Trailer buying advice needed

[Greg Trigeiro]

I am ready to get an open trailer for my 996. Do I get a 16ft or 18ft trailer?
I am thinking of getting this tiltbed trailer built by H&H Trailers,

http://www.hhtrailer.com/Trailers/mxcaSpeed/index.html

With 66% of the car weight on the rear axle of the car, is the 18ft trailer needed to place the car far enough forward?

[Jad]

We went with the 16' box trailer and the 996 rides fine in it. We do have a tire rack and tools at the front which makes a difference on the balance. Are you getting a rack for extra wheels and tires?

[ttweed]

With 66% of the car weight on the rear axle of the car, is the 18ft trailer needed to place the car far enough forward?

You want at least 10% of the trailer's load to be on the tongue when everything is aboard to prevent swaying at speed. The placement of the axles fore and aft has a large influence on this balance, as does the way you distribute the load. With a rear engine, 911s present a unique challenge to getting this right, but adjustments can be made by front loading tools and tires, etc. I think you will be able to do it with either size trailer, but talk to the manufacturer about their design in relation to rear-engined cars and consider adding a front tire rack as Jad says, just to make it easier to insure enough tongue load. A 16' box has worked fine for me, but I also have a front tire rack and compressor installed in the V-nose of mine.

TT

[Robert]

I have a trailer tongue scale that I carry with me and you are welcome to borrow (at an event or here in town) to determine the proper placement of your car on the trailer to get the desired tongue weight. Of course, to do this you need to know ahead of time the all-in weight of your trailer fully loaded with car, tires, tools, etc. It's always a good idea to weigh your full setup as well as tow vehicle and loaded trailer separately.

[Don Middleton]

...With 66% of the car weight on the rear axle of the car, is the 18ft trailer needed to place the car far enough forward?

Nice trailer, Greg. Should solve one of the big issues - loading and unloading. But, don't ignore the bumper (bumper pull trailer, right?) weight rating on your tow vehicle. Depending on the tow vehicle, it can vary from 300 to 600 pounds. You certainly don't want too much tongue weight for tow vehicle. As Tom said, 10% of the loaded trailer on the tongue is a good rule of them, as long as your tow vehicle can support it.

[Greg Trigeiro]

I will be towing with a 1 ton Ford van with a 460 engine, so it can handle (and has done in the past) both a large tongue weight and it has plenty of towing capacity. It already has the trailer brake controller unit installed.

I am probably not going to install a tire rack on the trailer as I will carry extra tires, tools and equipment in my tow vehicle. I will only add a trailer spare tire and a winch to the front of the trailer, which isn't much weight.

[c4s4pcs]

In that case, you might want to consider loading the car on the trailer backwards - I have always been a fan of a lot of tongue weight, as long as you can keep the tow vehicle level.

[Jad]

I don't know what experience you have with towing, but if you haven't done much of it, like I hadn't. Get info on how to tie the car down or you will lose the car or mess up your alignment, neither are good, and it isn't really that easy to attach the bouncy car to a bouncy trailer and keep things stable.

As everyone has been saying, tongue weight is key, so it all depends on how far forward the car will go, more than the length of the trailer.