VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Car Trailer Design

As our '28 is now stored 60 miles/100km from the nearest town, I need to build a car trailer to move it on club days so we can participate.
Has anyone come across any good designs on the net, or have any suggestions for good features I should include.
All suggestions very welcome.
Tim.

Are you considering a closed or open trailer? Do you plan to buy or construct yourself?

I designed my open trailer and my closed trailer and there are some very important features that you need to put into your trailer, IMHO.

As Ray said, is it open or closed?

Louis could you please post some photos of the trailers you designed, I really would love to see them. Did you construct them also? I remember a few years ago you (at that time I think you were calling yourself "Gator")were looking to buy one and I believe it left off that you ordered one and then nothing more was heard from on the topic. It was a great long thread. I did not know that you went to this level since then as far as designing them, I am impressed to say the least. Please post when you get a chance I am always looking for more ideas
Thanks,
John

Hi All
I will be self constructing and am toying with the idea of a semi enclosed design. If feasible it would have a steel hooded front to inproved aerodynamics and protection.
Tim.

Your best option is to take measurements, pictures, etc. from manufactured trailers. They have been engineered to carry the weight and have road experience. For any of us or a non-qualified engineer to design one is asking for trouble. An alternate is to search the internet for trailer plans. Be careful that any design used has some real world experience. A third is to contact the trailer part suppliers, Dexter axle, is an example. They might have plans available or a suggestion on where to get them. Finally I checked many years ago when I considered building one and found that the component parts, steel, axles, hitch, wheels, tires, decking, lights, wiring, fenders, etc. that my cost was not too much lower than a manufactured trailer.

I can buy a new 16 foot open trailer here in my area for about $2200. It seems like the R.O.A is not worth the time and effort to build one. Want info? E-mail me at maxamjl@nycap.rr.com
John

I really think that if you plan to haul Chevrolets of the 20 and early 30s with the soft stuff over wood top or a soft take down top you will wish you had a covered metal trailer. I made one 1500 mile cross country trip with the 28 sedan on an open trailer, and started looking immediately for a covered trailer, i know you can spend 8 to 10 thousand for a Air Conditioned trailer with a generator to haul a $8000 vintage car in but when you get where you are going you have all the comforts of a garage, no worry about pilfering, storms at night. You don't need a 30' trailer for a 14' car unless you plan to camp in the trailer with your car or haul swap meet stuff in it. Some of my friends store the old car in the covered trailer at home.

Commercially built Trailers are rare and expensive here in Western Australia, but parts are reasonably priced. Most trailers on the road here are home builts. I regret selling my race car trailer years ago, which was built by a clever home builder. On the up side, my race car building experience gives me confidence to build my own. On the down side I know I will be building the wife a horse float soon after!!!
I do not have access to other trailers here to copy due to our isolation but will obviously keep an eye out for them. To borrow/hire and use would be ideal research.
From past experience I am most keen to obtain the dimension from tow ball to axle distance ( both front axle on the trailer and front axle on the 28 when loaded) for perfect weight distribution, from trailers that are known to perform well.
A 28 specific, light weight day tripping trailer is what I am visualizing.
Tim.

Tim,

I guess we take things for granted here in the USA. I sure hope Louis will share some if his important design features with us from both his open and closed trailers and hopefully be of help with your project. We are fortunate to have someone with that talent on the forum. I know to put it on the highway here in New York you need a manufacture VIN number and it must be state inspected, so home made is out of the question. Maybe Louis has away around that

Good Luck,
John

Some National manufactors will let you "design" your trailer. I ordered my covered trailer, and you can choose the axles, door placements, interior materials, interior lighting, air vents and if the vent openings were wired for an R.V. A/C unit, Tires, wheels, nose cap, several colors of paint, Type of ball hitch coupler, winch, battery mount or a generator compartment.
Every trailer in Texas according to the weight capacity also must have a VIN, The builder supplys the new owner with a Man. Cert. of Orgin. if you built your own trailer the frame must be stamped with a VIN, before it can be inspected for road worthiness. Every trailer must be registered every year at from $49 to $65. When you have 7 trailers,6 vehicles and three boats to register each year,like we do, it can be expensive.

Hey old buddy,

Are you bragging or complaining??

Compared to my miserable little number (three cars), your numbers sound pretty darn nice!!!

Bill.

Mr Mack,

If that is the case to use the word design is a bit of an abuse of the word to promote ones self importance, don't you think? Also the one who made that claim should be the one clearing it up now, not you. So far this is what you think it is, but we don't know that, maybe Louis C is an engineer who designs trailers. My point is Mr Mack this Chat Site and others is like the Holiday Inn Express commercial (forgive me I am not sure if that ad campaign is regional or national), in a way that it allows some to become something they are not. Someone can come on the site and claim anything and we have a no option but to believe that what they say is the the truth. Many of us who participate on the site have a face that is known within the club...... some don't. There is a huge difference from "I'd like to put a door here and a skylight there" then specing axles and thickness of frame parts. I along with others would like to now see if this really was the case, and if so a clarification is needed. I have asked honest questions before, only to be given some other story as to why the answer can't be given.
John

John, a word is a word, isn't it? That is what they tell you in their literature. I would call it making a choice of options....

42Bill, between car haulers, boat trailers, and the utility trailers, pickups and cars, I am trailer and vehicle poor. I really need to get rid of a couple of boats and a pickup.
All of my stuff collectively probably isn't worth as much as your 3 vehicles, but to use them it costs as much to license as one that is a $100,000 trailer or boat.

Mack

Move to Oklahoma and save money.
Registration and a tag are not required, even for an enclosed car trailer. However, I buy a lifetime tag one time and pay only once. Why? Because I do not want to get stopped by a patrolman in another state and try to explain/convince him that I'm from Oklahoma and do not have to have a tag.

Cordman,
Your comment reminds me of the trip to Santa Rosa to attend the Anniversery Meet a group of us took several years ago. At that time Texas did not require safety chains on open trailers. We crossed into California about five in the morning because of the desert heat. Just across the border we stopped for breakfast and while eating we observed the highway patrolmen admireing our cars.WRONG A couple of miles down the road they were waiting for us. Those without safety chains were issued citations and weren't allowed to leave until chains were attached.

DD

Cordman, I was born in Oklahoma, and moved back there in 1980, back to Texas in 85 and I still have to file an Oklahoma Income Tax Return, buying tags is cheaper in Texas.

Oklahoma withholds money from our oil and gas royalties, We get part of the money (non-resident)back but they still keep a tidy sum for admin fees.

Today you are required to have trailer brakes after a certain weight capacity and safety chains and break-a-way switches on the brakes. I have seen the Troopers in a certain state test the breakaway brakes and the battery. They damaged the pull out part on a driver's switch and made the guy unhook his trailer and go to a store and buy a new switch.

How do those surge brakes do the breakaway deal?

The surge brakes have a piece that can be put into position in the telescoping part of the tongue that prevents the brakes from being applied when backing the trailer. If the trailer is pushed backwards without this piece in place, the tongue telescopes the same way it does from the trailer inertia when the tow vehicle applies its brakes. In the tow mode, back up quickly a short distance on the gravel shoulder and if the cop isn't ODed on jelly donuts, he'll see the wheels skid. This, however does nothing in a breakaway, unless the tongue has enough friction skidding along the pavement to apply the brakes. I believe that this arrangement is no longer legal in some areas.

The surge brakes on my trailer does not require the pin to back it up.The trailer can be backed up at any time without making any changes.It has a lever with a chain attached to it and the other end of the chain is attached to the hitch at the same place as the safety chains. In the case of a break away the chain pulls the lever forward and the brakes are locked up. I have trailers with the electric set up and the surge system. I prefer the surge system over the electric system. No electric boxes,no shorted wires or extra batteries.

DD

The two major problems with surge brakes are: 1. Being hydraulic they must be flushed every several years to prevent water corrosion of the master and wheel cylinders. 2. The trailer brakes always lag the tow vehicle brakes. On dry pavement or straight roads it is not a problem. But on curves and particularily slippery roads it can lead to instability. It is especially dangerous when the trailer with load weighs more than the tow vehicle. Like an arrow the heavy end wants to go first. Can be exciting when you are doing 60 mph backwards down the highway.

DandyD, I have seen many carhaulers in the Metroplex with surge brakes and figured there was a way to apply them in case of breakaway. I had a 34 foot travel trailer that came off the ball after going over a speed bump, it had electric brakes with a breakaway switch. However I also had the safety chains crossed under the tongue and the trailer didn't pull the breakaway switch before the chains caught it. The only casualty was a flat place on the tongue jack wheel. I still like to set the chains long enough to turn a full amount and short enough that the trailer won't be disconnecter completely, but shorten up on the breakaway cable to help stop the trailer quickly

I spoke to several people while I was researching different options before I bought my trailer I was told by several trailer people that the only reason to have surge brakes is for a boat trailer (salt water and electric brakes sort do not get along well) The only reason that U-Haul uses surge brakes is because most people who rent a trailer do not have a controler, so it it universal technology The technology has really come a long way with controlers and electric brakes
John

I am familiar with surge brakes. I remember one incident when I forgot to release the park brake latch and almost succeeded in setting alight to the tyres I got the drums so hot.
Do electric brakes utilise an inertia device or something similar to increase brake effort under heavy braking?
Tim (Sir Lubalot)

On modern vehicles the electric brake controllers use the brake light switch to activate the unit applying a set (adjustable) amount of voltage to the magnets and also have an inertia device to increase the voltage under hard braking. Older vehicles (single chamber master cylinder) tapped into the hydraulic line. Some early dual master cylinder vehicles used a controller that tapped into the rear brake lines (had more volume with drum brakes).