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tilt bed trailers, why so little love?

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Old 11-17-2017, 10:25 AM
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bpu699
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Default tilt bed trailers, why so little love?

I see that prices of tilt bed trailers have come down a lot. But you hardly ever see them mentioned on here, or listed on here for sale...

Is there a reason for that? Here is a brand new trailer, $5k with hydraulics. Seems awefully reasonable compared to a trailex, etc. And, no ramps to pull out.

https://racine.craigslist.org/trb/d/...379925314.html

Am I missing something here? Is it a clearance issue in getting the cars on?

Bo
Old 11-17-2017, 11:38 AM
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Horus2000
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I've never actually used one. I recently went open trailer shopping and my biggest concern about any trailer was the loading angle. The tilt just didn't pass the eye test, although I didn't attempt to actually load the car on one. My race car is low, not crazy low, but still low and it didn't look like the tilt trailers had a shallow enough angle.

I ended up with just a standard trailer with 6ft ramps. I still have to use little 'helper' ramps from race ramps to ensure that I don't scrape the nose.

What I really wanted was the airbag trailer that drops to the ground and then lifts up. But given how little I'll use this trailer, I couldn't justify the $12k price to myself.
Old 11-17-2017, 11:53 AM
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rastta
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I had an aluma tilt trailer when I first started towing. I had an Audi S4 track car which worked great. When I bought the Boxster though - it wasn't so great since there wasn't as much weight in the front which it made it difficult to work well. I'd have to drive it too far forward to get it to tilt. I can imagine it would be worse with a rear engined Porsche. Due to my large front overhang I still needed race ramps to load even with the tilt. YMMV

.
Old 11-17-2017, 01:41 PM
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ohenryinatlanta
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there is your answer

the approach angle usually requires the use of race ramps anyhow so why bother....
Old 11-17-2017, 02:46 PM
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bpu699
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Thanks for the info folks. So with the standard trailex, no issues loading? I don't see longer ramps listed as an option on their site... Was going to buy a trailer last year, but looks like this spring is the goal now...
Old 11-17-2017, 03:21 PM
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924RACR
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Love my Trailex tilt bed. My front ground clearance is about 1.5", and overhang is pretty stout too. Actually it's gotten a bit tricky since I added another 4" to my splitter; starting to grind on some of the front bolts. Gotta do some tweaking of the car placement, maybe grind down some bolts... (sorry, only recent pic including the trailer...)

Old 11-17-2017, 10:00 PM
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hughp3
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i just bought one of these.
http://futuratrailers.com/tandem

have not loaded car yet but it lays really flat
Old 11-17-2017, 10:40 PM
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ExMB
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Originally Posted by hughp3
i just bought one of these.
http://futuratrailers.com/tandem

have not loaded car yet but it lays really flat
$10k, close enough.

Originally Posted by Horus2000
I couldn't justify the $12k price to myself.
Originally Posted by 924RACR
Love my Trailex tilt bed.
They make a tilt OEM?
Old 11-18-2017, 08:31 AM
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924RACR
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I believe mine may have been a bit custom-built - bought it used, was originally specced for... yep, a DSR.

It's also 20+ years old... LOL
Old 11-18-2017, 09:20 AM
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brake dust
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Originally Posted by hughp3
i just bought one of these.
http://futuratrailers.com/tandem

have not loaded car yet but it lays really flat
This is what i would want! Seems like it would be quick and easy to load and unload.
Old 11-18-2017, 07:31 PM
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stownsen914
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Originally Posted by hughp3
i just bought one of these.
http://futuratrailers.com/tandem

have not loaded car yet but it lays really flat
That looks nice. I like how it tilts by dropping the rear of the trailer. I was thinking of what must be an older style of tilt trailer that pivoted near the axle like a see saw, so the front raised as the rear dropped. That design type results in more angle. The Futura design looks a lot better.
Old 11-19-2017, 08:19 AM
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924RACR
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Yeah, mine is that "older style", and pivots in the center, so the front does go up; that said, it's not been an issue.

But the Futura style is even cooler...
Old 11-19-2017, 05:36 PM
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Drew_K
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When I had an open trailer, I added the tilt bed feature for $50. How? I bought a set of Rhino ramps and drove the rear wheels of my truck back onto them. It raised the rear of the truck, which lowered the rear of the trailer. Worked great.
Old 11-20-2017, 10:21 AM
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txhokie4life
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Montrose had a tilt option, but it added cost and a good bit of weight (I don't remember the details -- but 30% extra if I remember right) and extra cost.
Since one of the primary reasons to pay for the all aluminum was weight, seemed like I was defeating one of my main goals.

I chose to dovetail the backend and add 2 more feet to the ramps.

Now every time I pull out those long ramps I revisit my thought process :-), but I'm happy I went with the lighter weight.

Mike
Old 11-21-2017, 10:43 AM
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Steve113
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Love that Futuratrailer - looks like it works great that's the one I would buy


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