I saw GMC's mid size pick up (Canyon) will be offered with a 4 cyl diesel this fall. Tow rated at 7700 lbs. Thought maybe I won't need a full size pick up anymore if the T in an enclosed trailer is less than 7700 lbs

thoughts

John,

It depends on the empty weight of the enclosed trailer as far as ratings go.


Freighter Jim

Just curious, a typical 1 car trailer

I'm considering that truck as well. It will easily get the job done for me. One thing to consider, will the mirrors on the smaller truck see around the trailer ok? My trailer is 7 feet wide but, what if yours is 8.5 feet? The fuel mileage should be the best possible. I just don't want to go back to GM with their creepy Onstar system.

I pulled a open trailer with my 26 T with a 2.8L Chev. Celebrity. That was years ago but it did just fine. Slow by steady. Jerry.

I recently towed a roadster in 7x16 enclosed trailer with a Nissan Frontier for about 300 highway miles. It did great. I don't think I would dare to do it without trailer brakes.

John,

There is no typical one car enclosed trailer.

There is the trailer that you haul.


Freighter Jim

I'm a little troubled by your comment, "...trailer is less than 7700 lbs.". I may be a little old and over cautious but I always like to see a little daylight between rated towing capacity and what I'm towing. JMHO.

It's what's up front that counts!!! I'm no expert but shoulden't you have at least 55% up front to 45% towed load or more?? If you get in a jam will the tail wag the dog? Why is model T hauling always [i got away with it once i can do it again]?? Bud in Wheeler,Mi.

A 16 ft modern enclosed trailer will weigh in the vicinity of 2000 lb and a 1300 to 1600 typical Model T are going to come up to around 3600 lb. well within the towing capacity of that vehicle.

Just remember that physical size of the tow vehicle counts for a lot too. Just because it will pull the weight, doesn't make it safe.

Hook up to an enclosed trailer with an extra foot of height on a nice windy day and you'll see what I mean.

I have seen a Suzuki Samurai hauling a 22ft boat, he was doing fine until he had to go into panic stop. Trailer brakes are a must IMHO,and unless I am driving an 18 wheeler I like some heft in my tow vehicle I just wish they would offer a diesel in a good 1/2 ton truck. Dave Wells I agree with you about GM and Onstar I had one that was not supposed to be activated and I got a voice message through it giving me directions to somewhere I didn't want to go!

U need a heavy tow vehicle to tow a trailer. Weight is the key to keeping a car on a snowy road also. A few smarts is also needed. I never seen so many little cars upside down until they started flooding the market with these tin cans they are selling now.

My 18'x 8' Haulmark enclosed trailer weighs 3700 lbs. empty. has a GVW of 7000. What ever you get be sure to use a weight distributing hitch and a good brake controller. I tow with a Dodge 2500, with cummins diesel, average 18 mpg towing.

I too have an enclosed Haulmark that weighs 3500lbs. I figure roughly 5000 lbs of total weight.

Most Ts weigh less than 2,000 pounds, plus luggage, tools and other junk I guess we should add 500 pounds. If the trailer weighs 3,500 then the total weight will be 6,000. That is within the 7,700 pound rating of the Canyon.

I've got an 18 foot trailer. It is an extra foot high and has 5200 pound axles with brakes on both axles. Empty wright is 3,000 pounds. If you have an enclosed car, add about 2500 pounds (a little margin) for about 5500 pounds. Be sure you have plenty of capacity. Truck needs to be heavy enough that the tail doesn't wag the dog. Freighter Jim uses an F350 for a good reason. Most of us can use smaller than an F350, but don't go undersized.

John,

My F350 CC Dually weighs in the range of 9700 pounds fully loaded.

I did not weigh in on a tow vehicle until now but I agree you have to have a substantial tow vehicle to control a towed load - particularly if you need to make an emergency stop.


Freighter Jim

when figuring weights: you need to subtract the weight of the trailer and then add what is being hauled. Also, a 4 wheel brake system on an enclosed trailer is a must to be safe. In a stop or going down hill you want the trailer to be towed and not the other way around. An equalizer hitch is great.

I'll echo what most have said, that the weight and size of the tow vehicle is worth a lot to your safety. Your Model T is valuable, too, but it can be replaced and your life, can't. In a perfect world, light traffic, clear weather, excellent road surface), you'd probably get by OK, but if you should have to make an emergency stop, its better to have as much steel around you as possible because if you hit something with your vehicle's front, or the trailer hits your vehicle from the rear, you'll probably wish you had.

My Royal Cargo enclosed trailer, 18'x 8' with 5 foot V-nose, extra tall, 5K axles, empty weight is 4500 lbs. according to the I.D. tag. I pull it with a Tundra V8 using an equalizer hitch, trailer has 4 wheel elect. brakes.
The gas mileage drops to 10 MPG pulling the trailer with a car inside. Lot's of hills where I live, mileage "may" be a little better pulling only on the flat and no head wind.
The Tundra can get 21 MPG on the highway without the trailer.

Need to be very careful selecting a tow vehicle as you do not want the tail wagging the dog as others have said. My trailer can even push the Tundra around some.

I have experienced the "tail wagging the dog". Way back in 1968 I towed my TT with a rental yard open trailer behind my '65 Mustang with 2 passengers.We were headed from Bakersfield to the Long Beach Hill Climb. Several times on the way down the trailer would start swaying, moving the light Mustang from side to side. I could speed up and pull out of it and was able to control on the way down. On the way back, going down hill it started to pull the Mustang across two then 3 and 4 lanes of I-5 this was happening as I was on an over pass over a canyon and road below! I ended up doing a 180 back across the 4 lanes and pointed the opposite way on the right side of the freeway! The TT spare and the trailer ramps went flying out the back, over the bridge to the road below. No other damage. After we got turned around I drove 40 mph the rest of the way home and never again towed with a light weight vehicle.

You have to also consider the load in the tow vehicle subtracts from the trailer rating.

Buy a F150 eco-bost . The small truck will haul the load but will not keep up with traffic on the interstate. I pulled a 3500# enclosed trailer with a v-6 Ranger. It was not comfortable. The frontal area is just as important as the weight. Owners manuals will give the max frontal area of trailers to be toed.

I think if you need to read the owners manual to find the max frontal area of trailers to be hauled you need to get a real truck!! When we bought our first 5'wheel camper it was bought with a trailer hitch and wireing to haul our 18'x8'6" enclosed with the model T inside behind the camper!!67' and with the F-250 diesel up front we were over 22,000 pounds! Buy a real truck!! Bud.

A Model T in a 8.5'x16' enclosed car hauler should gross at around 5,000 lbs. If the truck has enough power to pull that and enough mass to do it safely, you'll be okay. I'll stick to full size pickups as long as I'm pulling enclosed trailers. I don't feel that the tow ratings do a good job of accounting for gusty winds and emergency conditions.

As long as you have the trailer properly loaded with 10 to 15 percent of the loaded trailer weight on the tongue, with trailer brakes properly adjusted you should not have to worry about wagging the dog. The biggest problem with wagging the dog comes from to much weight on the back of the trailer and not enough on the tongue. A colorado or canyon should work fine as long as you remember that you are not in a race to get where you are going

John - I don't mean to "derail" your thread here, but I have a sort of "comment/question" that actually does relate to the question of how much truck does it take to safely handle an enclosed car hauler trailer.

I have long been a believer of "vee-nose" type enclosed trailers due to my belief that flat frontal area plays a very large part in towing resistance. Recently, I have been led to believe that the "bulb-shaped" nose design that has become so prevalent lately is as effective and the "vee-nose" design,.....in fact, I've even heard (read) one account that says the the bulb design is even better. Does anyone have any factual data or any actual experience in this regard? I have to believe there's really something to it, because we now see so many tractor trailers and RV's built with this design. Somewhere, I saw an ad for an add-on fiberglass bulb-shaped panel that you can attach to an existing flat-front enclosed car-hauler trailer or cargo trailer. I think that ad was where I read the claim that the bulb shape is actually more efficient than the vee-nose. Anybody,.....???

Dang! Actually did proofread, and still missed it! Second paragraph third line down should have said,....AS the vee-nose design, not AND,.......sorry,......harold

Seems like maybe my "long-winded" post sort of "killed" this interesting discussion we were having on enclosed trailers, tow vehicles and then my aerodynamics type comment.

So, thought I'd bounce this thread up to the top again in hopes that somebody might have some good information, experience or anything at all about enclosed trailer "aerodynamics". After all, most of them are about as "aerodynamically efficient" as a shoebox. So,.....anybody,.....what's better,.....the modern bulb-type front or the old traditional vee-nose,....anybody? .....thanks, harold

Harold,Would the extra room the V nose give's be the better choice aerodynamics equal? What i don't understand is why put a 4,000 pound truck/3000 pound car in front of a 5,000 or 6,000 pound load?? Because a few of the posters got away with it once how long will their luck hold?? Bud in Wheeler,Mi.

Hi Bud,

Yes, I am in agreement in regard to a proper tow vehicle. When I was considering a pick up to tow an enclosed trailer with, I polled many of my club members and almost to a man they were using half ton trucks from the big three. Oh, some may have had the bigger engine, but still half ton.

I had endured two occasions when the tail wagged the dog and ended up getting the larger dog. F250. Same engine as the half tons but heavier truck and bigger brakes. And I won't tow over 65MPH. So far, so good. Your mileage may vary. Bill

Now there's a point I hadn't even considered, even as obvious as it is! Yes,...the vee-nose gives you storage space that really does not add to the overall length of the trailer, and in fact, doesn't even restrict the maximum turning angle due to it's shape. Also, such storage is one more way in which "hitch weight" can be added pretty easily if necessary. Thanks for that thought,......harold

Bill - I agree ref importance of tow vehicle weight as well as speed when towing. I think a good "rule of thumb" for towing is to adhere to the truck speed limit,.....harold

I use a 7x12 vee nose which is minimum size for a T. What I like about the vee nose is, it gives me plenty of room to crouch in front of the car to strap it down and also storage for the spare trailer tire and tools.