Chief Delphi

Chief Delphi (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/index.php)
-   General Forum (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16)
-   -   Educate me on Trailers (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105208)

rsisk 30-03-2012 09:32

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
couple things I noticed that are different from our trailer that I think are important.

Ours is lined with wood, helps protect the skin of the trailer from damage from the inside.

We have a couple vents on the roof that let in light and let out hot air (important in SoCal)

The roof of our trailer is curved giving it a bit more strength.

MrForbes 30-03-2012 09:45

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ebarker (Post 1151516)
In addition of weight, weight you have to start and then stop, you are also dragging a giant parachute behind you. Weight and the giant parachute adds up to stress on the drivetrain.

Not to mention the increase in fuel use....my wife's 08 Silverado with the V6 engine gets 21 mpg, but I've knocked that down to 10 by hauling something huge on a trailer behind it.

FrankJ 30-03-2012 09:55

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
Take at look at what you are really going to be hauling. If you go the minimalist route you can use a smaller trailer. More options on tow vehicles at least for local travel. If you go with the monsters you are limited yourself to something with a heavy duty tow package with the weight & brakes to safely pull it.

sanddrag 30-03-2012 10:33

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
The Ranger is rated tow up to 5,600 lbs. Not sure on the Ridgeline.

We towed a 6x12 tandem axle U-Haul with the Ridgeline loaded with all our stuff for competition with no problem.

I'm thinking A 6x14 tandem axle would be about 2200-2400 lbs empty, and we'd have at most about 1500 lbs of stuff in it. I'm inclined to think we would be okay. Most trips would be local, but we've tossed around the idea of hauling it out to IRI, or Cal Games, etc.

I just don't want to get too small of a trailer and regret it. (but I guess the same can be said for too big of a trailer).

Does a rounded off "nose cone" make a lot of difference? Do we need that?

Also, I'm interested more about comment regarding lining the interior to protect damage to the exterior from the inside. This crossed my mind, as I believe the walls of the trailer are something like .030" aluminum right? If something got banged into that on the inside, I'm assuming you'd get a dent from the inside out right?

Chris Fultz 30-03-2012 10:37

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
Ours has plywood inside walls, studs and then the exterior aluminum shell.

You want to have an inside lining of some type.

And I think you will quickly hit 1500 pounds. Robot and batteries will get you to 500 quickly.

Alex Cormier 30-03-2012 10:41

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
Yup, as Richard has stated above, we would love to be the company that would do the trailer graphics. We feel strongly about keeping the love and business within the robotics community and price accordingly. We are reasonable in pricing with a quality that exceeds expectations every time. If you would like to talk more about pricing and see photos of our work, please email me at Alex@TwoPencilDesigns.com.

Good Luck with your trailer hunting!

Phyrxes 30-03-2012 10:44

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
Depending on the manufacturer of the trailer it may either have a "rounded nose" or a "wedge nose" or some other shape for aerodynamic reasons.

One other trailer design you may wish to compare is how it is vented as some of them are more vulnerable to leaking and damage contents.

ebarker 30-03-2012 10:46

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by sanddrag (Post 1151547)
We towed a 6x12 tandem axle U-Haul with the Ridgeline loaded with all our stuff for competition with no problem.

Scooting around town is probably no biggie in your neighborhood. Dragging it across the Mohave Desert mid-summer at 70mph could be another deal altogether.

The Ranger is probably fine no matter what. The Ridgeline I'm a little skeptical of. Mainly no experience with that one.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen but generally the walls interior walls are plywood. You don't want to touch the outer skin from the inside. 0.030 aluminum.

ditto on the roof. The arch shape is more for water runoff than anything.

There is a reason they build them like this

Even though mine is a Toyota Crewmax extended with 10,800 towing capacity.

We are going to Raleigh next week. I think I might go across a truck stop scale and get our gross weight.

Mr V 30-03-2012 13:14

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
If you go with the diamond plate floor make sure it has a durable no-skid coating applied.

The Ranger will pull it fine if it's got the 3.73 gears (common on the 4wd) and stock size tires.

The Ridgeline, if it pulls it very often, hope you have the extended warranty to pay for those transmissions it will go through.

The Dodge won't even know it's there and it's MPG won't be cut in half or more like the other two, meaning it will use less fuel than the others.

FrankJ 30-03-2012 13:24

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr V (Post 1151594)
If you go with the diamond plate floor make sure it has a durable no-skid coating applied.

The Dodge won't even know it's there and it's MPG won't be cut in half or more like the other two, meaning it will use less fuel than the others.

Is that because the Dodge's gas mileage is already half of the other 2 :)

JaneYoung 30-03-2012 13:54

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
Who is going to pull it and where will you store it?

Jane

ebarker 30-03-2012 14:09

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
here we go

Ford vs. GM vs. Dodge vs. Toyota

someone just needs a deep gravelly voice ..err don't know how to do that here..

Mr V 30-03-2012 14:30

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankJ (Post 1151595)
Is that because the Dodge's gas mileage is already half of the other 2 :)

Empty it should get about the same to 90% of the MPG of the other two, (though you will pay up to 20% more for fuel depending on where you live). The Diesel will only loose about 10-15% of it's MPG towing that "small" of a trailer while the other two will loose near 50% towing that "large" of a trailer (note both must be kept out of OD with that load).

I'm not a Dodge nor a diesel fan BTW, just stating the facts of Diesel vs Gas.

sanddrag 30-03-2012 15:43

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
All good comments. Thank you for the feedback and keep it coming. The Ridgeline is a much larger truck than the Ranger (and has many well-designed nice features) but it's not a true body-on frame solid rear axle truck. The Ranger is mine and the RidgeLine is another mentor's.

It sounds like we definitely need some sort of interior walls.

Alex Cormier 30-03-2012 15:47

Re: Educate me on Trailers
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by rsisk (Post 1151464)

Graphics were purchased from Two Pencil Designs for a very reasonable price and extremely good quality.

Here is a picture of the trailer with graphics....

Rich,

Your link seems to not be working, so here is one of mine.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 16:55.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © Chief Delphi