Buying a UTILITY TRAILER Need Advice? Also can a 12ft or 14ft Haul a Car?

[Larry Caldwell]

Hmmmm.....I believe your 97 Jeep would weigh more like 3750 lbs. (according to the spec's). I have a 2011 JGC Overland and it "only" weighs 5500 lbs. The new 2011 Jeep tow capacity is 7200 lbs for the 4x4. Not too shabby. :thumbsup:

That's not what the driver's side door post says.

 

[timswi]

Hmmmm.....I believe your 97 Jeep would weigh more like 3750 lbs. (according to the spec's). I have a 2011 JGC Overland and it "only" weighs 5500 lbs. The new 2011 Jeep tow capacity is 7200 lbs for the 4x4. Not too shabby. :thumbsup:

Seems that you are correct...A Grand Cherokee can't weigh over 3 tons.

Curb Weight AT 3785
--Per Jeep specs

A Hummer H1 weighs in at 7,000lbs. Certainly not the same thing.

 

[Tenn_Blue]

You almost need 2 trailers to do what youre talking about. The handiest trailer I ever had was a little 8x5 single axle with removable sides. Big enough to haul a riding mower, , dirt bikes, plywood, etc, and was easy to move by hand on most any surface. But of course, not gonna carry a car!

As everyone said before - a car hauler is gonna be much much bigger, and no way to move it by hand. For big heavy stuff, bigger is usually better when it comes to trailer size. Even if you could move a hauler by hand, I would be scared of having it get away from me - lots of mass once you got it going (if you could...).

Get a trailer that will carry what you are gonna do most of the time. From what you said, it sounds like a small portable trailer is what you would use mostly. Borrow/rent for the occassional big move.

 

[Benbovac]

That's not what the driver's side door post says.

I would guess what you are reading is the GVWR, which is the max weight that the jeep can weigh in at with all passengers and max cargo/trailer weight rating. just a guess

 

[some zilch]

i have a single axle, 6.5'x12' landscape/utility trailer with a rear gate. it has a gvw of 3500lbs, no brakes. it as hauled numerous cars, that are within reason. it has hauled a later model dodge stratus, a buick roadmaster, several chevy luminas, a chrysler k wagon, several neons, several smaller hondas, an older nissan pickup, an older toyota pickup, and has been from NY to utah twice with a ford escort wagon on it. you usually have to remove the gate after driving on, because it will not fully fold up. the trailer has taken it like a champ, and comes back for more. Best $800 i ever spent. its 7 or so years old, and needs a new paint job, but still has the original tires and deck. so yes, you can haul cars and trucks, they just have to have short wheelbases.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Hmmmm.....I believe your 97 Jeep would weigh more like 3750 lbs. (according to the spec's). I have a 2011 JGC Overland and it "only" weighs 5500 lbs. The new 2011 Jeep tow capacity is 7200 lbs for the 4x4. Not too shabby. :thumbsup:

I think he made a common mistake and looked at the GVWR sticker on the door and thinks thats the weight. Common mistake. Only way to know for sure is weigh it. I would guess around 5,000#

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

The truck is big enough..

Alot of folks are saying they cant be moved easily..Has anyone tried moving one with a "wheel' on the tounge area and on concrete? Its really easy woth the last few trailers i owned and welded wheels to..
I think you thinking I am asking about lifting and setting the hitch onto the ball?

Not going to happen. I cannot lift my 18' car hauler to put it on the ball. I would guess its over 300# tongue weight when empty.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

That's not what the driver's side door post says.

They never ever list the weight, the list the GVWR. Gross vehicle wheel rating.

That is the most weight that can be on the jeeps wheels. This includes the jeep, people, junk, fuel, trailer tongue weight, ect.

Chris

 

[radioman]

Well- nearly everyone posted excellent opinions, facts here. I have both 4X8 trailer single axel and 16ft tandem. For awhile I used both as they have thier own uses. The single axel is nice I can simply roll it around if needed, go into the city on narrow streets or just use it to save gas money when hauling small stuff. The 16' trailer I use it when I have lots of stuff, firewood, moving my BX tractor, etc. I find that people tends to ask me to borrow trailer and they use the small one since it fits for most people.If they need the big one, I'll offer to drive it and do work for them since I dont want people to get hurt or damage something.

You just cannot move the tandem trailers by hand, I use my tractor for that instead. You can only put a small car on the 16 ft trailer, and anything larger makes it hard to balance.

It sounds like a single axel is best fit for you unless you do have something big to move.
Good luck

 

[Soundguy]

Most small cars are 14' long. A SUV or 1/2 ton Truck will be 18' to 20' long.

I would not consider any utility trailer shorter than 16'.

ditto that.. most car haulers around here are 16-18' long.

soundguy

 

[Dargo]

i have a single axle, 6.5'x12' landscape/utility trailer with a rear gate. it has a gvw of 3500lbs, no brakes. it as hauled numerous cars, that are within reason. it has hauled a later model dodge stratus, a buick roadmaster, several chevy luminas, a chrysler k wagon, several neons, several smaller hondas, an older nissan pickup, an older toyota pickup, and has been from NY to utah twice with a ford escort wagon on it. you usually have to remove the gate after driving on, because it will not fully fold up. the trailer has taken it like a champ, and comes back for more. Best $800 i ever spent. its 7 or so years old, and needs a new paint job, but still has the original tires and deck. so yes, you can haul cars and trucks, they just have to have short wheelbases.

Whew, I wouldn't want to be anywhere around you on the road. It would not only be dangerous, but illegal and overweight in most every state in the union. You have a utility trailer designed and made to carry lawn mowers, not vehicles. It's going to cost you well over $800 the first time a DOT cop pays attention and finishes up with you.

 

[George2615]

I suggest if you are getting a general purpose trailer and want to haul an occasional car don't get one 76" wide. Look for a 2 axle trailer at least 82" between the fenders and 16' or longer.

A 76" x 14-16' wide trailer might fit a small compact car but if you ever want to haul a full size one or a pickup it won't fit.

If your driveway is blacktop or cement you could roll a 2 axle trailer around using a caster wheel but only on level ground. (you wouldn't want a 2000 lb trailer to get away from you, roll down a driveway and hit your wife's new car). Use a tractor to move it around.

Most single axle trailers are rated at 3000-3500 lb. I would not haul a car on one.

 

[some zilch]

Whew, I wouldn't want to be anywhere around you on the road. It would not only be dangerous, but illegal and overweight in most every state in the union. You have a utility trailer designed and made to carry lawn mowers, not vehicles. It's going to cost you well over $800 the first time a DOT cop pays attention and finishes up with you.

i'd love to see a dot cop pull me and my single axle trailer over...it'll never happen. overweight, yes; unsafe, not really. its no more unsafe than 30ft campers pulled by f150s and such. i do 150000lb loads on a daily basis, and the occasional 220000 pound load, so the less people in my way, the better; stay home.

 

[windy acers]

I bought a tractor from a guy because it bent the 7000 gvw. landscape trailer.Go with a 18ft dove tail 99999 gvw. with 6 lug wheels with ramps and brakes on both axels and you will never be sorry.

 

[not2old]

Hopefully, my car trailer was a one time only expense so I bought one to fit the biggest job I'm likely to encounter. It's a 20' tilt deck 14,000lbs and will just legally carry a crew cab diesel dually. Any smaller and it would not only be illegal, but likely not fit.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

99999 gvw.

What are you going to tow with? A semi?

 

[Baucom]

There's no "handier" trailer than a 5x8-5x10 single axle because it's small, light, and capable of handling those frequent jobs that are too large for a pickup truck bed. However, once you get into hauling anything larger than a lawnmower or ATV they're very limited by size and wt. capacity.

All around it's hard to beat the value of a 16' 7K landscape trailer with a gate or car hauler with slide in ramps, if it has enough capacity to meet your needs (~5K payload capacity). Around here they're about $100-200 more than a 6.5x12 single axle with brakes but offer many more hauling options. I can haul 4 ATVs, a class 1-2 CUT, or a small car such as a Civic or Corolla (but I have to crawl out the window) on my 16' 7K landscape trailer. My MSO states the empty wt. at 2K, but I expect with a caster on the jack it could be moved around on level pavement by hand if you're decent sized--it's lighter than a small car and I can push one of those around.

 

[Argosy]

I've got a 16 ft. trailer and a Saturn SC-2, which is a really small car. It fits on the trailer but barely.

Car trailers are different than the landscape trailers with the short angle iron railing. A car hauler has a flat deck so once the car is loaded you can open the door to get out. That's not going to happen with a landscape trailer. OTOH if you intend to haul a bunch of smaller stuff a car hauler doesn't have a lot of places to tie everything down.

 

[Dargo]

I've got a 16 ft. trailer and a Saturn SC-2, which is a really small car. It fits on the trailer but barely.

Car trailers are different than the landscape trailers with the short angle iron railing. A car hauler has a flat deck so once the car is loaded you can open the door to get out. That's not going to happen with a landscape trailer. OTOH if you intend to haul a bunch of smaller stuff a car hauler doesn't have a lot of places to tie everything down.

Exactly. That is why it is extremely dangerous, and illegal, to haul cars around on a 6.5'x12' landscape/utility trailer with a single 3500 pound axle and no brakes. I do not intend to be rude, but I care not what qualifications that poster says they have. Facts are facts, and that is in no way, shape or form even remotely safe or advisable. It actually reminds me of some of the crazy pictures we've all seen in emails with someone hauling their 4 wheeler on the luggage rack of their Taurus or the guy with the wood hitch on the back of an S10 Blazer for a gooseneck trailer. Just because someone has done it, and so far not killed anyone, doesn't mean it's a good idea. On the above mentioned reference, don't take my word for it, call any DOT office or look up any rules governing trailers in any state.

As you said, utility/landscape trailers are made with much lighter materials and the angle framing above the deck is actually needed for support; and that's on utility trailers rated for 7,000 pounds with two axles and brakes. A car trailer has a much stronger frame, generally brakes on both axles, and side pockets that allow you to use 2X4's to drop in and make your own side rails if you like. A 16' trailer would be the absolute minimum I would consider for hauling all but the smallest sub-compact cars. A good quality 16' car trailer that can also be a good utility trailer isn't much more money than a utility trailer anyway.

 

[Harold_J]

I've been wondering, why do you think manufacturers don't commonly offer a single axle utility trailer with say a 7K axle as found on the 14K tandems?

It would seem that a properly built one could handle a 5K load, be easier to move around in tight spaces and save quite a bit on tolls if you have to deal with that.