Trailer or no trailer

[Larry W]

There are times it would be nice to take our C6 corvette on our travels. We are thinking about an enclosed car hauler with a 7000 lb GVW.
What are some of the pros and cons of pulling a trailer? We do at times haul our jeep on an open trailer but the jeep can be used to move the trailer once we park. We will be about 70 feet long (legal in Colorado). Looking forward to the thoughts of this group.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

The reason I think most of us tow 4 wheels down is the utter simplicity of doing so. I also would like to occasionally bring different vehicles, but a trailer creates issues in some RV parks because there are sometimes no good places to put one.

A trailer also becomes another vehicle that has to be washed. It certainly becomes a storage facility and if you are like me you will start filling it up with things you deem necessary. Tools, spare parts, extra tires, etc. Then you run out of room and the next thing you know you have a 30 foot stacker so you can haul the golf cart and the Harley along with every tool and spare part known to man.

There are places I go where I wish I had a trailer, but it ain't worth the hassle of having to find a place to park it in RV parks or at home, giving up fuel mileage, and risking a ticket in those states whose limits are 65 feet.

But it sure would be nice to have one so if I got in a pinch I could actually back up, unlike flat towing where backing up tends to break stuff.

[lonesome george]

A trailer is another vehicle that must be maintained, insured and licensed.

I pull one with the bus most of the time. We have a 24' enclosed car trailer with GVW of 9900 and a open flat top single axle rig with a GVW of 5000.
The up side of the enclosed one is it is a little more secure and the trash the bus picks up beats on the trailer not it's contents, but it tracks well inside the drive and tag axles when turning and that can be a real buzz kill. The assembly is 73' and change and that can cause some problems all by itself.
As Jon indicated length laws in some states and parking for starters.

The other one we pull is much more user friendly the deck is 8'6" X 16' and we use it for ATV's, snowmobiles and such, the overall length with it is 65' on the nut and it tracks in the same path with the drives so if I don't hit it with the bus I won't hit it with the trailer. The downside to this one is your stuff is in the open.

One of the main reasons I like trailers is the fact that you can back the things up.

We are slowly moving toward using a frog for some trips and thats another vehicle, there is no end to this madness.

[Larry W]

Jon & George
Thanks for your input. I am aware of most of the pros & cons you have listed.
We do pull a open trailer hauling our jeep when we go to Moab, UT just in case I break something doing the crazy things that Moab makes one do. It is a 6000 GVW 14 foot trailer. The enclosed trailer would be a new thing to us.
The storage is not a problem for us.
George do you have problems with 24' of trailer finding camping places?
How does the trailer track in cross winds?
I have found a used 20' trailer for a decent price and the vette will fit.
I suppose you look for long pull through places.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Larry,

I have a 2007 Z06 and while there are times it would be fun to have along, I would have a real hassle loading unless the trailer had some seriously low loading ramps. What really stops me apart from clearance issues is just the time it would take screwing with a trailer, such as securing the car, finding a place in the typical RV park to put it etc.

We have been in several RV parks recently where there is NO place for a trailer and all trailers must be off site. Consider the hassle.

I do like the fact that a trailer can be backed up.

[lonesome george]

Larry,
Pulling the 24' trailer in crosswinds has not been a problem with the bus, our previous motor home was a different story, but I do use a sway control and load controls on the coupling with the 24' and nothing on the 16'.
Finding a place to park or camp takes a little planning, we call ahead to RV parks and have a little chat about the length of the sites and the in and out access.
The 20' trailer you are looking at should stay behind the bus much better than our 24' er when turning.
Another pain with a trailer is the tongue jack, lots of times lifting the bus is the only way to get in parking lots without trashing the jack, again.
However a tow bar mount on the front of a Corvette could be a real conversation starter.

[Larry W]

Jon & George Thanks again.
Am aware of the tounge jack thing as I thrashed the one on my flat bed behind my pickup. You answer another question as I was wondering about sway control.
Yes Jon the ramp is a consideration but the trailers I am looking at have a 3 to 4 foot inside dove tail plus the rear door is about 6 feet long plus a 1 foot flap so this give a ramp with a very low break over angle.
The big problem with the vette is getting out ot the thing inside a trailer, but ours is not a Z06 so we do have a removable roof that stores frimly under the rear hatch. The roof removed makes egress easy.
Still pondering if we want to do this.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ihave trouble getting in and out of mine with the door all the way open, Hadn't even considered how hard it would be stuck inside a trailer.

Get an open trailer. Better yet, leave the bus at home. Drive the Corvette.

[Orren Zook]

Larry,

I pull a 27' UXT enclosed trailer from time to time and use a Reese weight distributing hitch with 1000# bars. I've never had an issue with sway control using this setup.

[treedoc]

I have seen a side door on the drivers side of the trailer. This is opened before the auto is loaded so you can swing the auto door in the opening of the side door to make it easyer to get out of the auto. Rick