car hauler bed?

I'm sure plenty of you guys have a car hauler of some type, whether it is a trailer or truck. I was wondering if there is a preference, pros or cons, of having a wood deck or a metal deck. Getting ready to make the investment and I'm interested in your input.
Thanks, Chuck

 

Wood gets splinters in it after it has sat outside for a few years. Bad for your tires! I suppose if you kept the wood treated it would be alright.

 

wood - dries out, splinters, sometimes splits. Needs to be treated regularly with some kind of protectorant. Or you can switch to some of the new 'not really' wood products which have more longevity, but are a bit pricey (comparatively speaking). With wood, you can quickly attach tire blocks and/or other items necessary for atypical purposes (hauling other than vehicles, like your brother-in-law's new six-piece sectional sofa he bought on C/List).

Metal obviously requires maintenance also - it rusts and if any of the deck pieces get bent, it's not as easy to repair as the wood deck. Metal is not as easy (as wood) to adapt to other purposes.

A nice adjunct to your trailer should be a decent quality winch attached to the front of the trailer. You just never know when you might have to go rescue a fellow HAMBer who has broken down somewhere near.

Finally, buy a used trailer. Save money. Many have only been used to move from A to B and around town a little bit. I try to steer away from homemade, I just don't know who did the welding or designed/constructed the suspension and axle locations.

my two bits

dj

dj

 

I like wood but it is high maintenance. If you are not into maintenance then aluminum diamond plate would be my next choice.

 

I built my car trailer in 1983. It currently has over 100,000 miles on it. Used to tow Rally Cars all over the country when I was racing. I originally made it with a Plywood deck. I used Marine grade and the first one lasted about 15 years. The second was cheaper Ply and only lasted about 4 years. I then re did it in Aluminum Diamond Plate. It will last indefinitely BUT it is noisy when empty and it buckles a bit when it gets hot in direct sunlight.
My COE Ramp truck was done with Oak Planks and looks awesome but had to be varnished every couple of years.

 

I'm leaning toward the plank type wood decking. Seems to last a long time with relatively minimal maintenance and have been told by others that it is quieter when empty. Aluminum is out of my price range but would be great. Steel always seems to get beat up easy.
Anyone else have an opinion?

 

My first trailer had a steel checker plate deck. My current trailer has a wood deck.
As mentioned the wood deck has splinters, not so much a problem with tires as someone mentioned, but more when crawling under the car to strap it down! I've got many splinters in my hands crawling under stuff on the trailer.
The thing I really liked about the steel deck on the first trailer is stuff slides easy on it. I winched up a 70 Eldorado that had no wheels with ease.
With the wood deck if the car does not roll it takes a lot more work to winch it up, and it usually gouges the wood pretty good.
I never noticed the steel deck being any louder than the wood deck.

 

Jalopy kid pretty well tells it like it is. Wood plank decks are less expensive but do get skinned up and gouged up if you winch cars up on them with no tires on them. The metal decks are a bit noisy and tend to bend and buckle a bit after a while but they are a lot easier to winch stuff up on if you need to slide it.
If you are buying new or used, shop around and hunt for the price and features you want. If you are going to be hauling cars that don't run a winch is almost a must. We pulled my 1-1/2 ton Chevy truck out of the hole it was in and up on my buddys trailer in less than 30 minutes from the time we drove in to where it was until we were headed down the road again. The 8000lb winch and 100+ ft of cable on his truck made what would have been a hard days work a walk in the park.

 

i like wood. plain 2x8s rubbed in lin seed oil, once every couple yrs.should last at least 10yrs with the oil.with wood i can easily add attachment points anywhere i want. and remove when im done.i do recommend a good wench. after fighting for a few yrs. to get cars loaded, i broke down and spent a few hundred and now NO MORE REAL HARD WORK.

 

I have a steel DP trailer that works fantastic but looks like a rust bucket. And noisy!!!
I wish all I had to do was change the planks every few years.
The solid deck is nice, a few times I wish the center was open

 

I sold trailers for several years. My wood deck car hauler outsold my steel deck hauler ten to one, easily. My wood decks had a steel diamond-tread dovetail surface, while the rest of the deck was wood. Wood is far more versatile, IMO, and experience proves this out. Sure, you have to replace the wood every few years, so what? If you keep the trailer outside, you need to apply a deck preservative (there are many to choose from). The deck should last you at least five years, and double that, if your trailer is covered by a carport, shed, or garage. Mine sits out. I've replaced the deck twice with NON-treated wood and have had no problems. I treat the deck one time a year. I built my trailer in 2000, and have towed it nearly 90K miles.

Plus, loading things like tractors is easier and SAFER on a wood deck, especially if the surfaces and tires are wet. Things slide like mad on a steel deck, but less so on a wood one...yeah, you can still get sliding on a wood deck, but not nearly as much!

AND, I have a Ramsey 5K# winch on mine. I NEVER load with a "come-a-long" or other cheap, dangerous, suicidal methods! A quality winch is inexpensive (between $400 - $800), when you consider the alternatives! That's the cost for just the ambulance ride these days!

For a quality steel-deck unit, make sure the decking is welded to the crossmembers at regular intervals! You'd be amazed how many steel decks have maybe one or two spot-welds from side to side to the crossmember! A quality unit will be spotted every three to six inches across the bottom of the deck plate. THAT is a quiet steel trailer! Besides, what usually makes all the racket on steel AND wood-deck trailers is the ramp stowage!

People have their preferences, and what works for you, does.

 

smooth steel only! I have had haul trucks and trailers, no problem when you need to drag something on and off

 

Mine is steel diamond plate runners with open center. I've had the trailer since 92 and I planked the center a long time ago. I think it's on the third set of planks. I've never had a problem with the diamond plate buckling and my trailer sits outside year round. I also like the steel rather than wood because things that will catch in the wood slide on the metal. Here's a pic of just one of my parts trip loads. There's also a motorcyle crossways on the front. I have had as many as 3 cabs and a T sedan on it. They slide a lot better on a metal deck than they ever would on a wood deck.

 

Good points being made with regard to the steel being easier to slide things onto. I have been known to pick up some pretty, shall we say rough, projects. I'm still leaning toward the wood plank bed though for all the other reasons you all have mentioned.

 

I second this! I have a treated 2x8 wood deck trailer I bouht new in '94. Used it in my construction business. It has a few gouges from hauling skid steers and attachments, but overall the decking is still in pretty good shape. I have brush painted it a few times with used motor oil drained from the trucks. It ain't real pretty, but it sure works well!

 

Several years ago I bought a double axle wood decked equipment trailer with ramps. heavy duty for $ 500. The guy got rid of it because a tire rubbed the frame and kept eating up tires. Took a look at it and the leaf spring bolts were loose, axle had shifted. Easy fix. Wood rotted since then. I went to my local Junk yard and paid $200 for an old 18' diamond plate steel flatbed car hauler ramp for it. It even has a winch spot ready, tiedowns on the side and old broken rotating emergency lights. Think outside the box.

 

mine is a "rotted wood deck" and seems to work just fine. i would like the open center style but sometimes you end up loading a vehicle with no suspension back or front and engine hoist or floor jack needs something to roll on hence the need foe solid deck. just make sure you buy one longer than too short.

 

I have both types and prefer the wood over the steel, my wooden deck is also a tilt which makes recovering a dead horse that much simpler. A winch is a must in my book and is money well spent........just my 2 cents worth.

 

Two trailers, first one had a solid wood deck. When I was dumber than I am now, I used to dump used oil on the wood thinking it would make it last longer. It didn't. It actually made it rot faster but I eventually laid down steel runners and left the center open. It was quieter than the wood when MT. Trailer I have now is wood runners, open center and the wood is about 15 year old treated lumber. Having an open center makes tying the cars down a lot easier and no splinters. A buddy used to have an aluminum trailer that I used a lot and I fell in love with that thing! It had great balance and towed very well loaded or not.