What is the Best/worst brand Flatbed trailers out there?

I didn't think they were THAT overrated...

 

Les is totally right for once. The newer Reitnouers are very poorly built when compared to the mid to late '90 trailers. My '06 Reitnouer was tough, but not near as tough as the couple older ones I pulled as a company driver. I don't know if Bud or someone in the company decided to make "adjustments" or what, but the Reitnouer name doesn't stand for what it once was. Also all these fleets running around with the lower quality Reitnouers are not gonna help resale values of the current owners...but then again who would want a under-speced fleet POS.

 

Hmm, I pulled a 96 model transcraft 48x102, it was the biggest piece of garbage I ever had the displeasure of hooking behind my truck, in the 5 months I pulled it I was always having to work on it, It needed 4 welding repairs in that ammount of time.

That trailer wasnt worty any more than you could get for scrapin it!

 

I told Jeff at MAC the same thing when PGT was ordering a bunch of lightweight trailers. They ended up having nothing but problems. They were caused by PGT not MAC but when its going down the road sagging you can't tell people that.

Wasn't that the year they changed their design? I'm thinking it was. They got rid of the coil package and replaced it with something that didn't work...lol

 

All I know is that I know enough to never hook to a transcraft again. It is not worth the headache.

Oh, and the brakes on it liked to randomly lock up going down the road. Had to go back and forth with the guy who I was pulling the trailer for over that one, finally they caught the brakes on fire running down the road just ouside of Lancaster Ca, wouldnt release the back axle, I limped it into vegas with the back brakes backed off, replaced the air valve on the trailer and that was the end of that issue.

Thing was junk all the way around.

 

They stopped making the original 50k and lowered the rating on the 60k to 50k. Only because of the idiots ordering the light weight trailer to save weight and cash and breaking them. So now to head off any issues they sell you a heavier trailer than you think your getting. Mac had some issues with the beams, I know I found an almost new 50' with 3-10's and it had been completely rebuilt because the neck broke. It was the aluminum mfg's fault but Mac stood behind them. More than I can say for East, a guy here has an '04 East dropdeck and his cracked. So he called East and told them his drop cracked and the guy on the phone said "must be a 1998-2004 model". They knew they had issues but wouldn't fix them so he had to pay Ravens in Dover to re-arch and weld it even under warranty. Just loaded behind a truck with an older East and his broke in half after having East "repair" it twice. He the beam patched, re-arched and strapped it with 7" of arch and a 1" thick strap on the bottom rail. Doesn't give at all now but looks really funny with that much arch, no idea how he keeps the side boards in it!

 

I heard they stopped making the smaller one after the PGT incident. I think Jeff knew what was going to happen but had to go thru with it. I told him what PGT did to reitnour and their maximiser's thats why they came to MAC. Oh well, personally any trailer not rated for atleast a 65k coil isn't road worthy!

Didn't I see you about a week about? Me and my brother was coming out of columbus and you was going in?

Someone also got a pic of you on another forum with your wheels on the ground..... Thats a no no driver....

 

Heard the same thing from a former Reitnouer lover. Had an old one and loved it so he upgraded and the new one was junk. Bud won't do a lot of stuff Mac will do. No aluminum stinger on a b-train, no triple bags from the factory, no cheater system ect. Through Mac if you want standard you can get it, if you want custom you get it as long as your check clears. Just looked at a used 48' flat with 4-10's. It had 13 air tanks, 3/4 suspension lines, surge valves and air mufflers, all factory installed when the guy ordered it. Couldn't even get Bud to do triple bags, he said it would void the suspension warranty. Guess he doesn't understand your still going to haul the same weight, just not with 110psi in the bags to pick it up.

 

I've never understood why some companies say "no" when it comes to specing a trailer the right way. A guy that walks in and says "I want this, this, and this..."knows exactly what he is gonna do with the trailer and wants to have it right the first time...not peicing it together for a month or two after its delivered. I heard Transcraft won't even install a electric dump on the rear axle of a step. My opinion is if I spec the trailer out the way I want it, I load the trailer, and it breaks...thats my fault and I don't hold the manufacturer liable for my actions. Now if they spec it out and say it"ll hold up and she bellies out like many of the mid 90's Bensons did, then I would be pissed.

I was leased to a big steel hauler (he had 20 trucks running) and Benson swore they could build trailers to suit his needs. Well the first 2 trailers (both were 4 10's) showed up looking all pretty with the big arches and wide based singles on the lift axles. After the first coils (one was about 48,000 and the other was roughly 51,500) the lift axles wouldn't even come off the ground while they were in the up position. Bensons fought and fought over these trailers and finally decided to "fix" the issue...they put shimmes underneath the down axles bags to raise the trailer. The next problem was the lift axles started blowing air bags for some strange reason. Could it be they were over stretched?

 

I wondered if that was you, hard to tell when you have a dress on and your hair done.
Honestly, i usually run with them down with anything over 75k net on hot days unless I'm off route. Rides much better, easier on tires and they're on the permit. I put them on there because it's easier to make "legal" for the portables.