What's an Economical Tow Rig?

[ripNdeb]

The payload would be - at the most - 4 T39s, a couple of OTop 112s, and the gear to connect them all, plus a keyboard, and guitars and such. No drums or bass rig, as I am using backing tracks for worship events.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

This:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_253168-15476-3. ... facetInfo=

Add your own plywood to make it weather tight.

[Bruce Weldy]

Do you have monitors too? Amp racks, mixer, cables, snake, lights, etc.?

You'll need more room than you think. Minimum 5x8 enclosed trailer. My 6x10 is full with stuff....and I don't put guitars or keys in there.

[byacey]

I built a trailer out of an old cube van box that was given to me free of charge, 16 feet long x 8 feet wide and 6 foot 8 inch high inside.
Because of the large floor area, I haven't had a need to stack anything yet. It has tandem 7000 pound axles, so weight isn't a problem. It's got a 15 foot aluminum ramp; I can load and unload it myself if there's no help available.

[Tom Smit]

byacey, that's a great idea!

[Frederic Gelinas]

I used to borrow my father's trailer and pickup. Since I don't get the kit out very often, I'll rent a cube truck for the next times. I found a place that charges me $50 for 24 hours and it's much bigger than the trailer. At that price, renting is my best option.

[byacey]

At that price, renting a cube van makes complete good sense. The problem I was running into with renting is you never knew for sure if a unit would be available unless you booked it well in advance of the date. Even then there were problems, usually at the end of the month when apartment dwellers were moving. Having this trailer eliminates the stresses of dealing with transport.

Some of the drawbacks to this trailer is it's high, a 32 inches deck height, which is a little high for ground level loading. I could have built it lower, but I would have had to cut wheel wells into the floor. I decided I would rather have an unobstructed floor inside and just put up with the extra incline on the ramp. The worst pieces of gear for loading is the cable trunk 22.5" wide x 60" long and the power distro with the AC cabling, both around 300 pounds each, however I can still manage to push them up the ramp myself. Praises to God for good ball bearing casters.

The other thing is it's heavy. The aluminum on the box is .100" thick. Oh well, I suppose it's better too thick than paper thin aluminum skins I've seen on some commercial cargo trailers.

[byacey]

For those that pull trailers, this little bit of info may come in handy:

Trailer tongue weight is critically important for safety and the way the vehicle / trailer combination handles on the road. The tongue weight on the hitch ball should be no less than 10% and no more than 15% of the gross weight of the loaded trailer. As an example, if the loaded weight is 5000 pounds, the tongue weight should be minimum 500 pounds, and no more than 750 pounds.

Equally as important the hitch and tow vehicle are rated for your gross load and tongue weight.

There are commercially available products that can be used to measure the tongue weight, but I went the DIY route. I purchased a bottle jack that has a piston diameter of 1.128". It's important to get this diameter as close as possible in order for the gauge to read accurately without the need for a conversion chart.

I drilled and tapped the base for a 1000 PSI gauge which reads directly in pounds weight applied on the jack ram. Placed under the trailer ball coupler, it will indicate the tongue weight of the trailer.
I got the idea from here:
http://www.albroswift.com/jack.htm
http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/how ... -press.asp

[Haysus]

Cheap old school creaper van.

[ripNdeb]

How about this: http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/2014-Chevr ... iew-c24013 with a tow package including huge trans cooler.

[DJPhatman]

How about this: http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/2014-Chevr ... iew-c24013 with a tow package including huge trans cooler.

What's wrong with the 'Hoe? Or, are you looking for an excuse to buy a new vehicle?

Buy an enclosed trailer. Pull it with the Tahoe. Store your equipment in it when not in use.

[ripNdeb]

looking for an excuse to buy a new vehicle

The Traverse payload is 5200 lbs vs 8500 for the Hoe. More than enough for my stuff in a 4x6 or 5x8 trailer.

[Bruce Weldy]

looking for an excuse to buy a new vehicle

The Traverse payload is 5200 lbs vs 8500 for the Hoe. More than enough for my stuff in a 4x6 or 5x8 trailer.

Getting all the stuff you have listed in your sig in a 5x8 might be pretty tight if you have monitors etc......my 6x10 is packed pretty tight with 6-T39s, 4-OT12s, 5 monitors, rack, etc.....

It's amazing all the ancillary stuff that is necessary to do a show.....cables, stands, snakes, mic boxes, etc. And if you get one big enough, you can always have stools, canopy, spare tire.......pretty much everything that you might need, even if not for every show.

Make sure you think of everything that's getting moved, not just the big stuff, before picking a trailer size.

[byacey]

Pile all your gear together on a concrete floor and re-arrange it into a logical pack order that will fit standard trailer widths and see how it best fits. This will give you an idea on what width and length trailer you need should you decide to purchase one. Better yet is to rent one like you think you want and try it out first.

[ripNdeb]

agreed; after tax and insurance a U-Haul is about $25. For the amount we travel we should just rent all the time