Beantown Kman

Your comments above are very helpful. I like the idea of the solid deck on the Featherlite. I'm not thrilled about the additional weight as I will probably need to maneuver it in a tight garage. Lighter would be better for that purpose.

Does anyone have any comments on electric vs. surge trailer brakes? Featherlite is electric. Trailex is surge. I'm planning to buy a Cayenne to tow with. Will I need a brake controller with the Featherlite? Does the Cayenne have any wiring issues with electirc brakes?

PorscheDoc

Curious why you guys are using trailex tire racks and not featherlite tire racks? I have a featherlite rack which I shortened as well (cut and weld), since my deck is 22', I don't need the nose to go under the rack. Gives nice protection to the front nose of the car when towing.

I know it was said before about the floor of the featherlite being hard on the knees, but you can option them with a diamond plate type floor which is what mine has. Personally though, I don't think it is as nice as that rougher flooring.

PorscheDoc

Yes, you will need an electronic brake controller for the electric brakes, which IMHO are better than surge brakes. It is easy to wire up in a Cayenne.

mglobe

I used to have a battery on the trailer, but recently I had my truck and trailer set up so I can plug the trailer into the truck battery to run the winch. Nice because you don't have one more battery to look after.

Coochas

You will need a trailer brake controller for the Cayenne. I wired one in my 06 some time ago and it was not a difficult process.
There are a number of good threads in the Cayenne forum that detail how to hook up a trailer brake controller.
If you buy a pickup truck instead, most of them come with (optional) trailer brake controllers.

mglobe

I sold my Trailex without the tire rack and used the one I had, but even if I didn't do that, the fact that the Trailex rack bolts together and requires no welding is a plus to me. Also, and I don't know if this is unique or not, it's very easy to adjust the Trailex rack for wheel diameter. This is important to me since I trailer both a SM and a SP996 at different times. I can raise or lower the bar on the tire rack in about 5mins to make it easy for me to transport either sets of wheels.

mglobe

Actually I think I would just skip that step too, buy a really comfortable street car, hire Topp Racing (or equivalent) and just go arrive and drive.

No muss, no fuss...

Beantown Kman

That's good news about the brake controller.

Coochas

I really wish you would quit adding steps.

tasman

I've got a trailex 8045. Thing I like about it is the ability to store it in my garage particularly in the winter up here. I just put the car on it and forget about. I can back it into the garage but is also easy to move by hand. Pluss and minuses as noted I would agree with. I have no experience with featherlite/aluma but would agree with the points as noted. Good luck with your decision.

mglobe

I'm here to help!

LostSouth

You can move a featherlite by hand if you need to. I've moved it a bit by myself, but it's a bit easier with a helper. Either my 11 year old brute or my 17 year old wimp are enough extra help. I just did it in my driveway which isn't exactly level either.

linzman

I wish I had both. If only I had room to store them. Can't beat the enclosed for hauling all the extra things to the track, and i would not give it up at this point, but the open would be nice to bring the car (not street legal) to the shop and for short 1 day track trips. It's a pain in the neck to use the enclosed for short trips for all the reasons stated above, mobility, ease of hooking it up, not being able to see well backing up, etc, etc. You get better with time, but the open would be so much more convenient for that stuff.

As far as trailer brakes go, do a search of electric vs surge trailer brakes. There is a great article out there describing pluses and minuses, including (if i remember correctly) that surge brakes are not legal in all states. Get the electric. Most tow vehicles are pre-wired these days. All you need is a brake controller and a vehicle specific adapter to plug into the brake controller on one end and the tow vehicle on the other. The hardest part of hooking it up is finding where your tow vehicle's wiring harness is hidden under the dash

mglobe

With an inexpensive trailer dolly, a featherlight shouldn't be difficult to move at all. It's really not all that though even with just the stock jack wheel.

Coochas

Or be lazy like me and by a battery powered trailer mover.
I was able to move my old Featherlite with a manual trailer dolly but if you have any slope to your driveway you will want a second set of hands on the dolly.