irieman

Long story short I'm in the process of getting rid of my steel open trailer and moving to an aluminum open trailer. I’ve pretty much shopped all the brands from coast to coast and was going with R&R Trailers out of Michigan. Online their trailers seem pretty nice, they have a good reputation and better yet….their pricing is great. At the last second I just a received a good price on an ATC (Concours) open trailer. Yes, the price isn’t as great as the R&R, but I like that the ATC’s deck is lower, the ramps are kept in an enclosed area and basically seems built a little bit better.

What I’m worry about is the open door to tire clearance while the fender(s) is removed. I plan to call the manufacturer this week to get some more details about the trailer, but I’d like to hear from actual owners.

Will a C6’s door clear the trailer tires of an ATC trailer? Just in case…will a lowered C6 clear the tires? I haven’t trailered a C6, yet, so how is everyone strapping down their rides? Are you attaching to the frame, are you attaching straps around the wheels or are you doing a mix of both?

Any tips about ATC open trailers or strapping down a C6 would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

JerryTX

I have a slammed C6 (a lot lower than the sig pic now). Front of the door is the lowest point, make sure your no higher than 6.25" and you'll be good to go. I did a lot to make the trailer work for the car and its a PIA with a car this low.. that included having the trailer fenders lowered so that I could open the doors.

k24556

I have an Rnr and use the T lugs in the frame, X pattern the straps both front and rear.

Loading and unloading is quick. the RNR is well designed for Corvettes. No additional ramps.

I'll be at VIR April 6,7 and Summit Point May 17 18 if you want to see it.

irieman

K...

Do you have any pictures of your vette loaded on you RnR trailer? Do you like the ramps being mounted to the front of the trailer? That's probably my biggest issue. I know they act as a rock guard, but all I can see is scratching or dinging something while removing them and carrying them to the back....and vice versa.

k24556

The ramps up front is not a big deal they are very light. From RnR the ramps are held on the rack with two big wing-screws. I made some straps to replace them so I could mount a spare and a tool box on the tongue. You can't see the mod very well in this pic, but I can take one this weekend if you are interested.

The trailer really tows nice and load up and securing is fast. If you lower more than a couple of inches, you will need the removeable left fender.

The spare mount RnR makes mounts on the side and the tire would be in the way when tying down a car.

I use the Tslot tiedowns. Bought them from a vendor at Carslisle last summer. I put both front and rear in an X pattern and they hold the car down well. I used to use straps thru the wheels, but if the brakes are hot when you load you sometimes get a burned knuckle.

I really like the look of the polished wheels on the trailer. RnR puts Dexter torsion axles and radial trailer tires, so it tows very nicely. I'm pleased with the value for the price and think it is worth the 2x over a steel trailer ( I have a home built steel, that I'm always touching up the rust spots).

MeHurricane

As a back up solution, I have seen many trailers with 2 x 10 blocks that the car rolls up on to get clearance for the door over the fender. (if the door won't clear.)

Glen Aka MeHurricane

irieman

K...

I'm definitely interested in seeing your mod, because I'm looking at adding a box on the toungue, too. Can you please send a picture when u have a time.

I'm planning on adding a tirerack, so thats where the spare(s) is going to be placed. I learned from my current trailer that a regular spare mount would get in the way.

Thanks for telling me how you tie-down your corvette. It looks like a lot of vette owners use the Tslot, too.

The Dexter axle is a defintely a plus. If I don't go with RnR its going to be hard to walkaway from $1k cheaper trailer. I just dont like the ramps being on the front.

irieman

Jerry... ATC said I'll have about 9" from the deck to the top of the trailer tire. That's with no load on it. My rear section of my door is about 10.25". I think I'll be able to at least open my door halfway, but I like your idea. Instead of placing a wood plank under the drivers side tires I'll re-work the fender(s). Thanks for the idea. Did you do it yourself or did you get a fab shop to do it?

Also, I want to upgrade to 225/75/15 tires vice the standard 205/75/15's. I'll have to compensate for the higher tire height.

k24556

I'll try to post some pics of the ramp mount this weekend. I found the front mount to be no big deal and they wouldn't interfere with a tire rack. my future plan is to make a tire rack with T slot aluminum. Kinda pricey, but you can cut the stuff with a table saw and Tslot is easy to design with.

If y buy a trailer, be sure to get an 18ft. The 16's are just too short. If you decide to put something like fuel cans at the front of the trailer you won't have enough room with a 16.

I amost bought a Featherlite, but my door would not clear the wheel. Everyone I know that has a featherlite has to add race ramps or put ramps under the truck to jack the rear end up. At least with the RNR, you put the factory ramps on and that's all. You don't need to haul another set around and fool with them

I ended up with an RnR not because of price, but because it was the simplest to use and that's all it was not a price consideration. If you look at the design, though, there is an extra beam on each side the length of the trailer and that makes the trailer nice and stiff. Some of the welds look crappy and undersized (just 1 or 2) but I found that on other brands as well. Even though they didn't meet my visual expectation, they have not cracked or anything and are not in high stress locations.

I've towed around 2000 miles so far, to 8 events, so no big complaints

If you get one, have them add a D ring at the front-center, and relocate the breakaway battery to under the bed. They normally mount the battery in the way of a future location for a tool box. Get a matching spare too.

isnider

I have a 2012 18' ATC open aluminum trailer and am happy with it. I trailer a 2010 ZR1 to VIR regularly. I use race ramps with the stock ramps because of how low my ZR1 is with the front carbon fiber splitter. The door will not clear the tires with the fender off but there is enough room to wiggle out even with the window up.

I'll be at VIR for member days all year if you want to check it out. My trailer has the big wind deflector on the front along with aluminum wheels and tongue mounted storage box.

Get the Mac's tie down straps with T-hooks and you can have the car loaded and strapped down in less than 10 minutes.

The trailer pulls great at 80 mph and stops great with brakes on both axles. I use it for my 1965 C2 and wife's Solstice too and can't be happier.

Ian

irieman

I was going to add 5 more tie-downs to the deck, but why do you mention adding one to the front-center? Am I missing something?

Your right on about moving the battery box to another location...it's been mentioned.

Yeah, I have a 16 footer now and was definitely going to either a 18 or 20 footer.

ATC comes standard with 72" ramps, but has options for 96" , 84" and maybe another size. I'm really thinking about the 96" upgrade.

irieman

Ian...

like I just mentioned, If I go with the ATC I plan to upgrade to the longer 96" ramps, so hopefully that will take care of the intial loading issues. The question I have...do you scrape the frame where the ramp meets the deck? I've heard second hand that it might be an issue.

So the door does hit...uugh. Thats what I figured, but I didn't want to hear. Can you give me a rough guesstimate...does the door not clear the tire "barely", by an 1 inch, 2 inches....more??? This will really help me make my decsion.

isnider

You have to be carefull at the rear of the trailer with driveway humps (take it at an angle) The door doesn't even come close to clearing the trailer tires but there is enough room to swing the door open and get out.

Personally I would go with the race ramps and standard length ramps, they are already heavy enough.