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Futura Trailer: First time out, Had a 600 mile round trip tow this past weekend, San Diego to Buttonwillow and back. This was the maiden voyage of my new Futura trailer, the Tandem Axle 16'5' version, weighing in at 1,322 Lbs. PRO:Towing is very pleasant experience, not a nightmare. With my 3,050 Lb GT3 car and the 1,322 Lb trailer, my load was 4,372 Lbs. Because of the streamlined load, the GT3 facing forward, and the relatively light weight compared to the gross weight of the former ATC enclosed, mileage was decent at about 13 mpg. With the ATC, it was 8.5 mpg. In addition high cross winds were not a problem. CONSTRUCTION: The trailer appears to be very well built and sturdy. NO RAMPS REQUIRED: First, release the fasteners at each wheel allowing the trailer to descend. Next, just use the wireless controller to lower the trailer bed down. Drive on....press the Raise button, the bed raises to a parallel to the ground. Open your car door****, and step down, fastening the fasteners at each wheel. NOTE: My GT3 is at stock ride height, the doors clear the fenders in the up position. If your car is slammed, you may have to deal with this. My trailer is now in storage, so I can't do the measuring for you. But, Mike at West Coast Corvette will do it.
DEALER HELPFUL: Mike at West Coast Corvette, the SoCal dealer is very helpful. He gave me my hands on tutorial: 714.803.1593.
CON: The tie down straps may take a while to get familiar with. The straps fit over the tops of the tires and wrap around the back. The straps are then cinched to gather parallel to just below the centerlines of the wheels and then 3 way anchored to the trailer and cinched down, applying downward pressure to the wheels.
If you want to see how they work, there is a demo on the FUTURA web site. I looked at YOU TUBE, no clue as to what I was doing wrong, maybe the straps just take some time to master. It took some manipulating the straps, threading them through the narrow space between the fender lip and the tires on the GT3. I may go to conventional tie downs for my next tow. Mike assures me that I will adapt and grow to love these tie downs. Being that I only tow 6 to 8 times a year.....hmmmmm, we'll see. That's the only CON that I can see., and easily addressed at that.
SUMMARY: I don't regret for a moment going back to an open trailer to get rid of ramps...hated them, so did my back. Realistically, one should be able to load their car, and strap down the tires in 20 minutes, maybe less. About the same time to unload......
I can see that I will have to buy tire storage racks....putting 4 race tire into the back of a SUV takes up too much room. And, they stink up the SUV.
Martin - am I correct from your earlier post that this trailer cost 16k before taxes with your options?
The Tandem Axle as you can see***, lists for $10,995, base price. Probability of a discount not too high as my dealer is on back order, he sells them as fast as they arrive from New Zealand.
Can't seem to upload the pics, but here are the prices off their brochure.
Single axle: $7,995
Tandem Axle: $10,995 16'5" Long, 78.75" Wide (Perfect for a 2004 GT3)
Super Car: $11,995 16'5" Long, Front 80.7", rear 88" (Accommodates big butts)
Pro: 19'8" Long, 78.75" wide (Accommodates longer vehicles)
The Tandem Axle as you can see***, lists for $10,995, base price. Probability of a discount not too high as my dealer is on back order, he sells them as fast as they arrive from New Zealand.
Can't seem to upload the pics, but here are the prices off their brochure.
Single axle: $7,995
Tandem Axle: $10,995 16'5" Long, 78.75" Wide (Perfect for a 2004 GT3)
Super Car: $11,995 16'5" Long, Front 80.7", rear 88" (Accommodates big butts)
Pro: 19'8" Long, 78.75" wide (Accommodates longer vehicles)
Thanks for the information. So if you purchased the 10,995 unit with no discount and added the following options (from your earlier post):
OPTIONS
Extended tire rack: $1,595
Standard tire rack, $995
Stone guard, $695 ***
Recovery winch, $495 ***
Futura tie downs (4), $245 ***
Spare tire and aluminum wheel mounted under deck, $295 ***
Thats a grand total of 15,351 before taxes.
That's a LOT of money for an open trailer - just to get rid of ramps. I wish you luck with it. It looks nice but WOW that's expensive.
There was no precise logic in my decision to get the Futura, it was an emotional decision based on my unwillingness to fool around with ramps. The last time I tripped over a ramp, I screwed up a knee. I am reminded of that daily.
Actually the out the door price was less, because I didn't purchase the winch initially...I confess I got it later. With taxes it was about $13,500 out the door. Expensive....not cheap for certain. Most of the cost was off set by the sale of my ATC 20' enclosed. In essence, the way I see it, I swapped one asset for another. As a bonus, the Futura is a lot easier to store, easier to tow, incredibly easier to load, and for me the big bonus is no more ramps. The speed of loading and unloading is another intangible...but of significant value for me.
In contrast, the Featherlite 3110 17' ain't cheap either, I have seen them from $7,000 to $9,000. I had one back in the day....their pull out ramps killed my back....had a Trailex too....not too fond of those ramps either. So damn narrow..always had the feeling I was going to drive off of them...never did, but loading and unloading of the Featherlite (Has wider ramps) and the Trailex were always tense moments for me.
My new Futura trailer arrived from New Zealand last week and I towed it home Monday from Mesa, AZ.
I guess I got a good deal … the out the door price was $11,251 with tax, AZ registration and the following options: recovery winch, spare tire, tie downs. (no rock guard or no tire rack).
Very happy with the quality and functionality … will be modifying the recover winch mounting to align better with the Porsche front tow hock. The wiring could be heaver gage but is well routed and protected. Only bummer was that Futura just changed the wheels to all black alloy wheels … so I will likely change them to gold color. My GTS doesn’t have a lot clearance on each side so it will require careful loading/unloading. The tie-downs didn’t come assembled (and no instructions) and required a little experimentation … after finding online Futura video. I think the tie-downs will prove to work well … I like they only touch the tires and allow the car to move on its suspension as Porsche recommends. I understand that with my “Porsche Entry & Drive“ that one needs to set the alarm with the interior inclination sensor switched off for trailer towing. I plan to do some tow testing before starting to fabricate a front stone-guard to provide the best possible protection for our red toy!
The trailer fits in my garage nicely if I park our golf cart on it!
i need to practice a bit on the tie down. I like the idea that the cars suspension takes the bumps. The straps should stay tight for a longer period of time.
I just picked up a 2019 Futura Supercar trailer. Did a dry run/load yesterday evening. Driving the car on forward, I have essentially zero tongue weight. I should have close to 450lbs (GTW=1300lb for the trailer + 3057lb for my vehicle, yielding ~10% tongue weight = 440lb). Are you guys backing on or driving forward. Have you checked / verified your tongue, if so, what are you reporting?
Also, I still needed wooden ramps to get on without scraping my front splitter. WCC recommend loading with the trailer not attached to my tow vehicle and lowering the dolly wheel all the way down, claiming I should be able drive on without any ramps. Have any of you attempted loading with the trailer not attached to a vehicle?
Many thanks in advance for your input.
Best,
VID997
0 Tongue weight? That's just weird.....I'll put the scale under mine, can't do it for a few week or so; I will and report back.
You do get a little more clearance when you load with the trailer disconnected from the tow vehicle, but is still may not be enough. I have a 2004 GT3, with the front splitter....I got tired of playing with various board sizes so I wouldn't scrape the splitter off, so I just take the splitter off. Bolt it back on at the track, rake it off again when I leave....I did load it once with the splitter on, didn't scrape it.....can't recall the exact size of the boards, will investigate....sort of pisses me off to have to use ramps/boards, as I bought the trailer to get away from ramps/boards...hate ramps, so easy to trip over and break your neck/knee, etc. My right knee still isn't right.
I load the car nose first, FYI...don't want to load butt first and have the 50 to 60 mph winds coming in the back...it can't be good.
The Futura tie downs just didn't work for me, too little clearance to be able to thread the tie down strap through. $250 down the drain...getting ready to trash them. I just ordered a set of replacement straps from Trailex, and tie down points from Rennline, works beautiful (http://www.rennline.com/Tie-Downs/products/1634/) Get the Trailex, NOT the Rennline, the Trailex snap closed. Should there be some slack in the tie down straps, the hook at the end of the Trailex cannot fall out. Not the case with the Rennline; they could fall out.
Finally, should you opt for a tire tack, I had one built for me in National City, about $800 installed. The Futura top of the line rack, $1,595, too rich for my blood. PM me and I'll send you pics of my tire rack. It holds 6 tires. I tow with four tires in the rack, 2 on each side and a space in the middle so I have some rearward vision. National City is a long way from San Jose...but there are some serious savings to be had, and the build is top quality. Made for me by an ex-Porsche Racer. He has built lots of things for me.....he could also make you/me some some easily detachable ramps...just need to design them...have a few ideas.
Yeah, kind of bummed having to use ramps as well. See picture below. First load attempt I did without any lumber. Splitter hit at the second aluminium panel. Next attempt I used a 2’- 2”x6” approach boards, scraped at the fourth and fifth panels. Set-up in the picture below ended working smoothly. 4’- 2”x6” half on and off the trailer and then the 2’- 2”x6” for the approach.
Agreed, the Futura straps are not ideal. I ordered some custom MAC straps. Will post pictures once they arrive.
I just picked up a 2019 Futura Supercar trailer. Did a dry run/load yesterday evening. Driving the car on forward, I have essentially zero tongue weight. I should have close to 450lbs (GTW=1300lb for the trailer + 3057lb for my vehicle, yielding ~10% tongue weight = 440lb). Are you guys backing on or driving forward. Have you checked / verified your tongue, if so, what are you reporting?
Many thanks in advance for your input.
I don't have a futura, but a couple of things to note. Your 911 has even more weight in the rear compared to my GT4 and I back mine onto my trailer. My trailer deck is only 14' long (so I can fit it in the garage), but if I drive on I have the exact same situation as you with the splitter hanging way over the front. Works well backing on and will be that much easier for you not using ramps, at least not regular, large ramps.
The CG of the trailer is probably somewhere around the first axle. Put a piece of tape on your car near it's CG so you get a visual of where things are set.
I'm not sure I believe the hitch scale. I have a similar one by the same manufacturer and found it unreliable or maybe picky is a better term. I believe it needs to be set/zeroed each time I use it for some reason. I did the bathroom scale method and it works well. You can easily find scales that go to 400 lb. Adjusting the ball an inch up or down makes 100 lb or more difference, so you can figure out the pattern pretty quickly with a few measurements and understand when you will have 450 or 500 lb even if the scale only goes to 400. You can also Google the idea of splitting the weight in half using 2x4s and to be able to measure up to 800 lb. It's kind of a pain to get it set up properly though.
I just picked up a 2019 Futura Supercar trailer. Did a dry run/load yesterday evening. Driving the car on forward, I have essentially zero tongue weight. I should have close to 450lbs (GTW=1300lb for the trailer + 3057lb for my vehicle, yielding ~10% tongue weight = 440lb). Are you guys backing on or driving forward. Have you checked / verified your tongue, if so, what are you reporting?
Also, I still needed wooden ramps to get on without scraping my front splitter. WCC recommend loading with the trailer not attached to my tow vehicle and lowering the dolly wheel all the way down, claiming I should be able drive on without any ramps. Have any of you attempted loading with the trailer not attached to a vehicle?
Many thanks in advance for your input.
Best,
VID997
The cost far outweighs the potential pitfalls of towing with no tongue weight. Using wood to help you with the angle can be tricky - especially in the wet. I'd use proper Race Ramps Instead:
I have no experience with your specific trailer, however I made the mistake of loading my car with the trailer unhitched once. Obviously, the trailer will tilt back as you drive on to it. If you put jack stands under the rear of the trailer and chock the wheels to prevent the trailer from rolling, you would probably be ok.
Lowering or raising your hitch will change your tongue weight. Maybe your hitch is currently too low. Is your trailer level when loaded?
11-16-2018, 08:16 AM
