Been eyeballing this same trailer but think I will go tandem dual. They appear to be very well made trailers. The only thing I don't like about gatormade is they powder coat them but so do most the big names it seems.
Here is the certified tare weight ticket. If the trailer weighs 7150# and 15% is tongue weight which is 1072.5 # and the rear axle of the truck weighed 4980#, the trailer axles weighed 5720 then the trailer should weigh 6792.5 plus whatever is transferred to the steer axle. I plan to get the tare weight of the truck this week to get an accurate estimate.
According to a bit of linear intepolation my trailer at 32 ft long should weigh 7072# but does not count the extra spare tire, light bar, 8 moveable D rings. So my guess is 7150#.
Been eyeballing this same trailer but think I will go tandem dual. They appear to be very well made trailers. The only thing I don't like about gatormade is they powder coat them but so do most the big names it seems.
The paint on mine seems to be very well done. What I like is they sand blast the steel before powder coat which gets rid of most of the impurities. What I do not like is the spare tire(s) mounting. They lay the tire on two supports in the neck and bolt one end of a chain to the support and hook the other end in one of the lug nut holes. If you have two spares, like mine , they simply stack the second spare on top of the first and it is not chained or otherwise secured. The simple answer is to put a ratchet strap over the second tire.
They offer many options and configurations for a mass produced product. You have to negotiate and look at trade offs to make sure you are getting value. I priced Kaufman trailers near Lexington, NC and Gatormade built in Somerset KY. I found Gatormade was willing to do more custom features than Kaufman. Both manufacturers were with in 7 to 10 % on pricing depending on options. For example, I could get an Oak Deck on the Kaufman for additional $480 but not on the Gatormade. I could get 3 inch supports on 16" centers no charge with the treated pine deck on the Gatormade but, only 18 inch centers on the Kaufman. I wanted Kaufman to make a folding step but they would not do that. Kaufman tire upgrade standard was to use "over seas" tires likely from Thailand. Their charge to upgrade to Continental tires was $550 total, Gatormade standard was to us Canadian tires and to get Continentals was $500 per tire. The upgrade to 17.5 inch rims and 16 ply tires (canadian) from Gatormade was about the same as Kaufman. Kaufman would not install the light bar on the neck but was standard on the elite series Gatormade. Gatormade also had a customization up charge of $1000.
All this said, I sent you a conversation with the pricing.
^That reminds me of my plan from years back to buy an early to mid 90's Cadillac Fleetwood (the one with the LT1 motor), and use it to haul my Samurai around wheeling.
^That reminds me of my plan from years back to buy an early to mid 90's Cadillac Fleetwood (the one with the LT1 motor), and use it to haul my Samurai around wheeling.
My 06 E320 CDI in stock form has 201hp and 369lbft of torque. It has a tuner and has been fully deleted, it puts down about 270hp and 525lbft of torque. If the chassis would handle it would easily tow a Sami. I used this setup to run the GNCC race at snowshoe with two bikes and all our gear on a roof rack and still got 33mpg running 75-80. I just need to figure out how to put a 5th wheel hitch on it to tow my toy hauler.
Picked up a new one today, pretty much everything I wanted to order that someone else had already ordered and decided it was too big. 2' longer than I would have liked though.
My trailer and excavator (actually trying to sell the trailer), truck is a friends although he actually got it from me. Awesome running truck with Detroit 60 series/Allison, tagged as an RV.
The leaf springs are scared of weight. You can put 500 lbs in the bed and it'll squat the same amount. It'll probably get new rear springs AND air bags. That shit is 16 years old and has 256k on it.
My trailer and excavator (actually trying to sell the trailer), truck is a friends although he actually got it from me. Awesome running truck with Detroit 60 series/Allison, tagged as an RV.
When I'm towing something heavy, I use the old Dodge. This was a little uncomfortable today with the trailer length. But just needed to get it 5 miles.
When I'm towing something heavy, I use the old Dodge. This was a little uncomfortable today with the trailer length. But just needed to get it 5 miles.
