trailer question

[snowfinder]

Another thread on this forum got me wondering about trailers. I have used a two place open with salt shield and currently have a two place tandem axle enclosed with ramp door, never used a two place with clamshell top but see them all over. what are the pros and cons to the clamshell trailers? thanks for thoughts

 

[soxfan3]

Our group has several TopCap fiberglass clamshells. They pull great, hardly know it is behind you. Very little maintenance. Drive on-drive off. Makes for good off season storage too. Sleds stay very clean.

 

[snowfish]

I see no down side to a clam shell trailer. We have a 12ft Triton aluminum shell. Love the lower profile. When tilted up, there's plenty of room to stand. We never tilt the front since both sleds have reverse. Personally, I would not want a clam shell tilt. I like my frames solid. Plus, the tilters look like a head knocker, and a struggle buggy, to me.

10ft clam shells are ok. But we prefer the 12ft for better balance and tongue weight control. You can get more tongue weight with a 12ft for better tracking. With a 10ft, where the sleds land is what the tongue weight will be. A 144 would be the max on a 10ft.
Not saying 10's are bad. We just like a little more wiggle room that the 12's provide. Even with our 2 129's.

 

[mrbb]

I have owned a few over the yrs
Pro's
simple, cheap, light, pull easy, easy to move in off season or??

Con's
snow build up on top, can make tilting them HARD or impossible IF they also freeze to deck
they are NOT as dry on inside as many other enclosed trailers by design
tying down ski's can be harder pending access door or not, and MOST EVERY access door I have had , after a few seasons IF that long, start to leak
another thing, PENDING WHAT trailer, is smaller tires, that DON"T have higher speed ratings and IMO seem to get more flats(or I have sure had more on these types of trailers than any other type of trailer I have/owned)
and last, but on tires, Most of all my 4 way lug wrenches I have, the clearance between ground and deck of trailer is never enough to allow me to spin a 4 way, they hit the road or the decking more times than not
but this varies from trailer to trailer, some the deck sits taller and some have taller wheel/tire OD's

I simply carry a cordless impact to change flats now too, so problem solved pretty easy or, get a smaller 4 way to have if needed!

LAST CON I have for a clam shell or ANY very shirt length trailer is, they are harder to back up, as smaller inputs from steering seem to make larger changes in things or just faster LOL

but with some practice there not that hard to do!


I will also add this, just because
BUT almost every clam shelll and like trailer I have had, the axles rust out at about 7 yrs or sooner(some a little longer) but 7 yrs seems about average for me in a super heavy salt use area, no matter HOW often I wash clean oil things(galvanized axles a little longer but not perfect)
its at the mounts where the axle mounts to trailer that get rusted out, so if buying used, look REALLY good at the axles and where they bolt onto trailer, as well as trailer frame where axle bolts onto axle, two different types of metal never play nice and can be BAD in these area's


and MOST 8.5x10 clam shell trailer will NOT fit any 136- like sleds, (some don't even fit 129 sleds)and even some 12 ft long one's , pending HOW the shell is formed and how much room there is for the NEWER Taller sleds we have now as to yrs back, the nose on sleds cannot go as far forward at times on some clam shells, so rear of sled won't allow clam to come down and clear things!

 

[90s]

had two triton trailers that had the axle mounts rust thru the frame . can be fixed, but somewhat of a pain.

 

[mrbb]

I have one 8.5x10 trailer now about 22 yrs now an original CAT CARRIER(1997 yr model)
I have replaced the axle 3 times and all were galvanized coated axles and I do a LOT to KEEP them lasting, and they still rust out like this
but they do last way longer than non galvanized one's
I even found painting a galvanized one helps even more !


nature of the beast, a whole new axle is about 350-400 bucks, so, not cheap but not terribly costly

BUT the aluminum on the trailer side of things also over the years wears out or can weaken, I have had to beef things up at the mount area twice now in the 22 yrs(I have also had to replace the tongue on the trailer too as it developed a crack at where the pin went thru to allow tilt or not>
I also up graded to much stronger thicker aluminum than stock, when things fail I UP grade when possible LOL
trailerds are like anything else, they do wear out and need up keeping

here is an example of the way most torsion axles I find fail

 

[maddogg]

Last pic is scary!

 

[2TrakR]

Mostly agreeing with what's already been said.
I had a Triton clamshell, tilt trailer. Super light, could move by hand; pulled great. Also nice that they fit anywhere, makes it easy to trailer way back into the areas with snow when conditions are spotty.

Had it freeze to the deck.
Had it build up too much snow and couldn't open (wet snow froze couple inches to top and 10 inches on top of that).
Had support give when loading and top hit me on the way down. Always keep your helmet on until you are done loading.
Pain dragging sleds back off, even if you do have reverse. Can also be tricky loading in the wrong conditions.
Supports underneath rotted, similar to pictures shown.
Tie down bars can rust/freeze and cause lots of swear words to be used when it happens mid-trip. Ended up using ratchet straps most of the time instead.

The drive on/off clamshells are nicer than the tilt by a long shot (used buddies a few times).

 

[latner]

I have one 8.5x10 trailer now about 22 yrs now an original CAT CARRIER(1997 yr model)
I have replaced the axle 3 times and all were galvanized coated axles and I do a LOT to KEEP them lasting, and they still rust out like this
but they do last way longer than non galvanized one's
I even found painting a galvanized one helps even more !


nature of the beast, a whole new axle is about 350-400 bucks, so, not cheap but not terribly costly

BUT the aluminum on the trailer side of things also over the years wears out or can weaken, I have had to beef things up at the mount area twice now in the 22 yrs(I have also had to replace the tongue on the trailer too as it developed a crack at where the pin went thru to allow tilt or not>
I also up graded to much stronger thicker aluminum than stock, when things fail I UP grade when possible LOL
trailerds are like anything else, they do wear out and need up keeping

here is an example of the way most torsion axles I find fail

Get yourself some fluid film, reapply once a year. https://www.fluid-film.com/

 

[mrbb]

Get yourself some fluid film, reapply once a year. https://www.fluid-film.com/

I tried it and it honestly didn;t make much of a difference
I have also tried spraying down with 2 cycle oil and a few other things
one of the problems I have is also that this trailer gets parked on grass/gravel all yr, that holds/traps moisture under it, which I am sure doesn't help, being parked on cement or something that doens;t hold moisture would help
but honestly
the excessive amounts of road salt and the chemical they spray here, just eats metal
the stuff gets washed into tight places with water and drys and just eats

I have even tried standing the trailer up on its tail in the off season and it still rusts out here

just part of living here IMO
vehicles will rust out in 10-11 yrs, it sucks and isn;t cheap to have happen, but, fluid film or what ever,
doesn;'t do much here sorry, wish it did better!

 

[longtrack]

Buy Aluminum keep it 6 years and sell it and get a new one.

 

[skeeter2010]

We use a Sherwin Williams product at work its a marine grade paint called tile-clad HS we even use it to paint bearing chambers so its is also oil resistant the stuff works great I would recommend painting the axle prior to install not sure the cost of the paint but I think it will really help on the outside of the axle if water gets in side it not much can be done.

On a side note: I paint the replacement drum support spider on our front loader washing machine to help prevent the soap from eating it. I have no idea how this is holding up but it I am hoping it makes it last longer than the 5 years the first one did.


Tile-Clad HS Epoxy

TILE-CLAD HIGH SOLIDS is a VOC compliant, two-package, epoxy-polyamide coating for use in industrial maintenance environments and high performance architectural applications.

Chemical resistant
Dry film resists bacterial attack
Abrasion resistant
Low VOC
Mildew Resistant Hardener Available

Recommended Usage

For use over prepared substrates such as steel, galvanizing, and concrete in industrial environments.

Laboratories
Lavatories
Masonry surfaces
Power plants
Offshore structures
Schools
Storage tanks
Marine applications
Structural & support steel
Clean rooms
Institutional kitchens
Nuclear power facilities
Chemical processing equipment
Institutional & commercial wall coating
Suitable for use in USDA inspected facilities

Conforms to AWWA D 102-03, OCS #5

Acceptable for use in high performance architectural applications.

 

[toddspolaris]

try using a product called POR 15, can buy it off ebay for $40 qt. we buy our Ford trucks out of Texas and when we get them we powerwash the undersides let them dry a week and then spray this Por 15 on the chassis as a rust preventer, Have done this on many vehicles and the results are outstanding, but remember prep is the most important step, We jack each truck up and use a 50/50 mix of Black Majic bleache wite in a pump up sprayer and spray the entire underside of these trucks then use hot water to powerwash the underside, they come out looking new and then apply the Por 15.. I have trucks on the roads for the last 3 yrs even through the salty roads we drive on and in the spring powerwash the undersides well again and they look they day we spray them, So far we really like the product.

 

[mrbb]

try using a product called POR 15, can buy it off ebay for $40 qt. we buy our Ford trucks out of Texas and when we get them we powerwash the undersides let them dry a week and then spray this Por 15 on the chassis as a rust preventer, Have done this on many vehicles and the results are outstanding, but remember prep is the most important step, We jack each truck up and use a 50/50 mix of Black Majic bleache wite in a pump up sprayer and spray the entire underside of these trucks then use hot water to powerwash the underside, they come out looking new and then apply the Por 15.. I have trucks on the roads for the last 3 yrs even through the salty roads we drive on and in the spring powerwash the undersides well again and they look they day we spray them, So far we really like the product.

I will second POR -15, its awesome stuff, and lasts a long time

BUT flaws with it are, NOT get it on your skin, it doesn't come off for weeks or months LOL
and if you coat bolt heads thick, they can be almost impossible to remove and a royal pain to clean up to get a wrench or socket on
this stuff is the closest to powder coating you can get out of a can!

it can also, be used pretty good for sticking two things together, the wire mesh screen over my skid steer motor used to rattle like mad
I added a a few drops to the edging, and its as if I welded it all together, and this thing vibrates like mad and still yrs later rock solid! LOL
I re did my atv's frame , its a 1999 atv redone about 10+ yrs ago, used to plow in salt and slop
and still looks like new where I coated(couldn;t get inside some spots or in tubing, wish I could, but its awesome stuff!
best place I find tyo buy it is off Ebay, and or direct they run lots of specials
just heads up, ONCE you open a can, you sort of need to use it all, as its air activated, cannot just put lid back on , it will all dry solid
you can cover with this plastic warp right on top of liquid to block all the air you can, and get a few weeks or so, but even that will cure in time and ruin it all, so ONLY buy what you need or plan to use, or will get wasted!