Charley Hoyt

Does anyone make an enclosed trailer that has a lower roof? The reason I am asking is because I am trying to find an enclosed trailer that I can pull behind a 1/2 ton Suburban .

Thanks for the input.

Charley

Scooter70

http://www.trailex.com/enclosed_sports_car_trailers.cfm


4'11" interior height, 6' 11" overall height. 1300lbs, 4700lbs capacity, $17,620 base price.

A friend of mine borrowed one for a track event recently. It's a beautiful trailer but $$$$$$$$$$$$.

RedLS1GTO

If your budget is on the low side (relatively speaking of course), some of the slant nose show car haulers might work from an aero perspective. ANY car hauler size enclosed trailer is probably going to be asking a lot from a 1/2 ton Suburban though.



The main concern would obviously be weight. To do it the best way possible, you could go to aluminum which of course immediately goes to $$$$$$$$$$.

8legsRacing

Why? I pulled a 24' enclosed with my 1/2ton suburban without any issues at all. Mine is a 99. I used 3rd gear (NEVER OD!!), and just added a leaf to the rear. Towed fine for years. The Aero is not going to affect mileage that much ... it's the weight that kills it. With my race car and all tools/spares, it was probably at 9000lbs. Over the limit of the sub (7300), but those are pretty conservative. Also, make sure you get a good brake controller, and put on some good pads on the truck. I used Hawk HD and they were awesome. Tires are another consideration ... usually suburbans come with LT tires, which suck for towing. Get some proper 10ply heavy duty tires.

1991Z07

Same here...

Get a REALLY good load-balancing hitch setup and it hardly knows it's back there.

c4cruiser

Check your Suburban owner's manual for information about maximum towing weights. The weight figures will change based on things like the engine, diff gear ratio, 2WD and 4WD, and other factors.

I tow a 20' enclosed trailer with my '08 Silverado 4x4 with the 6.0L motor and 3.73 gears. According to the manual, I can tow 8500 lbs as the truck is configured. I use a weight distributing hitch and the truck with the loaded trailer connected sits at the same height as if it's empty. They key is proper loading, the correct tongue weight and setting up the WD hitch correctly.

When you look at all of the weight capacities, you also have to factor in the weight of everything that goes in the tow vehicle. People, cargo, gas, even the tongue weight. Start going over the maximum limits and you will have a handfull.

The trailer with my '87 in it weighs right at 6800 lbs. The trailer is 8' 6" high outside and 6'7" high inside. While the height over the tow rig may cost a little in gas mileage, it's made up for by being able to stand up inside the trailer.

RedLS1GTO

I towed a roughly 5k pound open trailer for years with my '99 Yukon with all of the trailering goodies. Through the mountains of the WVA turnpike, it sure as hell knew the trailer was there. Would it pull a big enclosed trailer? Maybe... but on anything other than flat ground, there is no way I would ever hook up a nearly 10k load to one.

There is a difference between doing something and doing something right.

Charley Hoyt

Thanks for all of the great input. I should add that I am planning to tow a 1300 lb car with this trailer (investigating buying a Radical) not my Corvette.

fatbillybob

Charlie,

I owned 3 suburbans my last being a 4x4 2500 8.1Liter. Once GM stopped the 8.1 they can't tow. New body style is lame for towing. 1.2 ton no way unless open aluminum trailer and the radical which you might be able to get into a residential garage. 1/2 ton has lame brakes and no power. I assume WSIR, BRP meaning you might be doing the grape vine. You will die towing up and down that. Contrast that with a Ram 2500 diesel pickup truck with diesel exhaust brake and you can set the cruise at 60 up or down the grapevine and never touch the brakes. Can tow is different from should tow. You want lots of capacity when towing to get you out of trouble and keep you out of trouble.

I love suburbans and miss mine alot but will not got back to one until the 2500 gets a decent motor with some torque and horsepower and area under the curve.

Bill32

Depends on what your total intensions for the trailer are and your budget. I tow open wheel cars a lot. Decided to buy a Featherlite cargo trailer rather than a heavy car trailer.
I bought an 18 ft., fairly narrow enclosed Featherlite and love it.
Before I did the interior, the trailer weighed 1,700. With the interior and a 1,300 lb. car I'm probably at 4k max.
My 5.3 Silverado 1/2 ton tows it over the Sierra Nevada mountains @ 65mph.
No equalizing hitch, no sway bar.

RedLS1GTO

If you are going to do it... THIS is the way to go.

Feffman

Charlie as a former Radical SR3 owner, your Suburban will do fine with a full height trailer. I towed mine (24 foot box trailer) with my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee (5.7L Hemi) with no issues.

Mark

Charley Hoyt

Thanks Mark...Why did you get away from the Radical?

Feffman

Wanted to race SCCA and the Stohr was not really competitive in DSR or CSR so I bought a single seat, first generation Stohr. Now I just need to learn to really drive it.

Feff

BEZ06

I just got a Trailex. Like Scooter70 said, it's only 6' 11" high, and about 22' long, so it will fit in a lot of normal garages.

He put up some specs, but the empty weight is 2300 lbs. The GVWR is 7000, so it does have a 4700 cargo capacity.

If you're just pulling a Radical in it the total weight would only be about 4000 lbs with the car and some other stuff in the trailer.

These trailers are really popular with the Porsche guys, and they haul their 3200 cars (6000 total trailer weight with another set of wheels/tires, tools, spares) with a Toureg, Cayenne, Mercedes GLK, etc.

You won't have any problem hauling a Trailex with even a Vette in it with an SUV.

Butt....they do cost a few $$$!!!

Bob

Charley Hoyt

Thanks for all of the great input.... A light enclosed trailer Seems to be the way to go. I like the lower versions like the trailer....but that may be a little steep for my budget.... I will have to see what I can find. I know less weight always means more$$$

2 GTOs

Montrose trailer makes some low profile trailers as well.