Kaufman Trailers, thoughts/opinions?

demolition_x

New Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2013
Location
Wilmington NC
I am looking to pick up one of their trailers since they are not too far away. I want to venture further then I am willing to drive in my Jeep. Plus knowing I can always get home is a plus.

Trailer in question:

http://www.kaufmantrailers.com/specials

I have my eye on their special on the 18' equipment style trailer. I know it only has braking on the one axle but I feel if I need more braking I can always install the second set without too much problems. It will be getting pulled behind my CTD.

I am sure some of you have similar style trailers by them and I was wondering how they were holding up years after purchase. I have heard mixed reviews on the components such as tires and trailer wiring which is suspect to many produced trailers now a days and I think I can live with rewiring if need be.

Thanks in advance for the input.
 
I'd recommend spending the cash to upgrade to a 16" wheel with E-rated truck tires.

Other than that, Kaufman's got a pretty decent reputation.
 
Kaufman makes a good trailer. I bought this Kaufman in 2010 and have been happy with it.
http://www.kaufmantrailers.com/car-trailers/diamond-floor-car-trailer/8000-18-wood-car
I did the 16' instead of 18' with 8000 pound capacity, brakes on both axles, diamond plate fenders, radial tires, slide-in ramps.
The only thing I'd change about it is where the spare tire is mounted. It is mounted on the side, so sometimes it can get in the way if I am trying to load or unload something near the front passenger side. One day I'll make a tray under the trailer to carry the spare.
The only wiring problem is when my dog chewed thru the wiring harness!
 
I am on my second Kaufman, only reason I got another one was to go up in size. Had a 7k 16' open-center with dual axle brakes for many years and loved the crap out of that trailer, was super light and towed like it wasn't there. My "new" one is an 8k 20' wood deck and is a stout trailer. Have not towed that much with it since I bought it two years ago but the few times I have it has been great. The ONLY thing I do not like about new Kaufmans are the fact that they slap car tires (P-metric) on the lighter trailers instead of real ST trailer tires. I guess they do it to keep the price down a little bit, but car tires do not belong on a trailer and I have had a few of them fail and always replace them with trailer rated tires.

I think they are well built and reasonably priced. One of my friends has owned two of their goosenecks and has had similar good experiences.
 
ST rated tires are still crap.

Remember: They're "special trailer" tires because they're not legal for use on a passenger vehicle.

LT tires are all-position rated.
 
I believe they're designated as trailer tires because the casing/cap aren't made to take torque from a drive axle and they have a stiffer sidewall than LT tires.

That being said....I kinda want to put some LT tires on my trailer. It uses 235/80-16s. I've put many Firestone Transforces on over the years and they seemed to work well.


Also, I'd buy a Kraftsman trailer before a Kaufman. For the same price, you can probably get a nicer and more custom tailored trailer. Kaufman doesn't really like to do anything out of the ordinary...kinda like cookie cutters. Down2Earth makes a nice, heavy duty trailer as well. I bought one on the cheap a few months back and I really like it. I would definitely get brakes on both axles and 16" rims. I also prefer 7000lb axles that are 8 lug since they're the same bolt pattern as my trucks and I have plenty of spare tires and rims around.
 
I have a Kraftsman I have been dragging all over the country since 2000 its a16' open center, single axle brakes, dual 3500lb axles, never an issue, tows like a dream!!
Only issue is people always want to borrow it:rolleyes:

scared to death!!!!!
 
I like my Kaufman trailer. I wanted to upgrade a few of their options on a 14K 24 foot gooseneck. When i told the salesman all i wanted, he told me it was cheaper to upgrade to the 15K model because it came standard with all the options that i was thinking on adding to the 14K package. They saved me a couple hundred bucks being honest. They also knocked off a couple hundred bucks because i was local.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
I believe they're designated as trailer tires because the casing/cap aren't made to take torque from a drive axle and they have a stiffer sidewall than LT tires.
Click to expand...

I did a bunch of research on it last year, and the one constant I was able to find was that in any given size, an ST tire would weigh 40# and have a higher stated carrying capacity. They often had speed restrictions, too. An LT in the same size would weigh 65#, but have a lower weight capacity and no speed or position rating. So, basically, you get a tire that has 50% more rubber and steel in it.

This is more pronounced when you get into the higher weight ratings. I bought a G rated trailer wheel. Rated to 110 psi and 3750# and stamped "for trailer use only". The wheel that showed up in the mail was flimsy compared with the steel wheels that Ford and Chevy were putting on half tons back in the 80s.

If you look at G and H rated tires, you'll see the same thing. A trailer rated tire will weigh less than one rated for drive axle duty, which will weigh less than a steer-rated (all position) tire. The trailer one doesn't include a safety factor for passenger use, and the drive axle rated tire doesn't have a safety factor for steering use.
 
I agree with the above about ratings but I disagree that ST tires are "crap". They are designed for a different purpose that a vehicle tire. The sidewalls are thicker and stiffer and more resistance to damage as they are designed as a load-carrying tire, not for the much more dynamic and complicated behavior of an actual truck or other vehicle. Stiffer sidewalls allow higher weight ratings and internal pressures, as well as resist the tendency to "twist" or "squish", which on a trailer that has nothing to dampen the suspension (no shocks) means that it will sway and roll less easily than a P-metric car tire. LTs are fine, they just weigh a lot more and cost a bit more for what you are doing with the trailer compared to an ST tire.

I had P-metrics on my Kaufman when I bought it. They all failed the same way, the carcass would get a diagonal tear in the outer belt and eventually blow out or bulge (if I caught it before the failure). Lost three in this manner. Tight turning on a double-axle trailer has a tendency to twist and deform the tires from sideways loading. Car tires are not meant for that and damage easily when subjected to that stress. Switching to ST tires resulted in far less deformation of the sidewalls in tight maneuvering and no failures as of yet.
 
OnlyOneDR said:
Car tires are not meant for that and damage easily when subjected to that stress. Switching to ST tires resulted in far less deformation of the sidewalls in tight maneuvering and no failures as of yet.
Click to expand...

Ever looked at a car tire that's being over-driven into a corner?

Your tires were overloaded, nothing more. They split on a diagonal because that's the direction the steel belts run in a radial tire.

I strongly disagree that ST tires have thicker sidewalls. If they did, they would weigh more than they do.
 
I'm working on a kit to put 22.5" truck tire/wheels on mobile home axles and 4 & 5 lug trailer axles. Hopefully that will put you guys at ease. I'll have em ready to ship as soon as you guys come to an agreement:flipoff2:
 
There's only one thing to do! Let's cut up some tires and look! It'd be interesting anyway, right?
 
jeepinmatt said:
I'm working on a kit to put 22.5" truck tire/wheels on mobile home axles and 4 & 5 lug trailer axles. Hopefully that will put you guys at ease. I'll have em ready to ship as soon as you guys come to an agreement:flipoff2:
Click to expand...

I very nearly went to 17.5s... :flipoff2:

If I need more load capacity, that's still the way I'll go.
 
I would like to hear more on this for sure...

Who else can weigh in here?

I was going to to G's on my trailer for a little overkill and longevity?

edit** maybe start a new trailer tyire thread?
 
I read some threads from RV guys that were running STs (including those $$$ Goodyear G614s) and switched to LTs. Got lower temps with the truck tires.

I was going to buy a set of G614s until I read a few threads about guys dropping $3-400 per and popping one every couple of months.

But Zaboth bought some of those Chinese (gladiator??) G rated STs, and he's been happy so far.
 
I have a BFG Commercial in 245/75R16 that we can cut up if somebody wants to compare it to their ST.
 
I bought the Kaufman 16' steel deck with dove tail new back in about 2006. It has been trouble free except for a couple of wheel bearings wearing out, but that was either my fault from not greasing them often enough, or just normal wear. If I had it to do over again, I'd step up in size of axles to get larger bearings and tires. I'd also have gone with brakes on both axles just for peace of mind. I did buy the removable fenders which are great for hauling my big truck around because it won't fit between the fenders. I got the mounted spare too.
 
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I tried to stump the guy on the phone when I called Kraftsman, but he had an answer for every question I asked. Anything from lights, wiring, brakes, neck height/adjustability, and tires. If I ever get the chance to build a gooseneck like I want, they'll definitely be getting my business.
 
Guys,
I know this is an old thread but I wanted to bring it back up since it seems that Kaufman may have made some changes to the way they build their trailers and also treat their customers. My brother was in the market for a new trailer to haul our rzrs on and received quotes from Kraftsman and Kaufman. Kaufman got the business due to the fact that Kraftsman had a 4-6 week delivery time and Kaufman was 1 week. Up to that point we had heard good things about both companies. Well when my brother got his trailer home he noticed some additional issues that he had missed while going over the trailer at Kaufman. Here are the emails and his conversations with kaufman regarding the issues.

1st email to saleman:

There are alot of paint issues, including the back were they didn't even clean the metal pieces off after they cut the holes for the back center lights. Just painted right over the pieces. I'm sure there was cutting oil used and if the metal pieces were never cleaned then I can only assume the cutting oil is under the paint and primer as well. This may not show today but will certainly show at some point. Please forward these to tim as he has left me a message earlier.

Thanks in advance for you help in getting these issues resolved.

Johnny jackson

Salesman called him back and told him they would take care of any issues and he could take the trailer to a local shop for the repairs. After that call he received another call from the customer service guy. This is a recap of that conversation.

After talking with my sales person from Kaufman yesterday and him assuring me that they would handle the cost to make these issues right I was told that someone from Kaufman would be calling me back to talk with me about taking care of the issues I'm having with my brand new up-graded diamond deluxe car trailer. I received a call from a Tim Johnson and he let me know he had reviewed the attached pictures and that his position was that this is what Kaufman Trailers delivers to its customers and that he didn't see anything that would justify a warranty claim or them to pay for any repairs. right down to letting me know that there is really know way to produce a car quality finish with the dust and dark spraying environment they are working with (yes he told me that the spray both was dark) Mr. Johnson also pointed out that if I compared his pricing with others that I would find that even with the issues I have pointed out with this trailer that I still received a great value. As a side note I could have gotten a custom trailer from Kraftsman with the 16" cross-member centers in-lo of 24", 4400lb dexter axels in-lo of 4000lb easy lube axels, lifetime warranty on welds in-lo of one year, one year warranty on paint in-lo of no warranty, at a cost of $70.00 less than the Kaufman Trailer. If I had it to do over I would have waited the 4 weeks and went with the Kraftsman trailer.

The pics of the upgraded sealed harness and automotive paint are attached.
 

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The reason Kraftsman has a waiting list is because they're so damn busy! When I called a while back, whoever it was that I spoke with told me they have a few contracts for trailer sales (local gov't or something like that) plus whatever other sales they get.

I'd assume Kaufman isn't busy because A) they're not selling much of anything or B) they keep their parts and pieces in stock and can just build them much faster.
 
The guys at Kaufman build stock trailers and kraftsman only builds to order. The Kaufman sales rep said they had sold 200 the day my brother called. Maybe they are focusing more now on quantity vs quality. Just feel like people should know what to expect so they aren't surprised in the end.
 
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