scott40

Guys,
Just read DRL's post below about trailering. I finally broke down and bought an open Trailex 8045. Picking it up from Carl at Trailex this weekend. I will be towing with my Cayenne S. Headed to Watkins Glen at the beginning of August, and I would appreciate any advice not given in DRL's post.

I am going to use the Rennline tow pieces to secure the car. It looks like the snap hook on the 6' rachet tie down should clip into these. I'm going to ask Trailex what they recommend as far as crossing the straps, but all the guys I've seen over the years have crossed them.

I got the surge brakes. Is that going to limit my ability to back up? With the RS, will I need anything other than the 11ft ramps to load the car? My car has the front nose lift kit.

My Cayenne has the regular suspension. I've got the adapter to plug in for the brake lights.

What else do I need to worry about?

masmole

Excellent choice in trailers. Love mine and Carl is great to work with.

With surge brakes, no need for a brake controller and you should be all set. Not sure if trailex surge brakes works the same others I've seen, but normally there is a hole by the neck of the tongue that you'll need to place a rod inside to prevent triggering surge brakes when backing up. Should be as simple as that unless the one on yours uses a different mechanism.

For your Cayenne with non-air suspension, I suspect the hitch is at the same level as my touareg. You will need anywhere between a 1.5-3" inch rise for your ball mount. I found my 2 3/4" rise to be perfectly level with a loaded trailer, though I'm not sure if your 8045 has the same tongue height as my 80180 Trailex. Very important to tow with a level trailer especially without a self-leveling suspension. And also very important to make sure you have enough tongue weight relative to the total loaded trailer weight.

This is a good read for trailering noobs:
http://www.sherline.com/lmbook.htm

mtesh73

you may want to look into adding an additional trans cooler to the mix on the CS, something like they do when you purchase the towing package, if your hitch is stock you should be equipped with it. otherwise its a great two vehicle.

scott40

Yes I did get the towing package.

scott40

Great thanks for all the info

brim

Nice choice, I have the same trailer. The long ramps will work fine, but you may need to load on a little bit of an incline to prevent scraping - don't try it with any decline.

I haven't had issues backing up with the trailer on - nothing locking the surge brake.

The only other thing I would suggest is that if you go through the wheels, bring some extra rags so that strap won't chaffe the paint at all on the very bottom of the wheel arches in the rear.

Izzone

you need race ramps

scott40

Checked their website and it appears there are different sizes- which size would I want?

Crazy Canuck

Trailex is a great choice.

RR-TR5 work well.

Have the fluid in the braking system changed every couple of years.

Bearings should be repacked annually every year or 10,000 miles. Replace the seals when this is done. Don't use bearing buddies. They only grease the outer bearing and what can happen is people pump in too much grease and blow the seal out the back contaminating their brake shoes.

Brake shoes will need adjusting periodically. Do that when you repack.

Inspect suspension every so often. Shackles, links and bushings will wear out. You shouldn't have to do this for a few years.

ATL Fahrer

Really good info here. My only observation has to do with crossing the straps. Have spoken to lots of folks (including those that haul race cars for a living) and not one has recommended crossing. Has something to do with the weird pressure that would be exerted on the car, should one of the rear straps come loose/break

jrgordonsenior

Sorry but that's backwards. With the tow vehicle facing downhill you glide right onto the trailer which is now lower than your race vehicle. I do this at home all the time.

I also look for culverts or dips at the track lot to drop my rear trailer wheels into for loading/unloading....

scott40

Great info Crazy Canuck! Thank you.

So to cross or not cross the straps seems to be an uncertain.

brim

JR - i hear what your saying and mabye it was the spot I tried loading, but I've found I have less clearance issues loading on a slight incline. I think probably relates to the spot I tried it at. I'll report back after this weekend.

NJ-GT

The TR-5 are too long to fit into a cayenne trunk, I had them and gave them away for free to mobonic when I sold my Featherlite.

Measure the Cayenne trunk and get TR-5 specs but shortened so they fit in your trunk, otherwise a big inconvenient.

Place (2) 4x10x1 pieces of wood between the trailex ramps and the race-ramps, otherwise the trailex ramps will destroy your race ramps.

If your trailer got LED, you will need a VW Touareg adapter, or the trailer lights won't work. I bought two of those cables just in case. Problem specific to Cayenne, Touareg, Q7 and some Mercedes SUV.

I use this type of hook with the Fiat and the Cayman both on the jack points (Cayman and 997 use the same type of jack points). They are easy on the jack points, not like the regular hook that can break the tow hooks. The Rennline stuff is better, I have them in the Fiat and like them (plus you get extra tow hooks for agricultural track days)

drl

So you use those vs the twisted snap hooks with rennline tow hooks? I was thinking those might be better. The twisted snap hooks are so chunky for the relatively smaller tow hooks.

Are you the original owner of mobonic's featherlite?