Anyone use a wheels under trailer, are they stable?

[Al Weyman]

I have a Brian James wheels outside trailer but have to change a front wheel to get the car to fit, also it is very tight down my side alley. I had an old wheels under trailer of unspecified make and it was a dog to tow, I was wondering if anyone else used one or had any recommendations? I have heavy cars.

[Adam43]

We used to use a wheels under trailer. I'd guess our car is similar to yours in terms of weight and weight distribution and we had no problems. The wheels tend to be smaller on wheels under trailors so the change in height is not as big as you first think.

We've now gone the other way to your choice and changed to a wheels outside thing and it is little different. The new trailor is lighter and that has been the biggest difference. Although we are now very tight width wise and only have an inch or so to space whereas with the wheels under we had about 6 inches (!)

[StephenRae]

I once had a trailer which was a bit of both. With four regular sized wheels the mudguards were removeable allowing the car which was to be carried to drive over the top of the trailer wheels. It was OK with high ground clearance road cars, may not work with a racing car!

[R59]

I've got a wheels under (need it to get the Belmont on!), and it tows a dream behind either of my vans, or the motorhome (vans being 3.5T gross, and the motorhome weighing in at over 6T).

Rob.

[Al Weyman]

How big is that thing rob I thought the Belmont was a small car, what does it weigh incidently?

[R59]

The Belmont weighs about 1100kg, and it's 2m wide at it's widest point (which is why it won't fit on a wheels-at-the-side trailer.

I modified my old trailer so that it'd fit - with the rear end "fish tailed". The front wheels have less than 1/4" clearance on the outside. It did the job of getting it from the garage with my house, to my workshop (I'd borrowed a trailer to get it home when I bought it, then put it in my garage).

[Chris Y]

2m is about 6.5foot, and you can get wheels-out 6'.6" trailers it seems. Not that you care now Rob, but I just thought I'd mention it

[Al Weyman]

1100kgs thats interesting because my black Camaro hits the scales at just 1300kgs and that is with all glass and steel panels. If I changed everything to plastic and fibreglass it would come well under 1100kgs I reckon and with out all the agg of building a special and shoehorning in an engine.

[JohnD]

Al,
I use a self-built wheels-under trailer, for my 870kg race car. Escort rear axles, 12" wheels, mini front cones and all hydraulic brakes. Bit weird towing as the load car towers over the tow car (2.0 Laguna), and it is very sensitive to the load position , but get it right and it tows straight and level to 70mph, which is 'sufficient' as RR used to say.
John

[Al Weyman]

I just have bad memoies of hiring one once to tow a Chevy Monza to Lydden and it was hell, I could not go over 40 mph. I am thinking of buying another as I am having trouble getting my outboard wheels one down the alley by my house.

[Eddy V]

Al, one of our trailers is an Austrian made Fitzel. Not cheap, but very good.
Tiltbed, wheels (8 of them) under and available for very heavy cars. If you like I can always ask them what they cost. Tows like a wonder too.

I'd never buy anything else.

[graham bahr]

i used to tow with a wheels under trailer, get the car on it in the rght place and it towed like a dream, although it was much more senstive to exactly where the car was on the trailer than my current,

with all my trailers once i establish the "sweet spot" with regards to car position, i hook up the front of the race car with a length chain which is permantly attached to the front of the trailer so the car car is always in exactly the same place

[graham bahr]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

1100kgs thats interesting because my black Camaro hits the scales at just 1300kgs and that is with all glass and steel panels. If I changed everything to plastic and fibreglass it would come well under 1100kgs I reckon and with out all the agg of building a special and shoehorning in an engine.

certainly the lighter the car on the trailer the better it will tow.

i once had a homebuilt wheels under trailer ( i didn't build it) i remodelled it, taking about 100kg of weight off it, and also modified the bed so the race car was 4 inches closer to the ground, these two things had a massive effect and improved the way it towed by about 200%

[graham bahr]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

1100kgs thats interesting because my black Camaro hits the scales at just 1300kgs and that is with all glass and steel panels. If I changed everything to plastic and fibreglass it would come well under 1100kgs I reckon and with out all the agg of building a special and shoehorning in an engine.

go for it Al, although your have to be carefull of the weight distribution, such diets tend to make RWD too light at the back end, hense the reason my car still has rear bumpers and steel bootlid, despite everything else being plastic grp or cut down in some way

[COLIN STUBBS]

i used to run a couple of wheels under the body trailers and you are right-they are very load sensitive.we had plenty of near mishaps,although we used to cart all sorts of heavy bits of farm machinery about. biggest problem we found though was tyres.the smaller diameter they are the hotter they get.ours had those block treaded forklift?? tyres and on motorway trips would sometimes overheat and blow or peel the tread.never seem to have the same trouble with a 12 or 13" wheel.

[Al Weyman]

Anyone use the new Brian James Tri-axle trailer as I have spoke for one and they look like they will do the job. 10" wheels under 6 wheels in total, tilt bed 7ft loading platform no more changing pesky front wheels at the track also drive on and still get the doors open, easy go down my side alley. Hey if you are gonna do it then lets do it right!

[ben240z]

I have a wheels under bed trailer and use it to carry my 240Z. It has a hydraulic tilt bed with a beaver tail and tail ramp on gas struts so no need for ramps to load and unload.Tyre rack on the front. Storage under the floor and it tows a dream. It was built by a company down in dorset which is a little way from you but I can highly reccommend them. The trailer will be built to suit your car and or requirements and budget. I will give you his number if you are interested. cheers ben

[Al Weyman]

Thanks Ben but the BJ 6 wheeler looks like it will deliver, its a great bit of kit have not had a car on it yet though!

[Tim Draffan]

Al, a lot of recovery and vehicle transport companies have to use wheel under trailers to carry large cars like 7 series BM's and Jags etc and they must get on witj alright as they are in use daily.

[Al Weyman]

Yes you are probably right, the Tri-axle B James is the heaviest capacity trailer in its class and the only one rated to take 2750kgs (new Discovery). Proabaly a bit overkill but nice to stay well within the law.

[R59]

Have you got it clean yet Al?

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Yes you are probably right, the Tri-axle B James is the heaviest capacity trailer in its class and the only one rated to take 2750kgs (new Discovery). Proabaly a bit overkill but nice to stay well within the law.

What are you towing with? Depending on the weight of the car you put on the back you could be over on the gross train weight with even some of the biggest vans towing it.

[R59]

Since when has anyone involved in motor racing ever thought about gross train weights, etc... (until they get asked over the weighbridge by those nice men in their VOSA coats!)

What's wrong with pulling a Rover SD1 on a big twin axle trailer with a 1400 Astra? Eh?

What was it, Transit with a max towing weight of about a tonne before it hits it's GTW?

Also, don't forget that piece of steel cord to tether the trailer to your car, just in case your ball hitch fails. As if a piece of 1-tonne breaking strain wire is going to hold a 3 tonne trailer - but that's the regs for you! (I use a 5 tonne chain on my 3500kg MGW trailer)

Rob.

[Greystone]

I have a PRG Beaver tail trailer which, in my opinion, is a quality bit of kit.

Ask my brother Alan how it compares with his Brian James trailer, but then it was nearly twice the price (bought new at approx £2300 if I remember correctly).

It has 12" wheels with 145/12 8 ply tyres with no hint of a failure so far. It has a gross weight of 2000kg with a trailer weight of 570kg (it's a heavy beast), giving you a max vehicle weight of 1430kg.

I have towed it with my diesel lwb shogun (max towing weight 3300kg) and had no stability problems at all with a Rover Tomcat onboard. I have also carried an RS2000 and a Morris 1000 Traveller with no problems. I am careful to ensure that the car is always in the same place on the trailer. My guess is that the loaded trailer is probably more stable than the Shogun. I have still to find out how it will tow behind my Legacy Outback. I am also thinking of having our horsebox downgraded to 6500 kg so that I can tow it behind that (max train weight 8250kg unless you want to take a C1+E test. According to the DVLA this is ok with a car licence passed before 1997).

PRG built the trailer to order to my specified width of 6' 3" so that it would go through my side garage and into the back garden and added extra long ramps so that the Tomcat would go up without catching (at an extra charge) but at least they asked rather than just sell it to me with standard ramps and let me find out that it wouldn't go up the hard way.

I am very pleased with it and would buy from them again.

Andrew Cherry

[Al Weyman]

They are good, I think my pal Gerry bought a new one from them.

I am towing with a 4.3 V6 1999 Chevrolet Blazer 4 x 4 rated to tow oin excess of 3500kg braked trailer. I was very surprised to note that some Transits do not have a high tow weight at all in fact a SWB Flare side pic up I looked at only had a 1600kgs unbraked trailer capacity. I will only use the 4 x 4 to tow with as I don't need a van and use the Blazer as everyday transport. I have just bought some Air Assists for teh rear from the USA as the back drops a little when loaded. The trailer came with an adjustable wheel stop bar which should prove very useful once I have found the best place for my car to lock it down.

I have had my mate give it hell with some special cleaning chemical and a steam cleaner and it is definitely coming up better but he is going to get me a drum of chemical and I will continue with my pressure cleaner as it was taking a fair bit of time and it was the chemical more than the steam that was doing the job.

Here is some pictures of the beast.