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