1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Hey Jason,
My Dad has a 4'x 8' utility trailer that we have pulled around for years with multiple Saabs with no problems. The trailer is about 50 years old, HD steel frame with 24" wood sides with plywood bottom, pick-up truck size tires and weighs about 700 pounds. We figure it's max pay load is around 1000 pounds... buuut sometimes we push the limits. About two moths ago he took a load of plaster to the dump. The trailer filled even with the top of the sides, leaf springs flat... 1800 pound's YIKES!!!
Whenever we take the trailer on long trips, we put a tarp over it even empty. We made 2 thin wood braces(1/4" plywood 3" wide and the length of the run) front to back and side to side that are a little longer than need be, so they bow upward when in place, then tie the tarp down and smooth sailing (like a pick-up bed cover). Empty, the trailer will bounce a bit on bump's but should handle ok because of it's weight. What to watch out for on the return trip is how you spread the load. A rule of thumb for us is once the trailer is loaded, chech the balance. We use an old jackstand to rest the tongue on, so we lift the tongue move the stand and check how it balances. If it quickly dives down or back, shift the weight to were the trailer could almost balance itself w/o support.
I have a relevent example for the question of distance and the car I'm going to mention is his 92' 900s 3 door. Last September my dad, his wife and I went from Wilmington, De to northern NY (a little over 500 miles one way) to build a ramp for my grandmother. She lives out in the country where the closet lumber yard is about 30 min 1 way. We called ahead to the lumberyard and they didn't stock a lot of the items we would need so we brought as much as we could with us, minus the lumber. We figured 900 pounds in the trailer, tools and equipment making 1600 pounds for the car to pull plus a full hatch, three people and it cruised like a champ through the Poconos in Pa... oh, did I mention the AC was on max the whole time.
Back to balancing the load, on that trip I had to go get a load of wood so I figured I'd take the sides off took the sides off. Empty and w/o sides I noticed the trailer dance between the lines a lot more than with the sides on and empty. I guess the sides help direct the air around it. Anyway, I was picking up 12, 14 and 16 foot lengths of 2x's and 5/4 board and put too much of the load over the tongue. The wood was wet, so that didn't help me either, but as I went down the road, I knew to take it easy because of that fact... just didn't realize how EASY I needed to go. I was doing about 30, everything seemed fine. Went to 40 or so caught a cross wind and the trailer started to swerve violently and so fast that the BUTT of the car was starting to hop before I knew what was happening. Somehow I got it straight, pulled over... cleaned my pant's and drove @ 20 or so with hazzards. It took me an hour to stop shaking. So pay attention to the load, all will be good.
These cars can put up with a lot of torture if all the vitals are good, suprises me every time. My dad is in the process of renovating his house and his 92 900s is the "truck" and I mean truck. The other weekend we rented, for the second time, a 2 ton construction compressor and jackhammers to attack the foundations we're removing. It was about a 20 mile drive 1 way and the car did fine. You should have seen the look on the rental guy's face, "your pulling it with... that??!??" I took a picture and will post it soon, It's quite amusing.
Anyway, sorry for the long post and I hope it helps.
Fish
posted by 67.93.139...
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