Hey CP, need a crash course on utility trailers. I have to haul some stuff to BC and want to buy a used 5x8/5x10 trailer for keeps rather than renting it.
QUESTIONS:
1) What are the rules and regulations around owning and having them on the road, especially about having them re-registered and inspected?
2) What are the key things to watch for when buying a used one? Steel vs. Aluminium vs. Wood?
3) Lastly, I’ve pulled a large U-Haul trailer twice in my life and it was a bit scary at highway speeds when trailer starts vibrating on road curves after a swerve. Any pointers to keeping it smooth would be appreciated.
… and any other helpful suggestions, of course.
Thanks!
__________________
"An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think." Georg Hegel
“To generalize is to be an idiot.” William Blake
Hey CP, need a crash course on utility trailers. I have to haul some stuff to BC and want to buy a used 5x8/5x10 trailer for keeps rather than renting it.
QUESTIONS:
1) What are the rules and regulations around owning and having them on the road, especially about having them re-registered and inspected?
2) What are the key things to watch for when buying a used one? Steel vs. Aluminium vs. Wood?
3) Lastly, I’ve pulled a large U-Haul trailer twice in my life and it was a bit scary at highway speeds when trailer starts vibrating on road curves after a swerve. Any pointers to keeping it smooth would be appreciated.
… and any other helpful suggestions, of course.
Thanks!
When you load it keep the centre of gravity ahead of the trailer axles to reduce trailer sway. You want some of the weight on your truck hitch for stability, if you have more weight behind the axels it reduces weight on the hitch inviting sway.
And have your truck hitch adjusted properly so the trailer is as close to level as possible. Don't want a trailer either pointing down, or probably worse - pointing up.
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I’ll bump this thread once in a hope of more responses. Come on, CP! Need your collective wisdom.
__________________
"An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think." Georg Hegel
“To generalize is to be an idiot.” William Blake
1. Needs to be registered and have a trailer plate, (they are permanent, so only have to do it once), plus insurance which is dead cheap.
2. Don't buy one of the ones that is bolted together at the store, go to a reputable trailer place like FOT (https://fot.ca/) and buy one made in Canada that is all welded together at the factory.
3. What Lubicon said and also don't buy a cheap trailer. We had a quality Canada Trailers 5x10 and towed tons back and forth past Fernie with zero issues of swaying or other.
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I bought my trailer (5x10) from a farmer in saskatchewan who welded and built himself and then i registered it there and brought here and reregistered it in Alberta. In Saskatchewan at the time you could register a home.made trailer without an inspection and in Alberta you had to have it inspected first. Now the loophole was that once it was registered in Saskatchewan it was no longer a new trailer and didnt require an inspection. This is all useless information to you but I bought 14 years ago and still have the trailer today and works great.
Look for uneven wear on the tires (and the condition of the tires in general, including cracking). If there is uneven wear, there is a good chance the axle is bent and or the trailer has been overloaded. Check lights and wiring before purchasing as well.
We used to own a cabin in BC, so I had to haul stuff over there when we bought and back when we sold it. Both times, I used a U-Haul 6 x12 double-axle cargo trailer packed to the brim with heavier items pushed all the way forward. I don’t think the load distribution was the root cause. My lack of driving experience pulling a heavy trailer likely was. But I get the point and the illustration. Thanks.
On a side note, it is impressive how well these trailers hold re-sale value.
__________________
"An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think." Georg Hegel
“To generalize is to be an idiot.” William Blake
We used to own a cabin in BC, so I had to haul stuff over there when we bought and back when we sold it. Both times, I used a U-Haul 6 x12 double-axle cargo trailer packed to the brim with heavier items pushed all the way forward. I don’t think the load distribution was the root cause. My lack of driving experience pulling a heavy trailer likely was. But I get the point and the illustration. Thanks.
On a side note, it is impressive how well these trailers hold re-sale value.
Curiosity wise, I wonder if your weight was maybe in an "L" configuration pushed towards the front rather than a "T" configuration pushed towards the front if you're describing a sway only when turning.
If not that, then maybe bent axle and/overloaded trailer/tire pressure as mentioned by others? or over/under steer/wind resistance on the turns?
Could have been, I guess. We sold the cabin five years ago. ��
__________________
"An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think." Georg Hegel
“To generalize is to be an idiot.” William Blake
We used to own a cabin in BC, so I had to haul stuff over there when we bought and back when we sold it. Both times, I used a U-Haul 6 x12 double-axle cargo trailer packed to the brim with heavier items pushed all the way forward. I don’t think the load distribution was the root cause. My lack of driving experience pulling a heavy trailer likely was. But I get the point and the illustration. Thanks.
On a side note, it is impressive how well these trailers hold re-sale value.
Might be a dumb question but was your tow vehicle’s payload capacity appropriate for that fully loaded U-haul? I assume it didn’t have a weight distribution hitch. Being overweight can cause those headaches.
Pretty sure it was. U-Haul staff checks all this before hooking up and releasing a trailer to you.
__________________
"An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think." Georg Hegel
“To generalize is to be an idiot.” William Blake
2. Don't buy one of the ones that is bolted together at the store, go to a reputable trailer place like FOT (https://fot.ca/) and buy one made in Canada that is all welded together at the factory.
I'm curious, what exactly is worse on these bolt together ones? Durability? Towing characteristics? I ask as a rookie to the world of trailers who may need one in the future.
$1,599 is a heckuva low price for a fully galvanized 4.5 x 7 ft trailer.... what's the catch?
This one has no ramp and is galvanised instead of galvalume’d, so it will rust a bit faster. Marathon trailers sold by Home Depot are made in Canada and very nice.
__________________
"An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think." Georg Hegel
“To generalize is to be an idiot.” William Blake
I'm curious, what exactly is worse on these bolt together ones? Durability? Towing characteristics? I ask as a rookie to the world of trailers who may need one in the future.
$1,599 is a heckuva low price for a fully galvanized 4.5 x 7 ft trailer.... what's the catch?
For sure both of those are concerns. For example, go look at one of the Canadian Tire ones they have out front of the stores that are bolted together and then go see a Canada Trailers one that are welded - the difference, (in my opinion), is huge. You'll also want to look at what wheels and tires are used, some of the cheaper trailers will have teeny little tires which are terrible on the highway and lead to a lot of the towing issues described.
We used to load our golf cart, full loads of lumber, empty, whatever, and there was never any issues with towing or anything. I see these cheap trailers on the highway all the time and cringe.
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Utility Trailers
