Thinking about buying an aluminum trailer

[uncledj]

The members I've met know that when Lisa and I attend events or rallies, we usually drive the motor home and trailer the bike.   I'm thinking about getting an aluminum trailer, (open) and going a bit larger to carry two bikes in case I want to bring friends along.

I can get a 6'4" x 12' for neighborhood of $3000.   

Comparable traditional steel trailer sells for neighborhood of $1700.

The aluminum is attractive because I can move it around a lot easier, whereas to shuttle the steel trailer around typically requires that I hook it up to my 4 wheeler.

I'm leaning towards aluminum, but am wondering how durable they are, and if an aluminum deck would be slippery.  

I also wonder if I can build bulletproof tie down points on an aluminum trailer.

Thoughts???   Opinions???

[cowpuc]

Back in the old days before my heart gave out, cancer kicked my butt and I was young/agile enough to actually spend hours on the road out CTFW I did a TON of snowmobile business during the "off season" for bikes. I bought/sold numerous sled trailers of which about 75% were aluminum. Personally,, and this is just another IMHO's Unc, if you can afford the upfront charges of going aluminum I would implore you to do so.  The anti rust side of Aluminum far outweighs the loss of the ease of welding on/fixing steel trailers all though, a good Mig welder with steel makes them amazing for creating all kinds of fun things with steel.  I am not sure what is out there as far as aluminum utility trailers and fastening points but most of the sled trailers I dealt with had flip up tie down spots as well as cross bars for hooking skis to.  I would imagine that any good aluminum utility trailer would have something similar.  I also like the 6' 4" wide thought brother.  You will find the additional width to be absolutely superlative IMHO..  As far as slippery goes, yes - that is a concern.. On our sled trailers it was fairly common to use old snowmobile tracks attached to the floor to stand on and to run the sleds up on = very durable and carbide stud friendly if the machines had studs in the tracks. I am sure something like that, even a spray on bed liner, would be easily doable... Yep, I would go with Aluminum 100%... Puc

[Squidley]

As far as tie-downs, I would bolt steel D rings through the cross frame braces and not give another thought to it.

[RDawson]

Just get a quality built trailer. Aluminum doesn’t act anything like steel after being welded, it usually fails with a crack or breakage instead of bending. 

[uncledj]

27 minutes ago, Squidley said:

As far as tie-downs, I would bolt steel D rings through the cross frame braces and not give another thought to it.

Being an aluminum trailer, I'd have to use stainless for tie down points.

[Squidley]

38 minutes ago, uncledj said:

Being an aluminum trailer, I'd have to use stainless for tie down points.

You could do that, or just get some thin rubber sheet to place under the D ring base to keep the 2 dissimilar metals from touching. Use stainless bolts and allow well with the world 👍

[BlueSky]

In my opinion, a closed trailer is the best for bike trailering especially if you are going long distance.  One reason I came to this opinion is that when I open trailered my Kawasaki from NC to Homestead FL to my new job location in February it rained a lot on the way and the snowbirds were driving to FL from snow country with salt all over their cars.  The rain washed the salt off their cars onto the road and then it was sprayed up on my motorcycle.  The bike was lightly covered with salt and I was so busy in my new job, I neglected to wash it off quickly with the obvious result.  Those dang snowbirds!  Haha!

[uncledj]

9 hours ago, BlueSky said:

In my opinion, a closed trailer is the best for bike trailering especially if you are going long distance.  One reason I came to this opinion is that when I open trailered my Kawasaki from NC to Homestead FL to my new job location in February it rained a lot on the way and the snowbirds were driving to FL from snow country with salt all over their cars.  The rain washed the salt off their cars onto the road and then it was sprayed up on my motorcycle.  The bike was lightly covered with salt and I was so busy in my new job, I neglected to wash it off quickly with the obvious result.  Those dang snowbirds!  Haha!

I agree, but I use my trailer for lotsa other things, and the biggest reason for thinking I better go with aluminum, is that, as I'm nearing 60, my steel trailer seems to be getting heavier.   I checked out a larger aluminum, and I was able to move it around with no trouble.

Your story reminds me of several years ago I joined several members for a get together and ride down at ?Snowden? Park in South East Ohio.   I cleaned the bike up nicely, waxing and polishing the chrome...loaded it on the trailer and took the motohome / trialer down for the weekend.   It was a hot, dry Summer day and the gravel / dirt roads at the park made such a dust cloud that I couldn't see the bike in the rear-view camera through the cloud.   Spent a couple of hours trying to get the bike presentable again.  It was completely covered, and every nook and cranny full of dust.  

                                                                                

[uncledj]

Just saw this one advertised locally.   Wood deck....Hmmmmm....

Says Aluminum and steel construction.  Don't know what to make of that.

 

[Freebird]

I agree with you.  If I were buying a new trailer, I would definitely go with aluminum.  I would also go with an open trailer simply because it is more versatile for me.  I have an old steel trailer that needs a new wooden bet now and it pretty beat up in general but I'll probably put a bet in it and keep it.  I seldom use it.  When I need a better trailer, once or twice a year for just a few hours, I rent an aluminum from Tractor Supply.  I pay less than $20.00 for 4 hours and that's about all I need it.  Then I don't have to worry about upkeep or a place to park it while it sits here most of the time.  I understand your situation is different but it works great for me.

[Freebird]

4 minutes ago, uncledj said:

Just saw this one advertised locally.   Wood deck....Hmmmmm....

Says Aluminum and steel construction.  Don't know what to make of that.

 

That looks OK but I would go aluminum all the way, including the floor.

[uncledj]

I use my trailer for other things as well, and sometimes it can be a bit rough on the decking.  I wonder if the aluminum will hold up as well as the wood.   

[saddlebum]

I would go with Aluminum. Aluminum alloys have come a long way in recent years and tend not to be as brittle as they once were giving them better flex than years ago. This is why you will see lots of transport company's are now using aluminum trailers even in flatbeds. The lighter trailer allows them to increase their payload and I have not seen any major issues with them when they come in the shop. Stainless fasteners is the way to go (just make sure they have a high enough tensile strength and if you do end up using steel bolts place stainless flat washers under head and nut. Any steel brackets you attach should be separated from direct contact with the aluminum.  Recommended material's for separation is thin sheets of hard nylon or polyurethane type plastics. For a more solid mounting use a  1/8" thick piece of aluminum  as sacrificial shim or spacer, this gives a more solid mounting than a soft spacer but you may have to replace it every so many years.

As far as the floor goes you can either spray with a grit coating or cover with a thin sheet of plywood fastened down with stainless screws. You can get them with wood instead of aluminum floors as well but that would add to the weight.

Edited May 29, 2021 by saddlebum

[SpencerPJ]

I have a steel with wood bottom.  My wood starting to go bad, it's almost 30 years old.  The aluminum trailer with wood floor, would probably last as long as you need it too 😉. If you find an all aluminum and the deck is slippery when wet, you could always throw a truck bed mat in it, glue it down.  I agree, aluminum is lighter.

[Marcarl]

And you could polish the aluminum to look like chrome,,, if you wanted to take the time,,,,,, uhhh, how old are you now??

[saddlebum]

3 minutes ago, Marcarl said:

And you could polish the aluminum to look like chrome,,, if you wanted to take the time,,,,,, uhhh, how old are you now??

And if not .......keep it away from @Marcarlcus he will polish just enough to shame you into polishing the rest. Trust me I know I know

[RDawson]

Boy this hurts my feelings reading about trailering Ventures😩😩😩, these conversations are usually over on that other bike forum. That being said I’m either gonna have to trailer mine or cage it to Vogel if I get to go, gotta haul my daughter’s stuff to Bama that weekend for school. At least we won’t have to worry about slipping in the oil on the trailer floor like those others 🤣

[uncledj]

Went with the 7 x 14 aluminum, with the wood floor.   Decided to go with the wood floor 'cause the trailer I have now is 17 years old with original wood that's still in good shape and I sometimes get creative when trailering oddball stuff and end up building off of the floor, which means driving screws into it.   I think the wood is a lot more forgiving of such mistreatment.

  Anyhoo, went and picked it up today.  Thanks everyone for your input.....Always valued and sometimes even wise.  😃

Edited May 29, 2021 by uncledj

[uncledj]

Looking at adding recessed tie down points , maybe 6 or 8 of them and don't know if I'd be comfortable with these as the primary tie downs (Forks).   I'd certainly have to find a way to make them more sturdy than just bolting to the floor....would need something going to the frame...but I can deal with that upon install.   These are listed at a working load of 2000 lbs.

Would you tie your bike down using these?   Typically rachet straps to the base of the forks...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224289891819?hash=item3438b825eb:g:bugAAOSwKcxf4osf

[BlueSky]

That's a nice trailer.  I bought a 5' x 8' trailer from Lowes to trailer my Kawa home from WI where I bought it.   When I bought the RSV, the trailer was too short.  I used two sections of 2" plastic pipe that I had cut for fishing rod holders on the beach and rope to hold the tail gate back at an angle to keep it from rubbing on the trunk of the RSV.  

 

[SpencerPJ]

3 hours ago, uncledj said:

Would you tie your bike down using these?   Typically rachet straps to the base of the forks...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224289891819?hash=item3438b825eb:g:bugAAOSwKcxf4osf

Sure, but I would drill a hole through for the screws and run bolts, washers, lock washers, and a nut or two. 

[uncledj]

3 hours ago, BlueSky said:

That's a nice trailer.  I bought a 5' x 8' trailer from Lowes to trailer my Kawa home from WI where I bought it.   When I bought the RSV, the trailer was too short.  I used two sections of 2" plastic pipe that I had cut for fishing rod holders on the beach and rope to hold the tail gate back at an angle to keep it from rubbing on the trunk of the RSV.  

 

I've a similar trailer and I had the same problem.  I ended up cutting out the front and welding up a bracket to allow the bike to move forward a bit.

[RDawson]

I’ve not used the swivel tie downs but have pulled thousands of miles using the square ones lower in your pic, What I was hauling was much heavier than my bike with no problems at all. 

[saddlebum]

12 hours ago, uncledj said:

Went with the 7 x 14 aluminum, with the wood floor.   Decided to go with the wood floor 'cause the trailer I have now is 17 years old with original wood that's still in good shape and I sometimes get creative when trailering oddball stuff and end up building off of the floor, which means driving screws into it.   I think the wood is a lot more forgiving of such mistreatment.

  Anyhoo, went and picked it up today.  Thanks everyone for your input.....Always valued and sometimes even wise.  😃

Good choice

[saddlebum]

9 hours ago, uncledj said:

Looking at adding recessed tie down points , maybe 6 or 8 of them and don't know if I'd be comfortable with these as the primary tie downs (Forks).   I'd certainly have to find a way to make them more sturdy than just bolting to the floor....would need something going to the frame...but I can deal with that upon install.   These are listed at a working load of 2000 lbs.

Would you tie your bike down using these?   Typically rachet straps to the base of the forks...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224289891819?hash=item3438b825eb:g:bugAAOSwKcxf4osf

Assuming the floor is 1-1/2 inches thick you could recess  e-tracks  down each side and that opens you up to all kinds of flexibility by allowing you to move your tie points were you need them. You can even get ratchet straps designed specially to fit the e-tracks. https://www.dccargomall.com/e-a-track-tie-downs.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CjwKCAjwzMeFBhBwEiwAzwS8zI_2fpKEqpIGbmjs01oYzoZrQQ361eqhAp8x4m1tjFCnJOZRQr-c4hoCuOwQAvD_BwE

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by saddlebum