Step decks

truckpaper? whats close to you and fits your budget?

 

If your buying steel or a combo step look for rust around the crossmembers and king pin plate you can tell if it is painted rust if the paint is bubbled bad. Personally I like a fontaine or a transcraft step a good used step should cost between 12 and 18 thousand. but you might find them a little cheaper

 

I just bought two used steel step decks, both are in excellent condition and I paid
right around 10k each.

One is a 2000 model and the other one is a 99.

Prices vary big time, you can spend upwards of 25k and a low of around 8k for a
used trailer. Model and whether it is a steel or aluminum or a combination of the
two is one of the biggest price factors.

 

Look closely around the neck whre it drops and also around the axle hangers for cracks. These are the most stressed joints in the trailer. After these the crossmembers are the next. I like the Tanscraft and Manac. Retinouer makes a great step deck, but they are pretty proud of it when it comes to price. Coonass is pretty close on the price, bu the main thing is to look it over good before you commit to buying it.

 

Hi King: Look for cracks and welds where cracks have been glued back together. Dont be afraid to crawl under trailer looking for cracks etc. The trailer im pulling presently (a Talbert) is breaking up at front of deck where gooseneck attaches. Weld it back together and it holds till the next time it really gets the sh_t beat out of it. But in defense of the trailer, it has been used and abused badly.
A friend recently broke a 55 ton Fontaine in half (literally), we wont even go into the details on that story...it has been glued back together and was traded. It is for sale at a trailer dealer... so, like i said, get under them and look them over closely........ just my thoughts.... david

 

On lowboys look at the attachment areas if it is a removable neck. I have expereince with mechanical and not hydrualic trailers. On the mechanical trailers look at the links or dogbones that control the front height. Check for wear issues on the inside of holes of the links and on the pegs that are welded onto the neck and bottom deck. If the sellor or dealer will do it have the deck removed to look at the locking pin and alignment pads. These are all high wear items if the trailer was used in local hauling. Look the frame rails over very closely...not just for cracks and welds, but also for excess heat and severe wear on the bottom of the frame rails. I have seen many lowboys on the dealer lots that had the frames dragged down the roads for whatever reason. This causes the frames to get chewed away and builds heat in them also. The heat is a bad thing and if spotted you should run away from the trailer. The heating will show up as a blueing of the frame rails if there is any unpainted areas. Besides these things its pretty much the same as any other trailer...look it over good and don't be affraid to get dirty doing it.

 

I would expect the seller to separate trailer or anything else you want. If i was trying to sell something i would consider that part of the selling. If the seller wont detach for you, move on.....if they wont unhook for you, there must be something to hide. If serious about buying the trailer, make your offer accordingly....