8.5 x 20 ' Enclosed Trailer Question

[Pistol Pete]

My original question is: Is 3500lb axles good enough on a 20' trailer.




I'm not worring about putting stuff in the trailer, other than a few items.

For the most part what is going in the trailer will be car, tool box, jack & jack stands,
fuel jugs.

thx for the responses

[Dave Turner]

Originally Posted by Pistol Pete

My original question is: Is 3500lb axles good enough on a 20' trailer.




I'm not worring about putting stuff in the trailer, other than a few items.

For the most part what is going in the trailer will be car, tool box, jack & jack stands,
fuel jugs.

thx for the responses

A trailer of that size really isn't designed to haul anything that would exceed the capacity of 3500lb axles. However, I sold my 20ft to a fellow who loaded up his Buick GN, towed out to Bonneville from Southern Ontario, and returned with no issues....

[Run to Rund]

Are those axles sufficient--well, weigh the trailer; it is probably around 3300-3500 lb, more if it has cabinets, floor coverings, etc. Then what does the car weigh? Can you center the car's weight over the axles so each tire bears the same weight?

[Pistol Pete]

It's a bare trailer inside, car weight is 3100lbs.

[FED 387]

Pete---I do not think anyone here is chastizing you for your choice of trailer they are merely trying to pass along information from their own experiences of the pitfalls that can happen when not selecting certain fundamental items for the trailer---It's your money buy anything you choose to but if problems arise after your purchase you only have yourself to blame.
Just some food for thought for example a 1967 Camaro which is a fairly small vehicle is about 16 feet long and about 75 inches wide so it really does not leave much room in the trailer for other items----I also think you might find that the 8.5 is the outside measurement and the 20 also is the outside dimension. The actual inside dimensions will obviously be less so you really do not have much room all around any particular car for other stuff FED 387

[Mark Ruset]

In my opionion based on first hand experience, I lost a wheel bearing on a 3500 lb. axle. The bare minimum axle size should be 5000 lb. I f you decide to go with the smaller axles just realize you will need to replace your wheel bearings one a year just as a precaution. My current trailer has 5000 lb axles and in the past 6 years I have had no axle or wheel bearing problems, however I'm on my third set of tires.

[Doug Domm]

Something else to consider if you must have a 20 footer is side door location. Proper placement of the car does not necessarily mean it will be at the back door and even if it is access to the remaining front storage and tying down the front of the car will be a pain in the rump if the side door is at the front fender of the car. A good friend bought a 20' with the bigger axles and a v-nose because of his storage site parking space and he curses the side door limitations that I pointed out before he bought it. He is satisfied with interior storage for his needs but that side door is a big pain.

[Rusty Davenport]

Actually my response is a little different than the others. Let your tow vehivle dictate the trailer size. I actually towed with a 2500 Suburban and a 20 footer for years quite comfortably. The only thing the 24-28 footer did to me was encourage me to load up the entire shop contents before I left home with a lot of stuff I never needed. With gas prices I could live with the 20 footer and make it work. It is better than a open trailer by far and most anything will pull it if you don't have a dually. The gas grill is all you need to have room for. Depends a lot on your age :-)

[Pistol Pete]

I have a 1500 Yukon XL for towing with a 5.3L engine.
I do not take alot of stuff with me, and if i do, i rent a uhaul van....lol
Thats for the Big BBQ i have once a year........

[Run to Rund]

Yes, you can use a 20' so long as when the car is positioned to give correct tongue weight you can get in front of it to strap it down.