Buy a trailer (instead of a pickup truck)

[Frank Lee]

That crappy bearing grease is only to prevent rust during shipping and storage. The instructions say to change it out upon assembly.

I wired mine (mostly) the way they say to and it works fine. I just added a ground wire from the car's harness to the trailer frame.

[NoD~]

well, this thread finally talked me into it. I've been using my 89 turbo minivan for most of my hauling needs (dump runs mostly, but lumber, drywall,l etc on occasion as well). The van is getting old and needs a lot of work that I don't really want to deal with... not to mention, it averages 18MPG and hypermiled to 21MPG... lol (it's built to go fast, turbo likes to push a few pounds).

Anywho, Craigslist for $300 and is in pretty good shape. Took it out, full of trash, and was pretty rough on the coasting, but after emptying it and driving back with the rear panel off, much better! Might have to aeromod this beast... lol

[talonts]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Aluminum Dimond plate is expensive.
My trailer has 5/16'' aluminum dimond plate and the guy i bought it from claimed he paid over $500 for two 4'x4' sheets in 2005 when he bought the trailer and put it together.
Heck right now at lowes a >1/8'' thick sheet of 2'x3' foot aluminum is $100.

5/16" is serious overkill. I used 1/8", which is $100 or so around here (much cheaper 8 years ago, obviously - should have bought a few extra sheets) from metal supply shops, last time I checked a few months ago. The sheet I used has held up with tossing some seriously large logs into the trailer without issues.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by NoD~

Might have to aeromod this beast...

A barrier plate ( running on the centreline or better a rounded bulge on the tow bar) between the box and the trunk would kill the cross-flow between car and trailer.

[NoD~]

Putting the template on... it wouldn't be hard to build new walls on this thing to match it! Maybe use a few layers of foam board insulation on the front to build up the nose of it, which wouldn't be hard to do. Could get a 4x8 sheet of plastic for the bottom to keep air movement off the bottom beams as well.

euromodder: Do you have any pics for example for me to reference to? I'm a very visual learner.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by NoD~

euromodder: Do you have any pics for example for me to reference to? I'm a very visual learner.

Commercial "gap-filler" for semis :
Gap Fairing | Freight Wing

This could also take the shape of a full nose cone, like this :
Nosecone Wind Deflector For Trailers | Aerodynamic Semi Truck & Trailer Wind Deflectors


Plate or plates preventing X-flow between tow vehicle and trailer :

[oil pan 4]

My trapazoid shaped tool box on my trailer plays the part of a trailer nose cone.

[sully06]

I have a 99 Camry and it has a tow rating of 2000lbs bought a hitch off ebay fairly cheap and it was just a bolt on. My wife has a 09 Elantra and it has a 2000lbs rating higher if it the trailer has brakes.

[EcoboosterQ]

I have a trailer and have used it for the past 2 years, but unfortunately my Pathfinder just wasn't getting me the mileage and function that I needed so I have gone to a pickup, I did buy the most economic engine I could though - lol.

I do still have the trailer, and loan it to friends whenever I can to let them keep their cars.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by EcoboosterQ

I have a trailer and have used it for the past 2 years, but unfortunately my Pathfinder just wasn't getting me the mileage and function that I needed so I have gone to a pickup, I did buy the most economic engine I could though - lol.

I do still have the trailer, and loan it to friends whenever I can to let them keep their cars.

Regarding fuel savings, a trailer would make more sense with a smaller vehicle, not exactly an SUV which is basically an enclosed pickup.