grumpyvette Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 one of the facts of life is that high performance cars tend to break down and its rarely sitting in your driveway when it does and youll rarely have the correct tools and parts with you so getting it back to your garage usually includes towing charges UNLESS you own a car trailer, now obviously you can buy one but if your skilled and own a welder you can usually build a nice one for less than 60% of the normal cost. this is where a decent MIG welder comes in handy http://www.tjtrailers.com/store/car-carrier-trailer-plans-18x80.html http://www.trailerplans.com//index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=13&Itemid=2 http://www.plans-for-you.com/trailer.html http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ItemBrowse/c-10101/s-10101/p-100000169592/mediaCode-ZX/appId-100000169592/Pr-p_CATENTRY_ID:100000169592 http://www.welders-direct.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WD&Product_Code=907312 http://www.welders-direct.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WD&Product_Code=907324 http://www.welders-direct.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WD&Product_Code=907321 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roostmonkey Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 I half agree with you, if you have a decent sized area to work in , have good metal cutting saws ( not a sawzall ) and a 208/230 mig it can be very satisfiing to make your own trailer. However, if your missing just one of these elements it will be a very unpleasant experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 good point, I frequently forget , and assume most guys have access too or know what tools are involved, in most projects and have a few friends willing to get invoved in car related projects Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big B Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Grumpy you always have great info and links to these type things. Oh yea you will need a truck also:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roostmonkey Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Ya, those are excelent links. If there were plans for the trailer I built, it would have taken less time for sure.This is my first car carrying trailer and only made for a Z or anything else under 2500lbs. With the single axle, you barely know its back there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 I and several of my friends have purchased a few car trailers that needed some repairs at a very good price, I got my current trailer at a yard sale from a guy that lost his job here,and was moving back up to GA. It looked like crap but on close inspection it could be repaired reasonably, most of the problems were cosmedic, like bent fenders, broken lights, needing paint, etc. It was not for sale, at the time but I left my ph# and he called. he at first asked for twice what I evenually paid for it, and even with the repairs it was a decent deal. so its not impossiable to go that route "As far as loading a non-running vehicle onto a trailer, that's what winches are for!" http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=33003 or if you want to get fancy http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91905 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boodlefoof Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I recently bought a very nice used two-axle full flat bed car hauler (15' plus a 3' beaver tail) with a 6,000# winch and tool box installed for a very nice price. Thought about building my own and figured I could probably do it for around $750 or less in materials (already have the tools), but then tack on a few extra bucks for the winch and tool box. However, when you can find one already done for less than twice that... sounds like a good deal to me. Also, when building your own you may run into issues getting plates for it. In VA, if you have a home-built trailer you will have to jump through a few hoops and have a policeman come and inspect it and affix a VIN to it. My father-in-law recently went through this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panachedk Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 in WI registering a home built trailer is a joke... it took me all of 20 minutes today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 in WI registering a home built trailer is a joke... it took me all of 20 minutes today! IN florida you need several clear photos from differant dirrections and a certified weigh station ticket showing the weight to register a home built trailer, plus some forms filled out, it takes about an hour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 In Georgia, you don't need squat...takes about 30 seconds...they assign a VIN and give you a little VIN placard to attach to it. They don't even look at the trailer. You don't even have to bring it there to get the tag. Alot of people go buy pre-built trailers and register them as home-built because the ad valorem tax is only $12 on a home-built and it's a percentage of the price paid if you register it as pre-built. This might not be true in ALL counties in GA, but here in Cobb, they don't even want to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austenp405 Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 In Georgia, you don't need squat...takes about 30 seconds...they assign a VIN and give you a little VIN placard to attach to it. They don't even look at the trailer. You don't even have to bring it there to get the tag. That is how it is in Colorado and it has caused some problems. There are thieves out there that will steal a trailer, and then re-register it as a 'homemade' and affix the new vin. A little grinding and painting of the old vin and the trailer is virtually untracable. One home that was raided had approximately 20 of these stolen trailers and a stack of about 80 VIN tags that hadn't been affixed to a trailer yet. He would steal a trailer and have the new tag put on in a matter of minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsk8ter Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 That is how it is in Colorado and it has caused some problems. There are thieves out there that will steal a trailer, and then re-register it as a 'homemade' and affix the new vin. A little grinding and painting of the old vin and the trailer is virtually untracable. One home that was raided had approximately 20 of these stolen trailers and a stack of about 80 VIN tags that hadn't been affixed to a trailer yet. He would steal a trailer and have the new tag put on in a matter of minutes. problem with colorado is they wont let you make a car trailer without engenered drawings... but other then that yea i made a trailer went down there and they handed me a tag no questions asked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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