24Chromium

Finally arrived at the hotel, after a 3-1/2 hours drive:




Shot of the workbench:



The e-track singles worked very well. I have the standard bench surface (same material as the outer skin), but when I put down a few tool box liner mats, everything on the bench top stayed put perfectly. I had 2 coolers up there along with my iPod HiFi and a plastic tool box as well as my RaceRamp step stool.

24Chromium

Final thoughts:

For all those who early on in this thread said my tongue weight would be negative... well, I've got bad news for you. I had a very senior moment at the end of the weekend. I loaded the car into the trailer without having the truck hitched first. Nothing happened at all. Nothing! I only realized what I'd done as I pulled away. It dawned on me that I'd hitched last, instead of first.

Car position didn't seem to make much difference in the feel of the rig. I tried a few different locations for the car, but I'm sticking with having it centered between the D-rings, just as I planned it in CAD.

My e-track singles didn't mesh well with my Erickson cam straps. The Erickson has a wider u-channel, as well as a large protruding rivet. I ended up using a Dremel tool to cut away some material in order to clear the rivet. None of my other straps or rings had this problem, so it's isolated to Erickson.

I'm not happy with the shoring beams to hold the tires. It was taxing at the end of a long weekend to have to load and unload the rack. I've consulted with the owner at Irvan-Smith and they said they'd be happy to make me a customized version of the their 2-shelf tire cart. I'm going to do that. I'll add some e-track singles to the cart so that I can tie it down to the existing e-track singles I have around the workbench. It will nest right into the "L" shape just perfectly. My RaceRamps floor mat will protect the workbench and tool box from getting scraped/dinged by the cart.

My cord for the winch was not quite long enough to reach the car at the point where the car met the RaceRamps. I've already got the SuperWinch wireless conversion kit on order. I still wish I'd bought the Warn, like Montoya has in his trailer.

The inaugural weekend did have a few hiccups. I found one of my quartz lights to be loose to the point of nearly falling off. Then I found that awning didn't want to unroll on one side. Then on Sunday, Mooty suggested I run the AC off the generator instead of shore power. Sure enough, the circuit breaker tripped.

Luckily for me, TPD is on the way home. I decided to stay an extra night at the track and visit them first thing in the morning. Happily, they promptly fixed everything right then and there. I also got a few tips on things that I would have had to learn the hard way, so that made me happy and turned what might have been a bummer experience into a good one. Hat's off to TPD for excellent customer support.

I'm thrilled with my trailer and can't wait to take it out to the track again.

Thanks to all for reading my diary and especially for all the great suggestions, ideas, support and care!

zip465

Hey Lar, Did you solve the Generator vs. AC issue. Any photos of the shoring beams and tires.

zip465

Doh, look at the previous pages... Awesome setup!

montoya

Hope you cured your generator issues, curious what it was since we have the exact same setup...

Shoring beams look like work! I like the cart instead. I'll be getting one eventually.

So it sounds like you loaded your car on the trailer unhitched with nothing keeping the trailer from moving except your tongue jack and wheel chocks, right? Then a three axle trailer load and unload without hitch should be a piece of cake!

Hoping to track my car this weekend and try the new Reese hitch ( again exactly like yours except mine won't be welded to the frame and powder coated to match!). But, believe it or not this latest round of upgrades for my car has taken a month and the one of the coolant welds has a pinhole leak found today right after the engine went back in -dammit! Oh well, I can always work some more on the trailer...

ex10psi

will you be at the ridge this weekend? if so would be great to meet you!

Lar, looking good! thanks for sharing pics and your experiences thus far. i've also had a couple of little things with my TPD but overall its working out great for me.

hmmm..... sorta wish i went bigger tho, i'm sure you're thinking the same

mooty

For all those who early on in this thread said my tongue weight would be negative... well, I've got bad news for you. I had a very senior moment at the end of the weekend. I loaded the car into the trailer without having the truck hitched first. Nothing happened at all. Nothing! I only realized what I'd done as I pulled away. It dawned on me that I'd hitched last, instead of first.

Car position didn't seem to make much difference in the feel of the rig. I tried a few different locations for the car, but I'm sticking with having it centered between the D-rings, just as I planned it in CAD.
=====> i told you to stop worrying. i never had issues and always parked the car differently.


to montoya, i dont need to hitch before drive car in when i had triples.
reese is the way to go, NO other system is better.




hmmm..... sorta wish i went bigger tho, i'm sure you're thinking the same
====> listen to me, and there will be world peace. but luckily you got 24' instead of the original 20' you were thinking of and u got a manly truck instead of those sissy suv.

ex10psi

so true! i cant believe i considered a 20' and even more shocking considered towing this 24' with my X5!

now i need a 3500 dually and gooseneck TPD.

everyone should listen to mooty.....

RickBetterley

What a great thread; thanks!
I'm not sure that building our house took as much planning as your trailer (but it was just as much fun).
From my ocean sailing days I learned how easily stuff moves around with resulting wear and tear. That stood me in good stead when I checked my tire hold down straps (I use 2 shoring beams across the nose of the 993) only to find one completely worn through. Found it part way home from VIR to MA; we have very rough roads.
Check, double check, and replace.
Again - nicely done

drl

I did!

montoya

Upgrades continue:

First the fun stuff:



Magnet board for trackday stuff, courtesy of Porsche- magnets are little model 356's!

Oh, this is a birthday present from my thoughtful wife/trackday widow!

montoya

Now the serious stuff. What a difference this makes! A load distribution hitch also increases my towing capacity by 4000 pounds for a total of 16000. Truck is much more composed over bumps, trailer kickback is gone, never tow again without it. This is a 17000 lbs model, with integrated sway control:

mooty

^ did I talk to pjs? that's to same one I had on his trailer 17000 lbs

24Chromium

Lots of work this weekend to finalize all the little things I had on my honey-do list. The coolest thing I added was the wireless remote for my Superwinch. I spliced the wireless module into the existing harness so that I can use it either wired or wireless controller.


These clothes hangers are awesome! A four year old could hang off them, they are so sturdy. They have a magnet to hold them in the "up" position out of the way when not in use...



Here it is hanging free...



My Honda 3000eu is generator kept shutting itself off with the AC running (nothing else pulling juice) with the fan set to "auto". Today, I tested it with the fan on "low" and all the lights on and some plugs in use. No problems, it ran like a champ!



Cabinets galore!



Track maps are important...



Carpet on the wall behind the ratchet straps to keep them from bashing the walls...



My awesome Brunnhoelzl jack on it's custom hanger...



A fire extinguisher is important...



Nice poster to remind me what I'm driving...

montoya

You make my trailer look like dungeon! Awesome work, so many little things well thought through!

Mooty: I guess this is the same as pjs- yes 17000 lb capacity but my truck with weight distribution is limited to 16000 lbs