I think)

Where can I find prices for trailers?

 

The reason that car is loaded backwards would have to be because of tongue weight. ...at least that's what I think :D

 

If it's so small that your car doesn't fit with one of your other sets of wheels, I'd pass, and keep looking.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITACRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The reason that car is loaded backwards would have to be because of tongue weight. ...at least that's what I think :D</TD></TR></TABLE>

that could be.......

but for stability purposes, just as with a car, you want all the weight BETWEEN the axles. in this case it is the axle of the trailer and the rear axle of the tow vehicle. the trailer is harder to control and i would think could possibly begin to oscillate if the majority of the weight is behind the rear axle of the trailer.

 

Not a huge fan of aluminum trailers, but they're fine for Hondas. A few things to look for in a truck and trailer:

o Must have a dove tail. I can't imagine trying to load that thing. Youd' probably have to take off the bumper cover.

o Long ramps stable ramps.

o You want more tongue weight. Loading a fwd car backwards is asking for an accident.

o Big tires. The bigger the better.

o The longer the wheelbase of the towing vehicle the better. Get the longest wheelbase you can stand to drive on a daily basis.

o SUV's mean you get to keep smelly stuff inside. A truck with a cap is my personal preference.

o Trailer needs to be long enough so that you can tie down the straps back and forth, not too much to the sides.

Warren

 

ya for $2400 you can get a good 18ft steel trailer BRAND NEW w/ D-rings etc placed to where you want it. it will have more room too compared to this trailer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by exospeedAMcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ya for $2400 you can get a good 18ft steel trailer BRAND NEW w/ D-rings etc placed to where you want it. it will have more room too compared to this trailer.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I got a new 18 ft. deck steel, diamond plate, long dovetail trailer for $1700. I am putting a large storage box on the front (40" tall x 30" deep x fill width) and should still be under $2200. Not light but fine for a 2100 car and a 7000 lbs load rated SUV.

Deals can definately be had when shopping rignt, I found my dealer on Ebay then special ordered it to my spec. If you have our heart set on aluminum, prepare to pay a premuim.

 

There is a small amount of occasional oscillation but not enough force me to make adjustments while driving. I thought it was somewhat normal, I guess I'm more ignorant to trailers than I'd imagined.

I can load the car with the bumper on because the bed tilts a lot.

I'd like to see how my SUV tows something before I buy it. The Montero is rated to 5000lbs I think, it could be more. How much do steel trailers weigh? The car weighs 2500lbs and I have heard that steel trailers weigh about 2000lbs. I'm not set on aluminum I just want something that doesn't weigh a lot and I also would like to spend much less than $2400. My car is about 14.5 feet long and I don't care to load items other than the car onto the trailer.

What I think should look for is a steel 16ft trailer with tilt, dove tail and an open wood deck (I'm assuming wood weighs less than diamond plate). Is this a good idea or not and how much would it weigh?

thanks

 

i'm thinking ideally you should get a new tow vehicle. check my sig for what i tow, and what i tow with. i also have a 16'+2'dove full deck wood trailer that i'm sure weighs somewhere near 2000 lbs. i got mine for $2g's. my car weighs under 2100lbs. the towing capacity of my truck is somewhere in the neighborhood of double that. but ya know what, i wouldn't tow with anything less. face it, the montero wasn't designed to tow much of anything. it's kinda like trying to race on all season tires, they just weren't made for it.

with that said, small amounts of oscillation in heavy crosswinds or during an evasive manuver can cause large problems. also, look farther ahead than the tip of your nose. you may not have a desire to put anything else on the trailer now, but if you do this for a while, you will later. i have added a tire rack to mine already and have only had it for about 3 months. i advise going with a full deck instead of open, if you look back, you should find a thread on this topic not more than a couple pages back.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tnord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">face it, the montero wasn't designed to tow much of anything. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Why not?

 

To all the ppl that say j00 need a gargantuan tow vehicle...all one really needs (from my personal experience) is a weight distributing hitch...I don't care how small or large j00r tow vehicle is, j00'll notice an improvement...

It's the best ~$250 I spent on towing duties...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tnord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you may not have a desire to put anything else on the trailer now, but if you do this for a while, you will later. i have added a tire rack to mine already and have only had it for about 3 months. i advise going with a full deck instead of open, </TD></TR></TABLE>




I can think of TONS of uses for my activities, car racing aside, that I'd use a trailer for.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ASteele2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">




I can think of TONS of uses for my activities, car racing aside, that I'd use a trailer for.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

it's not smart to max out your towing capability. If you have a 5k lbs capability, I wouldn't go past 4k lbs. Reason the montero isn't the best tow vehicle, I wouldn't say it's not designed for towing, is due to the wheelbase and rear suspension. Softer suspensions are not ideal when towing more weight. I would want a 7k+ lbs towing capacity if I was towing 5k lbs. Sure, you can get a station wagon to tow a lot of weight...does it work? maybe but is it safe? Is it the best way to tow? Not really.