schaibaa

Hi Guys,

Just looking for a sanity check here.

I've looked at Featherlite, R&R, Jimglo, and now Trailex. Price wise, it seems to be Jimglo/Trailex, Featherlite, R&R. I want a tire rack, stone guard, spare tire, and winch plate.

My main reason for going open aluminum is that I'm towing with a Ford Raptor - max 5,000lbs bumper pull - although I could go up to 8k with a load leveling hitch. Kind of a PITA. Plus with steel enclosed, I'd probably need to get a winch to pull the car in. By the time I buy a steel enclosed plus winch and load leveling hitch, I'm about the cost of a high end aluminum open.

I've seen the Trailex sell used (a few years old) for within a hundred or two of new. I would expect to lose $2,000 or more on a steel enclosed.

Trailer with tire rack and stone guard, and spare tire I'm about 8K.

I can get a similar R&R trailer for $5k. I'd have to use race ramps with the R&R due to the short ramps, so it is less convenient. Plus sort of a PITA to move the ramps from the front of the trailer to the back, etc.

The Jimglo is awesome but it feels just a bit hokey and I've seen some mixed reviews. It's also several hundred pounds heavier than all of the others due to having some steel in the construction.

The Featherlite is nice but only a bit cheaper than the Trailex - weighs more and doesn't seem to have quite as good resale.

R&R saves me 3k up front, but my guess is the R&R loses more value than the Trailex.

Basically I'm looking for the most convenient trailer that I can easily pull with my Raptor, where I lose the least amount of money.

Thanks in advance!

BEZ06

I have an enclosed Trailex I pull with my very payload challenged F150 King Ranch - and without special provisions I just can't pull it and stay within the limits of the truck.

You mention a bumper pull limit of 5000 lbs, and with a WDH (Weight Distributing Hitch - or load leveling hitch) you're up to 8000 lbs. I assume you got down on the ground and looked up at label on your hitch and saw those limits, and/or the tongue weight limits of the hitch.

The tongue weight of your trailer should be 10% to 15% of the total weight of the trailer for comfortable, safe, and sway-free towing.

Also, take a look on your door at the sticker with tire pressure info on it - it will have a statement something like "Max weight of passengers and cargo may not exceed xxxx lbs", which is your Max Payload.

The tongue weight of the trailer will be part of that Payload Capacity.

A Trailex CT-8045 with tire rack, stone guard, and spare tire will weigh in the neighborhood of 1200 lbs. I carry 4 spare wheels/tires for my ZR1 and they are in the area of 220 lbs.

So....before you load your car onto a CT-8045 it will probably weigh in excess of 1400 lbs - more if you carry some fuel and a toolbox on it.

Are you talking about hauling a C7 Z06 that weighs in excess of 3800 lbs??? If so, the whole loaded trailer will probably weigh more than 5200 lbs - and I'm sure that will require a WDH.

If the loaded trailer weighs 5200 lbs, the tongue weight will be 520-780 lbs.

Plus, a WDH weighs in at more than 100 lbs.

That makes the weight on your hitch to be (even at the min of 10% tongue weight) in the area of 620 lbs.

If the door sticker says your Payload Capacity is, say, 1200 lbs, and you've got 620 lbs on the hitch, that leaves 580 lbs for other stuff in the truck. If you've got 2 people of the standard airline weight of 170 lbs each, that leaves 240 lbs for luggage, tools, track support equipment, or other stuff in the cab and bed of the truck.

Bottom line......I bet the Payload Capacity of your Raptor is less than 1200 lbs, so you may be very limited in the weight you can actually tow, and there may not be much Payload Capacity left for people and stuff in the truck.

Butt....most people don't care much about trying to stay within the limits of their truck, and they pull massively overweight rigs - but rarely do I hear of any guys pulling race trailers having any real problems except for occasional blown tires.

Good luck finding the right trailer!!

.

3 Z06ZR1

I would not try to pull that heavy with a raptor and bumper hitch.

Dan H.

I'm also looking at a trailex. Trying to find a used one but may pull the trigger on a new one if i don't find one. Sorry for a dumb question, how does one measure tongue weight?

BEZ06

I have a Sherline tongue weight scale - just search on eBay for "Sherline". You can see in the picture below 480 lbs for the empty trailer. When I load it up with car, jack, tools, 4 spare track wheels/tires, etc., my tongue weight is about 720 to 750 lbs. My enclosed Trailex CTE-84180 weighs about 6200 to 6400 lbs loaded up with the ZR1 (which weighs 3373 lbs full of gas), so my tongue weight is about 12% of the loaded trailer's weight:






Or, take a look at this etrailer site info - scroll down to "Bathroom Scale" to see how to use a normal bathroom scale to measure heavy tongue weights:

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-how-to-...ue-weight.aspx

.

schaibaa

Guys this isn't about tongue weights or anything.

The only reason the raptor is rated for less than the regular F150 is that it has soft suspension. Even with that, people pull 3500lb cars on a trailex with small cross overs all the time. The raptor will pull the trailex corvette combo with ease. The raptor is a big truck and weighs about half way between a 1 ton and a half ton.

The point really is about if the trailex is worth the extra scratch.

Supercharged111

FWIW if you're near 5000# with a softly sprung truck, you will notice a difference with a WD hitch. There's no going back for me. The truck drives better with 8500# enclosed and WD than 5500# without.

hotrodwest

I Have a JimGlo open trailer and am really impressed with its functionality. It does everything I need and can accommodate the lowest of my cars. I also have a 24" all aluminum Pace enclosed trailer that I use for other cars and like the protection it provides. Both have advantages and drawbacks. I tow with a Duramax dually.

schaibaa

Decided on the Trailex 8045 - those guys are truly car guys and know what they are doing.

2 GTOs

I miss my trailex 8045. It was a great trailer and super easy to pull.

Dan H.

I just ordered an 8045eb also. Are the ramps long enough to load your car without using something like a race ramp?

schaibaa

I hope so - haven't had a chance to test it.

0Fred@ReverseLogic

You can use the Reverse Logic trailer ramp calculator to determine whether or not you will need a supplemental ramp for your car/trailer combination. The calculator displays inch-by-inch car-to-ramp clearance from the ground to the trailer deck.

You can access the Google Sheet calculator at www.reverselogic.us/race-ramps

This tool is a shared calculator so the car and trailer dimensions will be set to the values entered by the last user. You can download a copy of the calculator to use locally on your computer.

schaibaa

The Trailex is at roughly the required approach angle for a C7 Z06 with a stage 2 (or 3) splitter. If I end up scraping, I'll just run the tongue jack up 1-2 inches and that will solve the problem.

0Fred@ReverseLogic

You can simulate the effect of raising the trailer tongue in the trailer ramp calculator by reducing the trailer deck height value in the calculator.

Assuming that the pivot point on the trailer is 2/3 the total trailer length from the hitch, you would deduct 1" from the deck height for every 2" you raise the tongue.

theseal

I've towed my 28' enclosed steel frame trailer with a full size tool kit, corvette, spare tires, jacks, fluids, camping stuff, etc., with my raptor no problem. Over 10,000 miles. Pretty sure it's 10k or better.

Once the sway bar mount broke so I had to tow it without them hooked up - well, couldn't tell the difference so I don't even use them anymore. I've had to make lane changes to miss idiots, etc., high winds, high speeds occasionally, no big deal.

Raptor tows fine. Don't worry about it.

schaibaa

Here's my trailer -- for those who are interested.

Dan H.

Looks good, what model winch do they put on there?

I pick mine up at spring Carlisle, pretty excited

schaibaa

I added the winch myself. They put on a WARN 3700, and that's what I used. Northern Tool was blowing them out at $199 each. That model has been replaced with the WARN 4000 -- very very similar.

I added a wiring kit to hook up to my truck, 4 gauge wire with quick connects I got on eBay.

All together I'm in to the winch about $450 after buying the neoprene cover, wiring kit, and wireless remote. It would be nice to have a battery box but there's just not a great place to put it on the open trailer, and this way I'm not worried about charging a battery and securing it on the trailer.

One thing on the Trailex, I should have ordered the reflective striping. It seems expensive but it's difficult to add after the fact. Also I added the tool box after the fact, not too terribly difficult, but you do have to disassemble the trailer just a bit, and drill all of the holes in the box.

Dan H.

Thanks for your info, I am taking the same approach. The winch with trailex was over $800. After looking the up it looks like they run about $250-$400. So I bought the platform and will set the rest up myself