J.T

You guys with trailors or that tiretail, When you're done with the trailor do you leave the hitch on the car or do you take it off and put it on everytime you use it?

ChrisfromRI

I have a Gendron hitch. The lightweight aluminum brackets that bolt-on under the car stay on, but the heavy steel draw bar with the towing ball comes off with two quick-pins once you reach destination. I store the drawbar in the trailer at the track.

You have to get down at a low angle to notice the brackets, as they are not normally visible.

Kind Regards, Chris

Legal Bill

Chris, I guess I misunderstood the Gendron hitch. I thought it was all aluminum. Where do the brackets locate? I assume there is one at each bumper bracket. Is the third attached to the subframe like the Hammerley Hitch? Also, does Gendron give you a tounge weight capacity? Also, what has to be drilled for his hitch? I know it was supposed to be a no-drill hitch, but you and I both know that story.

ChrisfromRI

Bill,

Maybe you should take a closer look at mine. It seems quite good, and Etgar has been using his for several seasons now. I like it and have used it for a number of events. For MY 2001 there are no holes, but for ours (MY 2002) there are a couple of new holes. The parts that mount on the car are nicely made aluminum parts (very light -- under 5 pounds), and the removable drawbar is nicely made steel. It removes very easily between events and at the track. Bill make nice stuff, although it may not be the cheapest alternative. He is a much better welder then I am!!!

I recall that it was around $450 and maybe another $100 - $150 to install it in his shop in Monson, MA.

Kind Regards, Chris

Nickfromny

Of Interest SOUTH SPORT is no longer making tire trailers for roadster owners like us. Said that we want/whine to much. They were losing money and time on each trailer.

PENROD

Just an obaservation and a note of preference:
I've got my wheels on the back, and box on the front, but other than that, same setup as Coraldoc.

I run sometimes with no wheels, so the weight on the front of the trailer keeps it planted on the hitch. If the box were on the back with no tires on the front, the trailer would want to tilt up in the front, and there would be alot of racket and too much movement on the ball/ hitch to be comfortable with.

Also, if you plan to carry anything else besides tires and box (say a lawn mower or two coolers full of alcohol to a campsite) you can use the front solid deck to place these items and still not worry about the trailer causing a ruckus with the ball/ hitch.

Your choice, just keep it in mind if this applies to you.

Orthonormal

That's the very one that I built up. I had a friend weld up all the seams he could reach, and I think that was a very good idea. The fenders, which we didn't weld on, got fatigue cracks around the bolt holes and nearly fell off before I discovered the problem.

That required repainting, so I painted the frame black to match my car. I built my own bin out of plywood, fitted to the trailer. There is even a lower compartment that hangs below the trailer frame That's where I keep my jack and folding chairs. I have a removable bottom that separates the lower compartment from the upper compartment. A gas strut holds the lid up, and there is a sheetmetal panel nailed to the inside of the lid for my magnets.

On the front, I have installed a plywood deck with two 1/2" allthread rods on each side. The rods are positioned to match bolt holes in the wheels, so that I can bolt them in place with open-ended lugnuts. There is also a locking bar made out of galvanized pipe so that I can lock the wheels to the trailer with a single U-lock.

I also removed the helper springs because the trailer bounced too much with them. The actual weight is around 400 Lbs, which is a lot less than the 1000Lb rated weight.

I have photos here. Click the "next photo" button for a different angle with the tires unloaded.

Legal Bill

I built mine with a plywood deck covering the entire frame, then I put my tire cradle boards across the front end and the Contico box across the back end. Now I have to move the tire cradle right up to the front edge of the trailer frame to increase the tongue weight when the box is loaded. I'll probably relocate the box further forward too, but only after I move the tires forward and try that out.

First use was a 200 mile round trip up to New Hampshire and all went well. I noticed the tires shifted a little right to left since I have no real structure holding them in place on that plane, just the straps like Coral Doc shows in his pics.

On a side note, I ordered my kit with a spare tire. One of the tires and wheels that came with the kit was a little bent, so I used the spare tire right away and mounted the bent wheel as my spare. I called Harbor Freight to discuss getting it replaced, and they are sending me a new one and letting me keep the bent one.

Nickfromny

Of intrest. H. Hammerely is experimenting with adding a 2" reciver to tire trailer to allow a tiretail to added to the trailer so you can haul 4 more wheels/tires.

mikegarrison

And he's gonna sell that on this site, right?....