Trailer for Speedster Spyder

Man that'd be perfect!  I wish I had a way to get it here.  Storage might be an issue, but I'm sure I could some up with something.

Sent you pm.

Speedster trailer is still available....

Talk about how it loads, Al.

Easy to load, (Photos) Speedster trailer with the two 40" slide out ramps,  deck is just 14 1/2"  high ...drive or hand winch on. Wheels are set back 8" from the usual positioning to allow for door opening, it tracks super nice loaded or empty even at 80 mph.

You can pick it up at Carlisle, Stan!

Speedster / Spyder Trailer... I can supply a 2017 Certificate of Origin for an additional fee.

Speedster / Spyder trailer For sale ...comes with 2016 MV paperwork

@Alan Merklin

I wish I was in Pennsylvania or I'd swing by and get this. Unfortunately I can get one locally in California for about the same price. My question is, is 12' about the minimum length for a trailer for our little cars?

Robert, who sells these in CA? I tried going with a tow bar and it is just not working out, a trailer would be a better choice for me.

Dutch posted:

Robert, who sells these in CA? I tried going with a tow bar and it is just not working out, a trailer would be a better choice for me.

I'm looking for one similar to this but in 14' length. If I have to cut off the side rails I will, but I think it'll work even with the sides. A 6x14 is about $1,400.00 and they've had them as low as $1170.00. The company that makes them is www.trailersplus.com.

https://www.trailersplus.com/C...er/4YMBU1213HN011045

Look how my trailer is designed specifically for a speedster...A mesh tailgate will not allow enough deck area  to transport a speedster it also will bend from loading and is a huge wind resistance "sail" when upright.  A 6 1/2' x 12' is absolute minimum with slide out ramps.   ... 6'between the fenders is too narrow and you need to watch the wheel placement to be able to open the drivers door. If you select a trailer with the usual 12" tall angle sides, do not remove them as they are part of the trailers structural strength unless you add heavy gauge horizontal "sister rails"   Lastly make sure you eihter use a large wheel to wheel temporary mud flap or a angled front stone guard mounted in the trailer to avoid road debris damage .  .....................Do ask trailering questions as I have designed and built a few for speedsters I know what works and what doesn't.

Thanks for the info Alan. It looks like their trailers are a bit more here in California but I will check them out. Appreciate the info.

@MusbJim

You wouldn't be driving to Carlisle would you? If you are let me know.

Alan Merklin posted:

Look how my trailer is designed specifically for a speedster...A mesh tailgate will not allow enough deck area  to transport a speedster it also will bend from loading and is a huge wind resistance "sail" when upright.  A 6 1/2' x 12' is absolute minimum with slide out ramps.   ... 6'between the fenders is too narrow and you need to watch the wheel placement to be able to open the drivers door. If you select a trailer with the usual 12" tall angle sides, do not remove them as they are part of the trailers structural strength unless you add heavy gauge horizontal "sister rails"   Lastly make sure you eihter use a large wheel to wheel temporary mud flap or a angled front stone guard mounted in the trailer to avoid road debris damage .  .....................Do ask trailering questions as I have designed and built a few for speedsters I know what works and what doesn't.

Dutch posted:

Thanks for the info Alan. It looks like their trailers are a bit more here in California but I will check them out. Appreciate the info.

@Dutch @Alan Merklin

Dutch,

I should have held off on answering your question. I just started doing research a few days ago and wasn't even sure what size I needed other than something bigger than the dimensions of my car. My ignorance is showing here.

Alan,

Thanks for the information and from what I just told Dutch you can see I'm not certain what I'm going to need. If there's a reasonable way to get that trailer to California I'd be all over it for all the reasons you've stated. It fits and it works.

I wonder if, there is a market for speedster specific trailers?  About 10 years ago I was doing full diamond plate 6.5 x 12' trailers with three slide out ramps and stake pockets too. Today's costs it probably would be $1900

I know this sounds nit-picky, but any idea of the tongue weight with a speedster on it.?The wheel-placement is nice, but I'm wondering how it effects the weight distribution.

I'll bet it tracks like a dream.

It increases the tongue weight a bit a guess would be an additional 50 lbs at most. ... tracks like it's on a rail.   75-80 mph with no problem.

That is perfect for a speedster, for sure!

I've been toying around with upgrading my trailer.  I currently have a 5x10 utility trailer that I used to use to pull around a golf cart.   But now I want to trailer my 356 as well as a JD tractor, so I need one that's closer to 7ft wide, and 16-18 feel long.

These seem to be nice for less than $2,000.

16' by 84" flat bed

Dutch posted:

Robert, who sells these in CA? I tried going with a tow bar and it is just not working out, a trailer would be a better choice for me.

Dutch.  I'm curious about what it is that's not working out with a tow bar?   I've been towing at least 30 different pan based Speedsters for thousands of miles with a car and now a small pickup and never had a problem.  Never! Not even when the car had an anti-sway bar.  I know your buddy Jim is doing the same, so why isn't it working for you?

I too have no issues with a slightly modified VW tow bar (narrowed to clear bumper bracket connections to the H beam).  I do have to use an adjustable height hitch receiver since I have a taller Toyota 4WD 4Rnr but it was only $20 at HF.  I'm just careful not to try backing up.  Even a light 4 cyl automatic can tow a Speedster.  

A trailer is nice but it takes extra cost license plate, inspection (some states), where do you store it?  

My Speedster must be lower then. I have tried to tow it several times with a tow bar but the bar is less than an inch off the ground and scrapes when going over speed bumps and any dips in the road. The bar also contacts the bottom of the bumper and pushes it up. During my first attempt to tow my Speedster out of town the tow bar bent and broke. Trailers are cheap to register and I have plenty of space to store it.

Robert.

Bring your car by and we'll try my tow bar on it.  I can't imagine that it could be any lower than any of the speedsters I've towed in the past.

Having plenty of room to store it at home is great, but it also requires a place to park it when you are out of town.  Not always easy, especially at motels in coastal cities like SLO where parking space is limited.

I don't want to discourage you however.  Having a friend in Fresno with a trailer could be very handy. :-)

You know what?  Now that I think about it, I have towed your Speedster from LA to Fresno, from Fresno to LA and from LA to Fresno again.  That's 3 times and well over 1000 miles and never had a problem!

Troy Sloan posted:

Robert.

Bring your car by and we'll try my tow bar on it.  I can't imagine that it could be any lower than any of the speedsters I've towed in the past.

Having plenty of room to store it at home is great, but it also requires a place to park it when you are out of town.  Not always easy, especially at motels in coastal cities like SLO where parking space is limited.

I don't want to discourage you however.  Having a friend in Fresno with a trailer could be very handy. :-)

I was going to let you, Teby, and Anand know I was going to buy one in case you needed one. I know you've towed more than your fair share of Speedsters. But it concerns me how low the bar is to the ground.

Stan:  I'm sure you assume this, but that 50-ish pounds of additional tongue weight assumes that the car is loaded with the engine weight at the back of the trailer.  You can also vary tongue weight with how you load the car.   Backing it up onto the trailer (1.) is a PITA, believe me and (2.) adds a bunch of weight to the tongue and then it might wallow a bit (but I don't know for sure.)   I've trailered Pearl both ways (coming and going)  and the trailer would wander a bit if the weight was too far forward or too far back from a specific point on the deck.

I had a dual-axle car hauler and it made a big difference where I parked on the deck for/aft.  2-4 inches one way or the other was really noticeable when driving, even with the F250, so I found a balance point I was happy with and bolted a couple of front wheel stops onto the decks to make loading easier (pull up til you feel them and park it).  Usually, I could get loaded and strapped down solo in 15 minutes or less (but it was an open deck and I had a lot of practice!)  I strapped to the frame, rather than use wheel web strapping, so the car itself didn't move once loaded.

I would love to still have it, but it became redundant (and expensive to insure in Mass) so off it went.  We actually saw it on I-90 one day in around Boston.  Still looked cool.

@MusbJim designed a tow bar that I use with great success. It is much longer than an EMPI tow bar. Jim uses the same setup and he has drop spindles.

Here's a picture of it:

Alan, is that your gorgeous black Speedster on the trailer, and how did you get the top to fit so perfectly and tight?

I got a couple bids to ship the trailer and it doesn't look good. Over $2,000 to move it from Pennsylvania to California. My search continues.

That is a nice tow bar setup. I just checked the local laws up here and I would need to add an "assisted brake" to the car to be allowed to tow it legally. 

Any towed loads over 1300lbs need a brake system. Any of you ever saw a setup for this on a beetle/beck setup ?

jc

Fpcopo VS posted:

Alan, is that your gorgeous black Speedster on the trailer, and how did you get the top to fit so perfectly and tight?

This probably doesn't apply to you, but the most common reason I've seen for a top not fitting properly on a VS is because the owner is unaware of the tensioning levers on the frame, located where it mounts to the body.

This is especially common with 2nd owners who never had the purpose of the levers explained to them.

They need to be down while the top is being put up and flipped up once the top is up.

For those not familiar, this is the lever Troy is referencing....

Troy Sloan posted:

Fpcopo VS posted:

Alan, is that your gorgeous black Speedster on the trailer, and how did you get the top to fit so perfectly and tight?

This probably doesn't apply to you, but the most common reason I've seen for a top not fitting properly on a VS is because the owner is unaware of the tensioning levers on the frame, located where it mounts to the body.

This is especially common with 2nd owners who never had the purpose of the levers explained to them.

They need to be down while the top is being put up and flipped up once the top is up.

I wouldn't know anything about that

https://www.speedsterowners.com...curtain-gap-at-speed

Well, I guess there's always exceptions. Did you buy your car new? 

Some come out a but better than others. The VS top is cut a little different than the rear bow at the radius, sometimes it looks like there is extra material there. The other issue is with the plastic window having waves in it as you assemble the top, I install 4 - 5 snaps across the back then pull hard on the window radius area to stretch the window plastic a little.  I assemble the top with the tension levers horizontal pulling and gluing the top to the header bow , this allows for additional tension when you raise the lever all the way. If you assemble with the levers all the way down you can't pull them all the way up as there is too much tension on the top an you risk pulling the windshield away from the lower rubber. Always.......leave the 2 most forward snaps ( L & R sides ) until you have the rest of the top done.

Contacted two custom trailer manufacturers here in Fresno and showed them the photos of Alan's trailer and gave them the specifics to get a quote. I also asked them about building the trailer with drop axles to lower the deck height even more and both of them said no problem. One gave me a quote on the spot for $1600.00 and I'm waiting on the other to give me a call back.

Alan, do you recall the measurement for the axle placement? If you're not sure both of the manufacturers said I could bring the car by to measure it for the placement of the axle.

8" rearward from their normal axle placement.... best to get extra long ( 5')slide in ramps to allow for low speedster loading. ( std short ramps will make it necessary to use a length of board as a ramp extension ).LED lighting costs a bit more but you'll avoid changing bulbs often. Get good radial trailer tires the Chinese bias ply's are junk. Get them to do custom tie downs based on your loaded car . Welded on outer stake pockets area plus ( $4 ea.)   it's easy to make 2 x 4 / plywood sides for mulch etc. I'll look for my other trailer design and pst

Alan Merklin posted:

8" rearward from their normal axle placement.... best to get extra long ( 5')slide in ramps to allow for low speedster loading. ( std short ramps will make it necessary to use a length of board as a ramp extension ).LED lighting costs a bit more but you'll avoid changing bulbs often. Get good radial trailer tires the Chinese bias ply's are junk. Get them to do custom tie downs based on your loaded car . Welded on outer stake pockets area plus ( $4 ea.)   it's easy to make 2 x 4 / plywood sides for mulch etc. I'll look for my other trailer design and pst

Thanks Alan. The guy that quoted me while I was standing there offered 6' ramps as stock. All of their trailers come standard with radial tires. I was going to add E Track myself after I got the trailer built. I believe, but I'll double check, but LED was standard. And it's funny you mention the side pockets because as I drove away I realized I should have made mention of it. I haven't signed anything yet so those are all things I'll discuss with the builder.

I asked for drop axles, lowers the deck by 3-4". He mentioned going to a 14" tire to also lower the deck height. Any thoughts on that?

Or go big as I did for 9 years ....

This is the other one also 6 1/2 x 12" full diamond plate deck with 3 slide out ramps to facilitate loading a lawn tractor etc. 

Diamond plate deck trailer