I'm trying to maybe build a car hauling trailer and I'm looking for Old design ideas.

My old carhauler trailer is getting pretty wore out and I need a new one but with the economy I can't afford to buy a new one so I decided that I would just build one I already have a good bit of the materials to build one.

I mainly use my trailer to haul junk cars home and the occasional project that has broken down on the side of the highway.

I wanted to build my new trailer tho to look similar to maybe something someone would have used back in the 50's or 60's. This maybe pointless because I don't figure there is much of a way to make a trailer look different from back then to now they all kinda look the same.

Just thought I'd ask and see.

Is there any websites or anything that have free plans to build a tandem axle trailer that anyone knows of? I'm probably going to make my own plans from some trailers I have been looking at near me but If I could find some that were already made up that might save me a little bit of time. I just don't want to buy another set of plans for a trailer like I did for my teardrop trailer project. Speedways plans suck! Its a waste of money they don't even look like profesional style plans when you buy them, just some stuff someone wrote down on some copy paper and they sell you for $30 bucks. They also leave out some of the demensions you need so You have to figure them out yourself.


This maybe a waste of time asking but I thought I'd try.

 

I can't help you with plans or photos but I am interested in seeing what pops up. I think that this is a great idea. I have an open motorcycle trailer that could benefit from some older design cues.

 

you don't want to go back that far. single axle and two rails. weren't very safe

 

Kinda on the edge of your question, but.....
Hot Rod Mechanix years ago showed a great idea for a hauler. They used an old front wheel drive Toronado and cut the rear off and mounted "trailer" part with 2 non driving rear axles. The back of the "cab" was from a pickup as I remember. Don't know if I have the original article buried somewhere or not, but it sure was a sweet setup.
It may show up on a google search.

 

is anything worth saving from ur old trailer like frame,axles that could give you A good start then build from there

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174350

CC

 

Check the current Rodder's Journal for Pat Ganahl's Ike Iacono trailer pics.

 

"old design ideas" may not be the best. There were a lot of death trap trailers "back when". Try a search here for threads by Shifty Shifterton. He presented a real engineering approach to trailer buliding.

 

Try this. I know it's on Ebay, but the pictures on the add are old as hell. Looks like much of the trailer designs'd be as well but not hard to update.

For $9.95 you get 16 different designs. Then again, how hard is it to add a foot or three to the length if you wanted?

http://cgi.ebay.com/16-CAR-TRAILER-...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

 

1200 for new ones here in Dallas

Dont think you can build it that cheap

 

The majority of the car trailers I saw back when were disasters looking for a place to happen.
I bought tilt bed trailer plans off ebay a couple of years ago but haven't done anything with them except forget where I put them. they came with a pretty decent set of plans and instructions and a cd with step by step photo instructions.

I want the tilt bed because from experience ramps always seem to be a pain in the butt. Plus one of my old bosses had his stolen off his race car trailer one time and had to pay through the nose to have a welding shop build another set when he was off at some national drag meet in the early 70's.

Years ago several of us at one of the early Unfinished Nationals helped Bill Ross push his then unfinished and not running 54 Buick ragtop on his tilt bed trailer and each and every one of us had a bad case of trailer envy then and there.

 

I'd be interested in more info on this to. Sometimes i need to haul my modified but its
so low it's hard to load. I use to see small, low, single axle car trailers every where,
not so much any more. I thought it would be great to haul the modified on a vintage
trailer behind my hot rod truck. That both cars could attend shows & runs.
Had something like this in mind.

 

Food for thought-

I have seen, and also had it happen to me, where a flat tire on a single axle trailer would pull and sway, and yank the tow car all over the place.
I have also seen, and also had it happen to me, where a flat tire at high speed with a tandem axle trailer would tug the car just a little and still run very straight until you find a good place to pull over.

Just something to remember when you choose one axle or two.

I have found that building my own trailer would cost me just as much for just the tubing and angle iron, without any welding yet, as would a whole complete ready to go trailer.
I found that it was never worthwhile to build my own trailer except when I needed a special configuration that no one sold.

Just how bad is your trailer?

Could it possibly be spiffed up again with fresh wheel bearings, new coupler, an $85 x 2 fender set and fresh wiring kit?

 

maybe?

 

i saw a couple sites for trailer plans check it out with a search engine
free TRAILER plans

 

Old Trailers = Halfass by today's standards. Rails welded direct to the axles and open floors that suck for hauling loose bits.

Right now there's a bunch of guys getting out of racing and seems to be a lot of open trailers on the market, cheap cheap cheap. If yours is towable, it's worth something to somebody, and when you figure it that way......even starting with materials there's no way it'll be cheaper to build.

Throw a couple hundred toward purchase, throw some of your metal toward improving it, throw some paint & wire & bearing grease at it.......then use the 60 labor hours you saved to sit by the pool and sip umbrella drinks.

good luck

 

Wasn't there a company called Dragstar that advertised trailer kits in all of the old Hot Rod magazines in the 60's?
Larry T

 

I remember lots of single axle trailers back in the day, so when I had the trailer for the greaseslapper built I had it made with a single axle. After towing just a few times I was back in having another axle put under it.
Why was the single axle so popular when a tandem tows, and backs up so much better?
After years of evolution, the only thing still the same on my trailer is the open mesh floor that runs down the center of the trailer, and the winch on the front, an homage to all the dirt track trailers from the past.

 

If you're just hauling light stuff, single axle may be ok - at least you could get brakes on one axle. But if you're going to be loading up a 4,000 lb car, I'd go with 2 axles and brakes on both axles. Old is cool, but safe is cooler.

Here's a shot of my trailer the day I hauled home the Model A with my Dad.



My trailer is a 1998 Superior, with brakes on both axles. Personally I think with the round-style fenders it's got, if you were to put on some old-style lights, it would look the part, but that's just me.

I load up my Jeep to go wheeling - 35" tires, lift, loaded with parts, etc. - and it tows nice behind the Burb - and it stops well.

Good luck
Pete

 

Yes, but that is with no trailer brakes, used tires, and probably no dovetail. I sold trailers for several years. A cheap car hauler is exactly that - cheap. The price of steel and wood has gone down quite a bit from last Summer's ridiculous highs, so a DIY build is once again a reasonable alternative to a store-bought unit.

BTW, if you are thinking about using narrowed mobile home axles and wheels/tires for a "cheap" DIY build - DON'T!!! First, mobile home axles and wheels/tires are meant to haul one from the factory to the dealer to the final resting place - that is IT! The tires are throwaway 14.5" oddballs, exclusively used on mobile homes as essentially one-time-use items. Any trailer built with them is junk, period.

I would not go to the trouble of building a single-axle, "back-in-the-day" car hauler. Go with a quality tandem-axle unit with brakes on at least the rear axle (some states require brakes on both axles - check your State laws), a brake-away kit (trailer stops itself if it comes off the hitch!), safety chains, lights, and a HD coupler (2" min for a 7,000# GVW trailer, 2-5/16" for a 7,001#> trailer). Lighting must meet DOT standards. Going with '30's style taillights doesn't cut it, safety-wise. You WANT to be seen!!! Side-marker lights AND DOT reflective tape are MANDATORY for new trailer builds, and have been for several years. If you are going to build one, build it right. Some things are NOT worth the nostalgia value, and building single-axle "car haulers" are among them.

The trailer below is a car hauler that a friend and I built. My design, his welding skills. He builds trailers for a living. I'd put mine up against a commercially-available rig any day. We built it in 2001. It's there when I need it.

 

I would love to build a cool car hauler to lug around my roadster or coupe if I have the family with me.

 

I have two trailers now and I'm debating which one to sell. Both of them I got cheap when they were under a car I bought. The black one I put new tires on and covered the wood bed with steel diamond plate just so I could drag wheel-less, suspension-less cars up onto it without snagging on the wood. But it is a little too tall and sometimes hand winching a big heavy car way up onto that thing is a real chore. No, the antique starter motor winch that came on the trailer never has worked.

The second trailer is an oldy but a goody and it has a tilt bed on it that I have used once and it loaded so easy it has me second guessing which one to sell. The old one will need paint and new tires. But this gives you two basic ways to go on your trailer. I highly recommend the steel plates though. They have been a godsend.

 

Spend some time on the details. I like to add steps before and after the fenders. Curved around into the frame with a 2" skirt complete with non-skid pads. Use reproduction car tail lights from the 30s instead of the auto parts store trailer kit shit. Maybe four 39 Chevy tail lights instead of the ugly big generic trailer squares? Instead of square cuts on the channel iron, take the time to extend the bottom flange up to the top flange on a 45 angle or even round it off for a finished look.

You might consider some art deco fender skirts similar to the wheel pants used on 30s airplanes. Maybe some art deco chrome trim that gives the illusion of motion. Check a marine supply store for moldings that can be added for decoration. You can get a lot of styling clues from the art deco trucks, planes and trains from the 30s.

It won't take a lot of extra money just some extra planning and a little extra labor to make something that is utilitarian into something that is pretty.

 

There used to be and old El Camino that ran around here that used an old Toronado front drive assembly with no rear axle and had a trailer welded to the frame. It was pretty well butchered together though. I sure as hell wouldn't haul a car on it.

 

Make sure you check your state laws - brakes are required on trailers over a certain weight limit - electric is ok, but they have to be on at least one axle - if you're hauling a car, you'd want those brakes anyway - cutting corners is not a good idea.

dj

 

My advise? No matter what you do, make it so that you can get the door open on the drivers side!!!

 

Tilt bed> put old style backintheday hubcaps

 

I have seen some newer car haulers that had a vintage style to them but had all the modern advantages. One thing that really stood out to me was the single wheel fenders for all four tires with wide whites and vintage hubcaps. I think it was a vintage color with pinstriping and cool lights off something aswell. If a guy really wanted too he could build a hell of a nice trailer with a vintage feel!!! I say go for it!!!

 

I agree completely. They have so many negative points it is not worth doing, even if they are free.
The last time I said that here, several people jumped on me to defend the MH axles.
If they jump on you about it, here is one on your side.

 

I'm not building a single axle trailer. I'm building a tandem trailer. I have one up on most people when it comes to building a trailer because I work for a steel supplier and I deliver the metal that most of the trailer builders near me use to build trailers with.

I have already bought a new set of axles, fenders, and new hitch. I've looked at lots of different brands of trailers and they all seem to be built about the same ways.

I can get my steel for just a little above cost so that shouldn't be to much of a problem. I bought a set of fenders where you have to put the backs in your self because besides the fact that they were cheaper than the regular ones, that maybe I could build some kind of fender skirts similar to some of the art deco stuff from back in the day.

I'm also thinking about using some 30's model tail lights in it also. I like the tilt Idea but that may be a bit out of my budget. The chrome trim Idea might be cool also.

I don't really like single axle car trailers because they don't pull that well behind my trucks.

My old trailer has been modified and butchered so many times that it would be easier to build or buy a new one. So I decided to build one.

It still pulls ok but it has some kind of weird axles under it that can only run older cj7 jeep wheels or ford pickup wheels that have the centers cut out for the hubs on the axles.

I'm planning on building it into a 16ft trailer because the one I have now is only 15ft and I've hauled damn near everything on it but its just a little too narrow and it would take way more work than its worth to widen it out to the normal trailer size width.