advice on trailers.

Buy a light weight spec'd Utility...great Danes are good but a little heavier.

I prefer T-King's Whisper units... A front-only sliding axle will allow you to have all the benefits of a spread axle without the hassle you will get in CA with a 53' spread.

 

What? I think you don't know what you are talking about

Fixed sliding spread axle under 53' Utility or GD reefer box is way to go today. You need that spread during winter for safety and ride comfort/cargo safety in the summer. You need it to be sliding so you can get to higher docks and to get really smooth ride under lighter loads when states allow to slide it way back (CA won't let you). Then you might wanna load it heavy AND all the way to the door and spreaded axles allow that by 40,000 pounds weight limit "on the trailer". TK and Carrier units got very comparable in last years with Carrier being somewhat cheaper

Don't buy anything else, spread axle is only right way to go for a produce hauler. If you can afford to have it your way that is

 

What's a 'fixed' sliding spread? The ones I have seen are fixed at the rear axle and allow the front axle to slide to run as either a closed tandem or a spread... maybe they were on 48' trailers so the rear axle wouldn't have to move... I suppose on a ca-legal 53' trailer both would have to slide...

 

I see what you mean now, It's different now with 53' trailers because of kingpin-to-rear axle rules. Such trailer can be had in 3 ways:
- fixed spread (like on 48' trailers just welded closer to the middle of the trailer)
- fixed sliding spread (like normal sliding tandem but wide "spreaded")
- two independent single sliders (Canadian style)

Thing is independent sliders reportedly suck - they lack structural integrity. Then there is only one way to go - fixed sliding spread because having one fixed and one sliding axle will take to answer tough question first - which axle you want to "fix"?

 

ten years ago I'd advice you to get trailer with BPW ore Meritor axes, but now I'd prefere SAF/Holland axes

 

I understand... I've seen several of the independent sliders and wondered how strong they would be. They do make a 53' CA legal and that's a plus.

I really try to stay as light as possible with my stuff but I don't have real light equipment. My Utility 48' is about 13,500# with the unit removed. But it was the lightest, inexpensive trailer i could find at the time. My son's GD with a spread comes in at almost 15K...

My Pete has a door weight of 18,040 I believe. It's a little lighter now but I will make it a bit lighter when I can afford to install the 48" flat top sleeper I have stored. I get paid by the cwt so a light tare weight helps a lot.

 

Two years ago I was talking to some good Wabash salesman from Nebraska and he said they were trying 4 different independed spread suspensions from varied makers - and all of them were eating tires so they gave up. I took his words at face value (although he was recommended to me by very reputable source) and went for fixed sliding spread coz I could easily imagine little play between those independent axles making huge difference in long run, every tight turn twisting whole thing a bit further making it a bit worse every single day...

When comes to weight - new Utility reefer with spread and everything else you want (but SS) walls will set you at about 15,000 pounds now when you could have it built cheap/light way at 13,500 pounds. My truck was also 18,000 with no fuel when brand new - what I'm saying here is with produce you don't really need to be that light - they will cut the pallet or two if needed and none will ask you anything. Problem is what you are hauling into California and what your customer needs are - but still, for single truck owner-operator its more important to buy solid, lasting equipment than worry about the truck/trailer being heavy IMO (unless its really heavy)