95jersey

It is a Bri-Mar which has been around for a while and has a good reputation (from what I am being told). I found a 2005 used in my area for $2000. I need to be very economical, so Aluminum and enclosed are out of the question. I am also weight conscious and the empty weight is 1660lbs, which is great for a steel trailer. So, based on the specs below am I missing anything (no luxury items yet, just basic requirments)? Is 16' enough for a C6Z06? I like the fact that the fenders are removeable as well. Brand new they are $2534, so is it worth saving the $500?

http://www.bri-mar.com/trailerdetail...&categorysid=4

SPECS:

GVWR: 7,000 lbs.
Bed Length: 16’
Width: 82” Between Fenders 102” Overall
______________________________________
Tires: 205/75D 15C
Axles: 3,500 lbs. (Each)
Electric Brakes: 2 Axle
Coupler Size: 2-5/16”
Rubber Mounted LED Lights
Sealed Wiring Harness
4” Channel Main Frame
Safety Chains
Stake Pocket Package Total of (6)
(4) D-Ring Tie Downs
5,000 lbs. Jack
Breakaway Kit
5” Slide-Out Ramps (7,000 lbs. Capacity)
Removable Fenders (Both Sides)
EZ Lube Axles
7 Way RV Plug
Powder Coat Finish
* Comes with four (4) Cluster Ratchet Tie Downs with Snap-Hook End & one (1) Caster*

Solo2GS

Only thought is with a 16' bed it sure does not leave room for a set of tires or anything else you may want to be on the trailer instead of the bed of your truck.

The C6Z06 length is 175.6" or 14.63' / Width is 75.9" so it will fit on there.

Only other thought is what is the height of the trailer bed. I know with my trailer that has a 7' door and is a dove tail I still needed to add a ramp extension to get the nose up on it. So you may need longer ramps or a ramp extension to get up on it.

brenb

I just picked up a full deck 18' Bri-Mar. They make a nice trailer.

Personally I wouldn't want anything shorter, but 16' should work. You might have to crawl under the bumper to get to the ratchets on the straps though.

You will need to fashion extensions for the ramps.

Check to see when it was last serviced (if at all) as that could make up some of the difference in price vs. new.

John Shiels

16 feet is too short

Cobra4B

I need a trailer of my own... looking at getting one custom built from a trailer shop near my parents' house.

ghoffman

I bought this 28 foot trailer used off of the SCCA boards for $5K. Full cabinets, Superwinch, dual voltage lighting.

Solo2GS

A year and a half ago I purchased a new 24' Carson Racer Deluxe enclosed trailer. They come with nothing more or less! Sure wish I would of looked for a used one that was already outfitted inside for probably less than I got one for new...

If you have a truck that can tow it you might consider this.

ghoffman

Oh yes, I had an 18 foot Econo open trailer and I sold it for $1K so the trailer above cost me $4K. The used trailer above even had a double folding tail gate/ramp since it was used by a GT-1 competitor and a ladder and big vent to go up to through the roof to watch the track. You will be surprised how much extra money you will need to budget on things like brake controller, load leveling hitch, sway control, ramps, spare tire, bottle jack, lights, winch, etc. Of course if you have a spare tire you will never need it, not that I am superstitious, but it always seems that way. Assuming that it was maintained, trailers can last almost forever. Many are sold to upgrade, so find one like Chris Ingle's last year that he sold so he could get a bigger 5th wheel trailer.
On a side note, my new Chevy truck came with an integrated brake controller. It displays the gain settings on the dash, under the tach. I had gone through 2 different controllers on my previous truck so I was concerned how it would work. The first one I had was a standard U-haul brake controller and it was terrible. If it was set for the Highway, it was very jerky in stop and go traffic so I was constantly dialing it down then back up. Then I got a Teknosha Prodigy that has an inertial sensor and it was terrific in all types of traffic. With the integrated controller from Chevy, it works better than the Prodigy. It was definitely worth the $200 option price on the new truck.

c4cruiser

Probably not a bad price for a 2 year old trailer but the 16 foot length will wind up being too short. At some point you will want to add a storage box or maybe a tire rack.

Ask if the trailer can be taken to a RV or auto shop of your choice to have the brakes and bearings inspected. There are people who just don't do maintenance on trailers. Brakes need to be adjusted and wheel bearings need to be greased.

Also have the tires checked for any cracks or bulges. Trailer tires should be replaced every 4-5 years regardless of the tread remaining. Sitting out over the winter and in the sun takes a toll on them. Many low-end trailers use off-shore (made in Korea or China) tires and while they look OK, I personally don't think they have the quality of tires like the Goodyear "Marathon" trailer tire.

Be wary of the "E-Z" lube bearing greaser feature, While they are supposed to be labor-saving devices, pump too much grease thru the zerk fitting and it can get pushed past the seals and into the brakes. Grease on the shoes is not a good idea I have them on my new trailer and the first thing I did was to pull the hubs and pack the bearing by hand using a high-quality bearing grease.

5 foot ramps are too short; you will need 6' ramps plus extensions.

You will need 4 good nylon ratcheting tie-down straps to tie a car down properly. They should have a 10,000 lb load capacity which gives you a working load limit (WLL) of 3,300 lbs. The WLL rating is what to look for in ratchet straps. Don't get anything less.

Summit Racing has some good ones and the price is great: a pair for $25. Most places charge about $25 to $30 each and my experience is that most straps are the same in terms of material, ratchets and hook types. Otherwise do a Google search on "ratchet straps" to find sources.

Outfittng the tow vehicle is going to take more money. You will need a trailer brake controller (I also have a Tekonsha "Prodiugy" unit), and lighting hook-up. It will need to be a 7-pin connector to match the trailer. ARe the truck brakes and showks in good shape? You may have to upgrade to stiffer shocks or add some overload springs.

You will need a Class III frame hitch at a minimum. The chances are that your car and trailer will weigh over 5000 lbs so a Class IV hitch will be the one to get. Get a ball mount with a 6000 lb capacity to go with the 2 5/16" ball.

All of the little "extras" add up. You should budget an extra $500 to $750 if you don't have the tow vehicle configured and the trailer has nothing besides what came with it new.

beerkat

Just for your information. I bought a new 16' open trailer with tandem axle/single axle electric brakes, GVW 7,000 pounds with one removal fender for $1750 from Golden Gait. I just sold it to a friend for $800 dollars. I think that if you look around you can find one for less than 2,000 dollars.
The trailer tow very well I used it to haul my '03 Must/Cobra. I sold it because it was hard to load my vette without extra ramps. I hope to go to a aluminum trailer next year.

Bill Dearborn

I will be the voice of reason. I have been using a 16 ft trailer for 14 years without any problems. The specs look good on the trailer although I would check the bearings and brakes before handing over any cash.

The concern I would have is getting the car on the trailer. Five foot ramps may be to short. My trailer bed may be a little higher than the one you are looking at since my car doors clear the fender so I had to have ramp extensions made for mine. I have a set of ramps that reaches out 10 ft which gives me plenty of room to get a low clearance car on the trailer.

As for carrying tires you can do what I did with my trailer. I had a tire rack welded across the front of the trailer. It lifts the tires up about 3.5 ft and the nose of the car goes under the very rear of the rack. I also had a couple of fiberglass panels riveted to the tire rack and they provide a debris shield which keeps mud and dirt from the tow vehicle tires from getting on the car. The center of the shield is hinged so it can open which allows me to install my front tie downs. The rear tie downs are chains with T hooks that are fastened to D rings. I just drive on the trailer hook up the chains and pull the car tight against them from the front. The car stays in place over some pretty nasty bumps at 75 to 80 mph.

Here are some pictures of my rusty (it sat outside for 10 years before I finally built a garage for it) trailer.

Bill

Cobra4B

Looks like a nice setup Bill... I'm in the market for a 16' or 18' trailer. I'll be towing with a 2004 GMC Canyon extended cab 2wd. It has the factory trailer package w/ a Class III hitch and trans cooler.

However, the car on trailer will be about 4700lbs. To account for this I have installed rear air springs, a trailer brake controller (w/ inertia switch like the prodigy) w/ 7-pin hookup, and an auxillary trans cooler.

Should work out perfectly... easy towing of the car, but will still get 20-24 mpg when daily driving it out of the I-5 motor.

Going to be borrowing an encolsed rig w/ my buddy's 454 suburban for VIR in a few weeks, but I hope to have my own setup in a few months.

Should be nice to be able to pre-prep the car and tow it to the track vs. driving it w/ tires in tow.

95jersey

Thanks for all the great responses! We'll I thought about 18' trailer and there are a couple of concerns that I have.

One is space, I am literally going to have to put this in my backyard and I am not thrilled about that (niether is my wife). I don't live in a rural area with lots of property, so the smaller the better. I live in one of those well manicured neighborhoods, so a big trailer will just be out of place.

Two is weight. While the Grand Cherokee has the engine (5.7 hemi) to get the job done, I am suspect of the chassis capability especially traveling far distances at 75mph on the open highway. For this reason, and cost, I want to keep the weight down to a minumum. This is why the 16' and open middle is attractive to me. It is the lightest steel trailer available (1500lbs). I want to aviod weight distribution and other expensive add ons that come with bigger trailers. I do have a class 3 hitch.

I will only use it about 5-6 times a year (tops) and I already deal with having no tool box or place to store things, so while all those things would be nice, I have been doing without them. I can fit extra's in the Cherokee and that way I don't have to worry about security or having tires/rims on display. I figure for a couple grand, I can use it for a few years and upgrade to a bigger trailer down the road and still get most of my money back.

Regarding the ramps, I have also seen many folks simply tier 2X6's on top of eachother placed underneath the steel ramps to allow some more clearance. Is there any downside to this?

Cobra4B

^ You're in the same boat I am... only using it 4-6 times a year... no need for anything crazy, just enough to safely transport the car.

The only issue you may have w/ the Jeep is shorter wheelbase which will decrease stability.

Rear air bags are cheap and easy to install. I got mine from JCWhitney for $185 bucks. I didn't bother w/ the onboard motor or pressure controller.

I have an air compressor and my Z06 air pump if needed... I'll fill them up and check them w/ a tire pressure guage.

They'll do wonders for leveling out the truck once loaded down. If tht's not enough you could always get a weight distributing hitch setup, but that adds even more cost.

XPC5R

Buy new for that price difference. You will be replacing the 2 year old tires and servicing the bearings and brakes soon, which will quickly eat up the $500 savings. Unless you know the history of it very well, I would go new or offer him a lower price.

DoingOK

I paid about $2500 for a new 18foot Econo Trailer. Great value. The best part was my car door clears the fenders by a 1/2 inch. Whew.

Pictured behind the car....

John Shiels

You will also not want to tow without a weight distributing hitch with anything less than a dooley. Then if it is over 5000 lb. it is illegal anyway. Two extra feet of trailer adds little weight. Then if yiou get hit they are not into to your car immediately.