Martin S.

Delete...keeping the trailer.....

Foxman

Great trailer, and a solid seller. Wish I lived on the left coast. GLWS.

Martin S.

Thanks for the BUMP and the kind words!!!

Based on the verbiage herein, it will soon be clear that my wife's traveling or? and is out of town, at least she says she is, and as a result, I am bored with too much prime time on my plate. Don't I have anything better to do? I have watched all available episodes of Bosch and Justified on Amazon Prime, Ozark and Jack Ryan (Sketchy) on Netflix + Peaky Blinders...and a few more. Hey I have an idea to fill in the blanks, and keep me out of the bars, why not sell my Futura TANDEM AXLE? That will fill up some of my spare time! So far it's working. Already pissed away 3 1/2 hours today between writing the ad, and answering several sales inquiries.

Information you don't need to know: I must confess in my 13 year trailer history I have bought new and used the following:

• Haulmark enclosed 20', bought used in 2006, clunky old thing but it worked,
• Featherlite Open, bought used, ramps too damn heavy, trailer a bit heavy too,
• Trailex Open, bought used, ramps too damn narrow, afraid I was going to drive off the ramps, never did, lighter than the Featherlite, bolted together no welds, just like the Futura, only the Futura is riveted together with aircraft quality rivets,
• ATC Custom build enclosed, bought new, sweet, BUT with my current car 996 based car, the Escape Door became worthless as the interior fender wheel well restricted the opening of the driver door, as a result, I either needed to drop 20 lbs. and in the process work on my flexibility. That didn't work out so my remaining option to access the Escape Door, was to run two (2) 2" X 8" planks the length of the deck, adding nearly 100 lbs. to the already marginalized tongue weight for my tow vehicle. In addition, there would be new obstacles to trip over. Sold the 1 year ld trailer, ate the loss.
• Futura PRO, slick/sick trailer, so easy to load up & unload, but am looking at going back to enclosed, we have relocated to the CA CentraL Coast, with limited storage and turn around room, and as a result, as I am paying $320 a month to store the car and trailer in an enclosed storage unit. The replacement trailer may be, the Futura PRO soft covered model, sadly, about a $15,000 delta to the probable net sell price of my Futura TANDEM AXLE. Let's see, $15,000 / $320 a mere 47 months, almost five years, a tough sell no matter how you look at it...but nevertheless, the trailer will be sold. Wish me luck!

Or, could it be I have trouble with long term commitments just as in my earlier love life, so I was told. Trailer sellers love me.

ExMB

IIRC you had oversized 16" wheels and tires on that ATC. Would the car door have cleared with the std sized 15" wheels and tires?

Martin S.

15” would have cured the problem, I just didn’t feel like buying 5 wheels and tires. And I was smitten by the Futura no Ramps needed concept.

Timed my unload today. From powering up the winch, to backing the car off the trailer. 5 minutes. Takes about the same to load it and tie it down��

Bruce Speers

Awesome trailer - never had a issue with it. My GT2RS heading to Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in Taupo NZ

Martin S.

Old news...I have another ATC trailer, 20' ATC 250 model with 15" wheels, clearnce is tight but there IS clearence.

I sold the previous ATC for $15,000....paid $18,000 for it, now that was dumb

My present, and last, trailer (ATC 250) is great. It came with eye level cabinets, a 12V battery system, shore power connection....nicer floor. Bad news, it came with crappy tires...I replaced them with Goodyear Enduros for peace of mind.

phamus

Did you end up selling the trailer?

Martin S.

I sold the Futura Trailer,,,now have a ATC 20' enclosed. Awesome box on wheels.

Manda Racing

Ive learned from you and a POC article on towing to Pahrump.

sure enough i had a trailer tire blow out on the passenger side (luckily) heading home from UMC.

other than not having the exact socket for the spare on the trailer mount i did okay. Breaker bar, heavyduty jack, Impact etc. thank you

I’d like to try another open trailer. I noticed the Futuras have a 3/4 lip though. I shattered my splitter a month ago on less.

Martin S.

Mark (I suspect that Manda Racing is The Mark Manda!!!) At your next event, see if a Futura Owner will let you load your car on their trailer with it hitched up to your truck. I bought my former Futura thinking I could dispense with ramps...still needed little ramps. The benefits of the Futura are pretty apparent....the mechanical ramp, light weight = easier to tow, open trailers are less conspicuous parked on your property, you could conceivably push one by hand (with a friend)....if you decide for Futura, get the big one....just gives a little more room. But then there is the downside:

• The ramp is solar battery powered. God help you if for some reason you loose the charge. This never happened to me in my 1 year of ownership.
• There are a plethora of cables under the ramp. You'll need that same God if one were to snap. I had a cable break on me...it was the earlier version...they have since been up graded. Fortunately I had just unloaded the car so I used a jack on each side to lock each side in place. These cable need to be maintained.
• The spare tire mounts under the bed,,,,,,it is nearly impossible to get at...just imagine, trying to unbolt the spare while you are on your back under the bed. Don't order the mounted spare...just order a spare, and you find a mount.
• The Futura wheel tie downs rely on clearance between the tire and the fender lip as they need to slide over the tires. I could not get them to work on my car, so I went to conventional tie downs.
• No protection from the elements, rocks, gravel, etc.
• No secure storage....all you stuff will have to fit inside your cab
• The winch is either left side or right side mounted, not center mounted.

I sold mine (Futura) and went back to an ATC 20' enclosed. I would have gone 24', but the trailer and my car would have been very close to the limits of what my 2019 Tundra is rated to tow. I bought mine from Peggy, owner of 99 Trailers West, outside of Portland, had it delivered to Cali....the typical $1.50 a mile. Peggy is really sharp. peggyw@99westtrailers.com

Martin S.

You may have seen my article on trailer, if so disregard. Several major points in case you don't want to read the article:

• Get Goodyear tires, made and America, tires, the D rated I believe, details are in the article. These tires tun at 80 PSI, always check then when going out and before coming back,
• Invest in a Blue Tooth Tire Pressure Monitor system...do the research, there is a lot of crap out there. The one I bought...crap. The brand name escapes me...if pressed I can find it.
• Join Auto Club of SoCal, or AAA outside of SoCal. Get the Premier plan...they will change your trailer tires for you
• Be religious about car placement on the bed and resulting Tongue Weight. It's generally 10% to 15%v of the combined weight to the trailer and cargo.
• Futura challenge for 911 owners! With the 911 weight distribution go 40% front 60% rear, if the Futura bed is too short, it would be difficult to place the car for the ideal tongue weight.