tadeuzagallo

With my miata now fully gutted, headlights gone, no side or rear windows and with the full cage going in in a couple weeks, I’ve decided it's time to stop driving to the track and get a trailer, so I traded in my type r for a 2015 ML350. Choosing the trailer has proven a lot more challenging though. Since the car can’t be locked, I had convinced myself I needed to drop the money for an enclosed trailer, but to make things interesting, I need whatever trailer I get to fit my parking spot, which is 16’x8.5’, so a standard 20’x8.5’ won’t work. I started looking into other sizes of trailers, but as it turns out most 7'-wide trailers are still 8.5' wide overall, and the alternative would be an even more expensive trailer. In the mean time, I’ve been noticing a lot of “real race cars” being towed on open trailers, so I figured I’d ask here for opinions as well as a couple question I couldn’t find answers for:
- I’ve seen the brackets made to keep the windows in place for transporting, but given my seat position I’ve also had to remove the quarter windows. Is there any easy solution to close that too?
- For those of you that use open trailers, do you take any extra safety precautions when parking outside? I never leave my car outside, and hardtop thefts are very common around here, so I’m slightly concerned. Not just about the top, but it's a race top, so it'd be trivial for anyone to break it and steal anything inside.

Alternatively, if you know where can I find an enclosed trailer that is <8.5' wide, fits a miata and costs less than 10k, that'd also work.

Jaysz28

iTrader: (1)

You only need 14' of floor space to put a miata in. I currently use a forest river work and play camper toyhauler thingy that has a 14'6" garage space to haul my car to the track in.


the first enclosed trailer I used to haul my race car to the track in was a 8x16 enclosed trailer. It was tight getting in and out of the car but I am 6'2". I had room for tools, spares, wheels, tires etc up front.

You can squeeze a miata into a 7.5' wide trailer, but you would either have to crawl out the window, or use a winch to get it in and out of it.

good luck with your search!

Roda

Is this an apartment/condo parking spot? You might want to check to see if you're even allowed to park a trailer there. Even in our residential neighborhood, trailers/RVs/boats are not allowed to be parked in the driveway or front of the house. With all the trailers parked around our neighborhood, I had no idea of the restriction until I got a violation notice.

I ended up putting mine in an RV storage lot.

tadeuzagallo

Thanks Jaysz28, I think ideally I'd go with a 16x7 and just install a winch since I'm too lazy... but that doesn't seem to help since the axles for all trailers I've found so far seem to be 8' 6" wide, including open trailers.

Roda, yes, it's an apartment parking spot, but I've cleared with them that I can park it here as long as it fits the spot. Wow, I had no idea there were restrictions for parking on your own driveway... does that also apply for on open trailers? I looked into storage but it's quite expensive here in the bay area, most places are $200+/month, at that point I wonder if it'd just be easier to always rent it, but even in that case I'd still need a place to leave it for the night after the track day until I can return it in the morning.

I wonder how stupid it'd be to try and park an 8.5' wide trailer on a 8.5' wide parking spot...

rdb138

iTrader: (1)

I prefer the trailer, but with your limitations on parking etc. have you given any thought to a car dolly? Yes, you should swap rear tires, but I see guys towing their cars to the track all the time this way. This seems like the best option to me for your parking situation & wanting to tow.

To answer your parking 8.5 wide trailer in an 8.5 wide spot, sure it’s possible if you have a lot of space in front of the spot, and really good at reversing a trailer, but with cars on each side of you, I’d say you shouldn’t.

You maybe able to find a small European car hauler, with the small wheels under the deck, I believe they are skinnier, but I haven’t really seen any here in the US (parts might be hard to find too).

Also, in case you don’t know. A trailer's length is the actual floor or box and doesn’t include the length of the tongue. So your 16’ trailer is actually more like 3 feet longer, making it 19’ when it comes to parking spaces.

tadeuzagallo

The dolly was actually my original plan, but then I found out that, at least in California, the car must have a valid registration. While the car does have one for now, a big motivation for getting the trailer was to be free of that.

For the trailer length, the trailer shop I went to said they could make the trailer tongue removable, which would be really helpful, but doesn't matter if I can't get a narrower trailer.

Gee Emm

I'd put more effort into finding someone to make you a trailer to YOUR specs. That's what I did.

There are more ways of skinning the narrow track requirement than solid axles (here at least), they may not be cheap but you seem to have little choice but to explore all options and be prepared to pay a premium to get something that works for your constraints.

codrus

Trailers sold for car transportation in the US tend to be the maximum allowed width because that way they can have a lower deck (meaning lower approach angles on the ramp) by having the car sit on the trailer axles, between the fenders. This adds the width of the trailer tires to the width of the car when determining the overall trailer width.

European-style trailers are often "deckover", meaning they use smaller diameter wheels/tires and have the deck sitting above the wheels. This forces it to be higher (thus making for loading problems), but makes the trailer narrower which is presumably desirable in Europe where they have a lot more narrow streets to deal with. I think there was someone else on mt.net who bought one of these lately because he needed a trailer that would go through his pull-through garage doors into the back yard. Not sure what thread that was -- might have been the general trailer thread.

Another option is to look at motorcycle trailers. Those often have the features of car trailers but in smaller size, and you might find one the right width.

--Ian

maplewood

iTrader: (2)

I'm the guy cordus mentioned. IIRC my trailer is something like 84" wide. Since it's a deckover, thats the widest part. Used it last month for the first time, it works just fine. I don't post much as I'm usually learning not helping, so go through my post history for pics/info. Some caveats: Spare wheels/tires are harder to get since it's an oddball size, buy spares. someone mentioned bearings might not last as long as they are at higher RPM given the tire size, which I have yet to experience but makes sense. Loading and unloading is a bit harder, and as of yet I'm not comfortable doing it without a spotter, not a huge deal. The extra ramps are annoying at the end of a hot day. I'm sure the gas milage is slightly worse since the car is higher up and the trailer is heavier than a similar non-deckover. All in all though, fair trade offs.

TBH I'm shocked you got the OK to park it in an apartment parking lot, I'd double check that. Going with something like mine is certainly doable, and the price wasn't terrible compared to more normal configurations, once I found someone willing to make it. If you really can park it in a parking lot, you'll end up having the rear wheels on the dovetail, mine is too long for a normal space. That said, another guy further back in the towing thread had a fairly short and narrow deckover that mine is a shitty (cheaper) copy of.


As far as safety goes, if you park the car inside somewhere now, I'd unload when you get home and continue with that. They make trailer coupler locks that might prevent theft. They are usually pretty defeatable, but I'd think would be enough to get a thief to move on to easier pickings.

Gee Emm

Battery powered angle grinders must have basically negated just about any non-monitored physical security. If they want it, it's gone. Locks are a deterrent for the more opportunistic thief though, so probably still worth it.

tadeuzagallo

Thanks for all the advice so far. I found some utility deckover 84" wide "ATV trailers" on ebay, so that could be an option. I also contacted a local trailer shop to try and get a quote for an enclosed 84" deckover, but they warned me it'd be quite expensive. I also found some 84" wide axles, I'll do some research into how difficult it'd be register the trailer if I had my local fab shop make the trailer.

maplewood: why do you think it could be an issue? it a gated apartment complex, the only restriction they gave me was that it had to be in my permanently assigned parking spot, and it must fit within the lines. I can imagine that the smaller trailer will have a lot of tradeoffs, but I think I'm prepared for those, and a lot of them seem to be manageable (the biggest one for me would probably be the winch). As for security, I don't intend to keep anything stored in the trailer, I'll still probably get some good locks just in case, specially for when I have to park it on the streets.

For now, I'm renting a 8.5x20 enclosed trailer to start getting used to it, since I have never towed anything. I'll just have to figure out some ramps so I can actually get the car in the trailer. The one issue with renting is that even though I can drop off the trailer at the track on Friday night, there's nowhere to leave it on Sunday night, before I can return it on Monday. My plan so far is to just unload the miata and park the tow vehicle + trailer on the street with some locks on the trailer. Is that what people usually do?

Roda

Get it in writing... all bets are off if they change their minds after a couple people complain about your trailer.

codrus

Agreed with this.

As far as storage goes, I used to store my open trailer at a place down in south San Jose for $85/month. No idea if that's still available, I gave up the spot a few years ago when I bought a new house with room to park it in the side yard.

--Ian

thebeerbaron

iTrader: (1)

Absolutely this, a thousand times over.

Besides, how long do you expect to stay in that apartment? If you go to another complex, it's a crapshoot whether they'll let you park your trailer there and my guess is they won't. To me it doesn't make sense to buy a special trailer for such a short-term situation. I think the local housing market is in flux, who knows what options will look like in three, six, or twelve months.

I pay $200/month to store my 20' enclosed trailer in Santa Clara. It is an outrageous amount, but one of the big lots in Milpitas/East San Jose recently closed and lots of trailers and RVs were looking for a new home. A lot of the RV storage lots either say on their website or voicemail message that they're completely full, don't bother asking. I'd kill for $85/month, but that's a pipe-dream. So I suck it up and appreciate that my lot has pretty decent security, is reasonably well located, and easy to deal with.

codrus

The place I used was "Adrian's Storage". Rates & Hours - Adrian's Storage

It was outdoor storage, and they quoted my 16' open trailer at the same rate as the 18-21' boat, I think. That's $130 now, my rate was probably grandfathered from when I first went there in 2009.

--Ian

tadeuzagallo

I considered storage, but it seems to have some of the issues as renting: what do you do with your trailer when you come back from the track on say Sunday night?

I'll try to get something in writing from the complex while I'm considering all the options, no downside I guess.

codrus

What I would do is to street park it while still connected to the truck and then deal with it Sunday morning. I did have street parking available near my house, it just wasn't viable for the long term.

--Ian

thebeerbaron

iTrader: (1)

My storage place has an automatic gate and is open until 10pm, or maybe it's 11pm? I just drop the trailer off there. My office also has plenty of parking, has good camera coverage, and isn't messed with that often. I've left my trailer there overnight a couple times. I think I've left the trailer there both with and without the truck attached. I've got good locks on both doors, plus a good coupler lock. It's unlikely someone is both going to be trolling through the lot and have the tools at hand to bypass the protections. It helps that we're a small company and the only tenant of the building - I know all the people who might care and basically have a gentleman's agreement that I can do this.

tadeuzagallo

I rented an enclosed 20ft trailer to take the car to Sonoma this past weekend to get a feel for it. It was my first towing, but it went well. I just wish I had bought mirrors/extensions ahead of time. The biggest issues with renting were that they had very narrow time slots for pick up and returning the trailer (pick up between 4-4:30pm and return between 8-9am), they are not open on Sunday and have a minimum of 2 days. I'm now rethinking my options and leaning towards keeping my car's registration for the time being and either going with a dolly or most likely just flat towing and renting the enclosed trailer for longer trips. At least until I have better parking options.

rzupancic

If you decide to go the narrow open trailer route, Featherlite has an "off the shelf" model 3110 with a 6' deck width (so 8' total width) as opposed to the usual 6'6" deck width. I was about to buy one, but a semi-local aluminum trailer manufacturer had the same thing already in their lot with the perfect 16' length, so I did that. As you're finding out though, the convenience of trailering your car to the track can be quickly outweighed by trailer storage/logistics, so it's helpful to play out the whole beginning to end process. Great idea renting the trailer as a test run.