hurstnova350

Yea that makes sense and seems like solid advise to keep the costs down. I have a few friends that use the V8 Nissan Armada for towing and seem to like it, was looking at those also as opposed to a pickup since you can store stuff in it more easily and I don't think used prices are too bad. I will say that I was never a fan of SUVs at all and always thought that a full size pickup was the way to go for towing. If I did go with the enclosed route tho, I would have the storage I needed in the trailer in theory, so not sure if the SUV or Pickup would make more sense in that case. Definitely a lot to consider. Thank you!

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

SUVs are also nice because, if they're big enough, nice to sleep in, and tons of lockable storage space. I'd go SUV unless you get a trailer that needs a 3/4 ton or something. Even then, 3/4 ton suburbans are available, as is the Ford Excursion. SUVs tend to be cheaper than equivalent trucks too for some reason.

hurstnova350

I did not even consider the sleeping part, that is a good point, although most likely I would get a hotel or stay at my friend's house in NorCal when I track up there, but it is nice to know that I would have the option. I guess to your point it would depend also on that trailer that I choose, I am new to all of this so I am not sure what the towing needs would be for an enclosed trailer that would fit the Miata (or even the size of enclosed trailer I would need for that matter).

codrus

I agree on not towing enclosed behind a Colorado-sized truck. As for 1/2 vs 3/4 -- there has been feature/scope creep in trucks as the years go on, so today's half-tons are much beefier than those of, say, 20 years ago. So it kind of depends on what vintage you're looking at.

SUVs are cheaper than trucks because trucks are much more useful to a small business (think landscaping, contractor, etc), so there's a lot of demand for them even with miles. Lots of SUVs get bought for mall duty and then dumped. A Suburban 2500 is a good contender for the "most tow vehicle for the least money" award.

As far as lightweight trailers go, IMHO the math works better to buy a better/more capable tow vehicle than to buy an expensive lightweight trailer and try to get away with a cheaper tow vehicle.

For trailer size, while it's theoretically possible to put a Miata into a 16 foot enclosed trailer, you won't get much of anything ELSE in there at the same time. Part of the appeal of an enclosed trailer is that you can load it up with spare parts, extra wheels, chairs, cooler, workbench, tools, generator, etc. 20 foot will give you space for that, but there's a reason that 24 foot is the most common race trailer size (plus it'll be a win if you ever decide to trade in the Miata for some other kind of track car)

--Ian

hurstnova350

All good points, thanks. The thought did cross my mind about if I were to change the track car one day to another one regarding trailer size, so going bigger would prevent me from having to re-buy a trailer....although there is something to be said for buying only what you need also. Ideally I would like to have some space to store items but I don't need a whole garage with me either. Seems like the 16-20ft range would be what I should start with. Having not towed before, safety is my main concern so I would rather the tow rig be over equipped rather than under...so I probably will cross off the mid size truck idea from my list.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Enclosed trailers require much more fuel and horsepower to pull at interstate speeds due to wind resistance from frontal area. Not a big deal if you are only traveling for an hour. A really big deal if you are heading to tracks 4 to 8+ hours away.

Secure gear in the tow vehicle (full size used SUV or truck) as described above and get an open steel trailer is my vote. That's the cheapest reliable way. If you buy both used then you will not suffer huge depreciation if you decide to ever sell.

Roda

The flip side with an enclosed trailer is your car and all your gear is out of sight and secured if you have to stay somewhere over night.

Used trailers can be a good bargain, just be sure to check out all the wiring, tires, brakes, bearings, etc. and factor their condition into the price. Routine maintenance on trailers is often neglected, so it's likely some of those areas may need attention.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

I get a lotta flack for the grandpa cap on the truck, but it's pretty much a must have to secure everything at race sites / sketchy hotels in the middle of nowhere. An SUV eliminates this issue but interior space isn't as great as a truck bed for stuff.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Topper owner here. They are removable if cool points are required when not going to the track. I value practicality more.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

+1. I would never own a pickup again without a truck cap. More secure, weather-proof, and the ability to throw light things in the bed without worrying about them flying out is well worth the cost.

If you want to experience the purest form of buyer's remorse known to man, I would suggest trying to pull a 7000lb+ enclosed trailer up the Grapevine with a 180hp Colorado Diesel.

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

UnderPSI

This makes me think of "Fat guy in a little coat" and the Colorado is the coat

codrus

Personally I'm not a fan of truck caps/camper shells. I can see the argument if you have an open trailer, but for an enclosed? All the stuff that needs to be secure and weatherpoof should go in there. The beauty of an enclosed trailer is that you can keep it loaded with all the track stuff in it and now the prep for an event consists of just hooking up the truck and driving off. It's a pre-loaded "track appliance".

I really can't think of a single time when I've wanted more secure storage in my truck than the back seat of the my crewcab offers, whereas I can name multiple occasions when I've wanted easy access to the bed for bigger things. Stuff like bringing home a big pile of gravel or a pallet of bricks, or just to take 8 tires to the tire store so that they can swap them around. It's far easier to load tires in the bed if you don't have to crawl around inside a camper shell.

--Ian

Roda

I've had several trucks with traditional caps, but for the last few trucks I've switched to folding soft tonneau covers. I need to be able to remove my bed covering to load our camper in the truck several times a year, and caps are a PITA to take on and off without help, and require a lot of storage space. The soft cover is not as secure as a cap, but is mostly weather proof, and keeps things out of sight. I can have it off the truck in minutes and it stores easily. And it folds up against the cab for carrying larger loads.



And it was about 1/5th the price of a paint matched cap. I don't remember what brand I've got currently, but it's similar to this:

8ft Ram soft tonneau $279

maplewood

iTrader: (2)

Need some opinions on a possible custom trailer. As mentioned a page or so back, I only have 92" of width to get a trailer through the garage into my back yard. Neversatisfied had the same problem and posted pictures of his custom deckover and crazy long ramps to solve the same problem. Took those pictures to the local trailer manufacturer, and he gave me two options:

1) A deckover with 10" wheels and two piece ramps. Will end up being $6k+ without the fancy tire rack/cabinets that Neversatisfied has.
2) A narrow "widebody" trailer with drive over fenders. They'll stick up about 6", so it'll be up to me to screw down some boards to keep the car from high centering on the fenders.

Both are 18 feet, wood deck, dovetail, most importantly with a _total_ width around 80 inches. Option 2 would be around $4200, making it around 2k cheaper, and possibly less annoying since I won't need the longer ramps. Car would sit up higher relative to the deck for Option 2, but the overall weight would still be lower to the ground compared to the deckover style.

As a complete trailer noob, anyone have any advice or questions I should be asking? Thinking option 2 at the moment, if both work I don't see the point in spending the extra 2k.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

6 month trip report, I regret nothing. I've done ~4k miles since purchase, including the ~400 miles back from OC and a ~1300 mile round trip to Oregon the weekend after I bought it. Most of the remainder has been work travel miles. As expected, the only time it gets used sans trailer is when I absolutely cannot get where I need to go in the eGolf. It is far, far comfier on the highway than the Silverado was while unloaded, and it pulls my big enclosed up hills without too much fuss. I wouldn't want to make regular Grapevine trips, but for my current combination of requirements, it's a great rig. It also does, shockingly, nearly 13mpg at 70mph unloaded, and with unleaded nearly a full dollar cheaper than diesel in CA, the fuel bill hasn't been as crazy as expected.

The only real trouble I had was right out of the gate - it threw a MAF code and started shifting very firmly about 15 miles from the seller's house, which had me spooked, but a replacement MAF and code reset solved both issues. It makes me wonder if the PO dumped it because he thought it needed a transmission. I threw plugs and wires at it for good measure at the same time as the MAF, as well as fresh trans fluid. Since then, the only issues have been a dead oil pressure gauge (died way back in September, assume it's the same sender as the Vettes of this era with the same issue) and a dead battery from sitting for ~8wks after kiddo was born. I tried one of those solar-panel trickle chargers to no avail, so I've resigned myself to making sure I drive it at least once a month to keep the battery topped up. It does burn a little oil at higher RPM, which is a very common 8.1L trait, but at <70mph it's negligible.

First post-baby track day is on Saturday, NCRC at Thunderhill.

Z33Taxi

Im still looking for something that I could daily and use to tow the track car. The Miata is still street legal so I could drive that whenever to help with gas. I'm still leaning towards 4runners, tahoe and trucks. In a perfect world I'd get an suv so when I have kids I can throw them ion there with the dogs, which would be impossible with a truck.

AutoFreak57

iTrader: (3)

New tow rig since I blew up the last one. Now i have a '11 Hemi Ram 1500 RCSB. Only done 1 trip to drop the car with my tuner, but it was a completely different experience. It doesn't drive that different with or without trailer now.

MartinezA92

iTrader: (4)

Unrelated, how do you like this? It seems like the perfect daily for my work commute.

Uncle Hoonsalot

Picked this turd up in January to use for towing my car farther than 100 miles, and to haul around parts cars/other things for the shop. 98 Lariat with the 5.4L Triton (2V). It's garbage, but the truck, trailer, and unfortunate Subaru were $1000 total. On the tow of about 70 miles home, it ran pretty badly, but improved as I got closer to home. Texted the PO to tell him it made it, and that it seemed to appreciate being driven since it was running better. His response, "yeah, there was probably a lot of water in that gas." Cool.

I haven't looked at the trailer much, but the plan is to re-wire it and install the LED lights that came with it. New wheel bearings will probably happen, along with any tires that need replacing. A tool box on the tongue would be good for stashing a couple of extra hubs.

So far I've driven the truck about 300 miles. Needs a water pump (leaks) and plugs/coil packs. Probably timing chains and oil pump as well, since the odometer stopped working at 324K (though it intermittently heals itself). The radio was healed by a good whack to the dash too. Hoping that once it's had a good tune up, I can use it to take my NB the 200ish miles to Road Atlanta, and for hauling loads o' parts to stuff like MATG and Miata Reunion so I can sell my junk to some of you fine people.