Flatbed 1st time purchasing

So the accountant convinced the boss his trailer rental wasn't high enough, 6 k a year I didn't mind while I finished my tractor payment, 12k a year is enough to make me buy even a brand new trailer

So here's my problem, I fell into the truck I bought, I'm a very atypical trucker, never knew anyone in trucking and still don't really. As far as buying a trailer, I'll be financing it on my own, I should be good through 50k, but not terribly interested in paying more than 40k (likelihood of a 4 year loan at that rate)

What pitfalls am I going to hit?
And what manufacturers should I actually be looking at?
Here are my requirements I won't budge on

48x102
Spread axle, fixed, not sliding
Dump valve for rear
It will have j track
It will be all aluminum, not a combo (truck is a bit of a heavyweight)
It will not be a Conestoga, it COULD be a covered wagon so I can take that down and store it in the garage


Negotiables:
I prefer 24.5 low pro (matches truck, steer rotation gets me 2 "free" trailer tires a year)
I need 1 box, 60", I have one, but if it comes with some, I won't complain, I can sell it/them if I don't like em I guess (for me to keep it it would have to be one of the new "trailer door" styles, and ss doors are useless
I'm not keen on a tire carrier, stretched truck can carry a spare on catwalk
I dont like reitenours clear coat, it chips more easily than I prefer, but I could be convinced
I'd kinda like a tire pressure system, but it's not strictly necessary since I actually check my tires.
I don't LIKE the proprietary screw in/riveted lights, but I'm not 100% against them if they're not positioned where I will strap

So far I'm seeing new extreme trailers or reitenours as my go-to as a new purchase and kinda like them if I could find a reasonable used one.

I'm in Indiana so as far as purchasing especially used it would be ideal if it were located in Indiana (stupid vin-lookup state)

Any assistance or advice in hunting would be nice

Thanks for your time

 

Thanks for the input, il go in reverse order, Indiana, I'm not completely opposed to buying out of state, Walton isn't too far away and I just was trying to avoid the small headache of buying out of state then getting home and then the Monday sheriff visit into Tuesday bmv visit, ive done quite a few cars and it's just plain annoying.

Probably if going through a dealer even out of state it shouldn't be a big issue since they can at least issue temp plates.


The lights I found on a previous reitenour I ran were relatively good, my problem is that when I run my straps I've cracked a good number (10) of the proprietary housings the lights are potted in with, I've replaced em but at 22$ a light (was a 2009, out of warranty) it's certainly not as cheap/easy as the grommet style (though for at least 15ish of the 30ish I did replace, the plug and play electrical connection was nice, the other 15 required a rewire too )
I guess even at 15 lights a year, the cost (out of warranty) isn't that bad and I'd expect for the first few years not to have quite as many issues.

Thanks for the input, talked with the wife and she wants a new trailer if we buy anything, so I guess I get to go into phone mode on Monday

Any other people have any thoughts or input on this?

 

F

Air enough, I had some quibbles with the reitenour I hauled but looks are less an issue with me than reliability and maintenance, flipped into the current fontaine combo I'm under now, I'm 1500 heavier and coil securement without the j hooks (this has chain pulls) takes 2 more chains, 20 more minutes, and MUST be exactly "here" (the coil kit is tiny and slams me all over the place)

The reitenour I could move the coil forward or backward a good few feet depending on coil weight and the deck was fine (the wide beams of the aluminum let me get narrow coils always riding mostly on the beams, current coil kit a narrow coil might be between beams and only resting on the cross members)

Those are my reasons for all aluminum and j hooks personally, I hear you on the addons adding up, I'm basing my guestimate of 40k on just searching trailers online that post list price of about there.

About the tires, im leaning heavy towards 24.5 but that's for tractor interchangeability, if I'm better off with 22s I'm open to hearing a good argument for it.

 

According to the link below, the difference would be 88 lbs (low pro 24.5 vs low pro 22.5, aluminum rims all around, not sure 88 lbs less is worth moving the needle to 22.5


Weight Savings Calculator | Michelin Truck


(P.s.: it took me a good 45 minutes of Google searching before I just straight up looked up the specs myself, tire opinions are quite an inflammatory question to ask it seems and almost no one cites sources)

 

I know you said you owned a step, but did you ask about the easy access stair when you got a price on the open flat?

Unlikely to go with that option but I'm really curious how it would hold up, plus later on my brother might like it as a covered wagon coil trailer so knowing the price would be nice