New to car hauling with dually in Denver Colorado

Having seen Shipshe Trailers in person, they are a really nice trailer, very well built. They're used a lot in hauling RV's. And you can have one built with a full floor, trailer haul package, step deck style. They offer lots of options. Just be prepared, they can be a bit pricy. The only reason i don't run them here at my company is, im after a lower deck height.

And in the trucking industry, having the ability to haul freight, vehicles, boats on trailers, RV trailers will a big plus. The more versatile your equipment is, the busier you will be.

We run a mix of freight and vehicles here and I can tell you having the ability to haul freight you will be much better off. Pound for pound, foot for foot freight pays better than vehicles.

Check out the photo gallery in that link 1nicevette shared.

 

Yes I have read a lot of your forum have you updated it lately? You have some great stuff on there

 

This is the reason why I wanted a preferrated deck to use these straps, according to Kaufman the design I have doesn't come with that option considered putting D-Rings along the bed but never went through with it, but the next trailer will be used just like this one for sure

 

Thanks, there's been a little bit of recent activity on there but it's still pretty quiet. It got a little neglected when I started the FB business page.

 

Ok

 

According to the link provided that trailer is intended to haul "RVs". By that I "THINK" they are referring to utility trailers, not camping trailers unless they mean the pretty small ones. An empty cargo trailer is pretty light. A car is not.

The pictures were ok but not great so getting a lot of detail on the trailer is difficult. There were no specifications like what is the maximum cargo weight capacity of the trailer? what kind of axles are they using and what are they rated at? What size tires/wheels and their rating?

I see the trailer has only two single wheel axles. Unless they are using some exotic axles and something like a 19.5 wheel/tire those axles are almost certainly rated at 7,000 each. Two axles at that rating gives you 14,000 pounds. About the only specification they gave (Other than length and width) was the empty weight of the trailer is 7,900 pounds. That only gives you 6,100 pounds to carry on the trailer, not including whatever weight is transferred to the towing vehicle.

A Dodge Durango or Ford Explorer is roughly 6-7000 pounds. A Honda Accord is about 4,250 Two accords is 8,500. Add two Accords (8,500) and the trailer (7,900) and you are at 16,400 pounds on axles rated for 12,000 that means your tow vehicle better be taking the remaining 4,400 on its hitch. If not your axles are overloaded and your not DOT legal. Can your tow vehicle take a load of roughly 2.25 tons? Can you be sure you can even load the trailer in a way that will shift that much weight to the hitch? And this is hauling two small cars.... What is the hitch rating of the trailer? What about hauling an Expedition, (Weighs about 7,500 pounds or a 1 ton diesel pick up at about 11,000 pounds. With a 53' trailer you better be moving 3 vehicles at a time to make money, not just 1 or 2 small ones because of weight restrictions.

Yes, I see people all the time running wedge trailers that came from the factory with 3 axles but now because of poor maintenance and one can only assume ignorance of all safety and DOT legality issues decided that instead of repairing or replacing the damaged axle to simply remove it. I do not drive anywhere close to those guys, ever.

You are wanting to go into the professional car hauling business. This means hauling around heavy stuff on a trailer. A 1 ton or even a 550 class truck is operating pretty close to maximum all the time. Yes, it "CAN" be done but equipment wears out much faster, safety margins are very narrow or completely nonexistent. To keep doing it very long requires a lot of maintenance. To keep doing it safely requires even more maintenance.

One post above noted that it is very nice to be able to haul other cargo on the trailer and this is completely true. This trailer looks to be ideal as a combination type freight hauler (or probably even a utility trailer delivery unit) but as a tool for someone in the car hauling business, it seems to be severely lacking because a car hauler has to be able to load as many cars as possible (and be safe and remain within weight capacity of his equipment) in order to make enough revenue to stay in business, much less make a decent living.

You may have a unique situation where this trailer will work out for you but for most people I would recommend a trailer designed specifically for hauling cars and try to maximize your loading potential.

Take a look at the brand Take 3 or some of the others designed for hauling cars. Some of them have a pretty good size flat deck area in case you actually have the time to go looking for other than car type cargo. (But generally speaking, if you do have that kind of time then your probably not doing the car hauling thing right...)

Most 53' (or there about) car trailers have either 3 single tire axles rated at 7,000 pounds giving you 21,000 pounds or dual tandems on 10,000 or 12,000 pound axles giving you 20-22,000 pound ratings. Personally given the choice I wold have a dual tandem over a triple axle but that is another conversation entirely.

By the way, I believe you said something about the Kaufman and over the wheel straps. Their "New" heavy duty deck seems to be fairly well suited for that while the old deck, can do it but the hooks can pull out pretty easily, especially in case of accident.

If your interested I just happen to know where there is a nice F450 and heavy deck Kaufman wedge that the owner would be willing to sell in the Daytona Beach, FL area...

I hope this is helpful and on target to the question you were asking.