A Tricked Out Open Race Trailer

Ron Earp

Ron Earp

Administrator
I've had a few PM's and comments on my new race rig I put into operation this year. Seems a lot of people like it, or at least think it is weird and comment worthy, so I thought I'd post a few pictures and details.

I designed the trailer and had most of it done for me, that is the welded stuff, while I handled all the paneling, electrical, and interior.

I wanted a small race trailer that would fit in my garage but offer most of the benefits of a full on enclosed race trailer. I wanted a lot of storage for parts, ways to keep tools at hand, power, and "ease of use", that is, a design that would make racing easy.

So what I came up with is built on an 18 ft open trailer with a 7000 lb capacity. It features


  • 15 ft car loading area
  • 4 water tight under deck storage compartments 6.5 ft x 2.2ft x 1 ft, lockable lids
  • A 5 ft x 4 ft x 8 ft box with tools and sleep quarters
  • 3000 W power inverter with three marine deep cycle batteries for "self-powering".
  • 100 W solar panel for charging with charge controller
  • Built in tool cabinet
  • Built in stereo/MP3 player W 80W speakers
  • Tire rack for 14 tires
  • 20 gallon fuel tank with fuel hose for care fueling
  • Walk on observation platform
  • Hammock supports
  • Bike rack for the pit bike
  • Fold down aluminum ramps
  • Two spare tires
  • External 110V hookup
  • Internal 12V fluorescent lighting
  • Twin bed, full mattress and sheets, pillow
  • Fan
  • AC unit, 110V for when trailer is hooked to 110V (inverter system wouldn't power it but for a few hours)
  • Small 110V 120 psi compressor and 50 ft hose
  • Retractable 110V cord on reel, 40 ft
  • Ladder
  • Window and screen in sleeping quarters
  • Electric winch
  • Electric lift for tongue
And that is about it. It is an open trailer for the car, but I have plexiglas windows for travel. It gets a lot of looks in the paddock for sure. The best compliment came from Jeff who, while I slaved away on the trailer, said "Man, you need and enclosed trailer, you're going to hate this thing". But after he used it in the paddock he gave it high praise.

You can stretch out in the bed area because the tool box area is elevated about 14" allowing you to put your feet up in that area. The sleep area is about 7.5 ft x 4 ft and works well.

See what you think.

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And one or two more:

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Not everything was done at once, naturally, so there are some pictures that have some items missing. But she is about 100% complete now.
 
Ron, that's pretty trick. You've packed a ton of features in a small package. What would you estimate the weight difference to be between what you have done and a similar sized enclosed trailer?? Also did you build the sleep/tool box from scratch or did you start with a pre-made storage box that you modified?
 
I had a local welder take a common 18ft open trailer and weld a steel tube box with hinged doors on the front of it. I then took that structure, paneled it, and created the insides.

It is heavy BUT that is also due to the fact that I am carrying every spare for my Z that I own. Those storage boxes have a lot of space and I've got a lot of metal in there - three complete differentials, tranny, lots of drums, four sets of calipers, uprights, springs, etc. and so on. I'd estimate I've got 900 lbs of spares on it. If you need it, I bet I have it.

The AC/DC system also weighs a lot. The three batteries are around 175 lbs, plus another 35 lbs for the inverter and more for the wiring. AC adds another 20-30 lbs. Lots and lots of tools. Two spares ads some weight.

Even so, without all of that it would weigh a bit more than my old 20 ft enclosed. But, it is balanced well and tows great. I kept a spreadsheet and totaled it up and I think it is around the 6500 lbs mark, give or take 300 lbs. The open had to be around 1200 lbs less but it also carried a whole lot less in the way of spares and tires.
 
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Interesting - I've been considering how to do a open trailer to my liking too... Like the RC plane in the Garage... I'm a FW190 fan myself ;)

Are those ROTA wheels? I run the same size/offset and am shopping around for the lightest set I can find (have Panasport ultralights now)
 
Those wheels are Spinwerks. They are fairly light, somewhere in the 11.5-12 lb range. The other wheels up on the trailer are the Koneig Rewinds, Panasports knock offs. Those come in at around 13.5-14 lbs and are good value for the money.
 
Ron,
while at Kershaw last race I was looking at your trailer with Steve P., I asked him is Ron an engineer? He said yes and I said yep had to be by looking at your trailer!!
Charles
 
Actually, he's not an engineer. PhD of some sort..what is it Earp? Gadgetology?

That's it..PhD of Gadgetology.

Some work and some don't. That trailer, it works. After some adjustment, but it works. It's a nice piece.
 
OK, a couple questions. First, where does the back of the AC unit vent to? And what is the silver box in the "sleeping compartment" (Train lingo, sounds better) that your helmet is sitting on? And I think I read where you said your gas is part of the trailer??? hows that work?

You are very industrious Ron!
 
The silver thing is one of those storage boxes with race suit hangers you can get from Pegasus.

The gas is in the long red tank under the tire racks (second picture down). Even has its own hose and nozzle!

Not sure where the A/C vents.

Strippers are in the storage boxes in the bed of the trailer.
 
lateapex911 said:
OK, a couple questions. First, where does the back of the AC unit vent to? And what is the silver box in the "sleeping compartment" (Train lingo, sounds better) that your helmet is sitting on? And I think I read where you said your gas is part of the trailer??? hows that work?

You are very industrious Ron!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments, glad you like it.

The back of the AC goes where the small tool box is located (didn't have a recent picture with the AC, this thing happened over a period of two months, notice below no stereo and so on). To use the AC you leave the door open on the tool, or work side, of the trailer open. The big tool box actually is part of the AC support. Has a pan to catch water and a drain tube out the bottom.



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One thing to note is I designed this trailer so that all work occurs out of the driver's side. I never understood why most trailers have the "work side" on the passenger side. Who wants to constantly step over their hitch when they get out of the truck to go open up the trailer?

Gas is held in the gas tank, mounted on the back side of the "box". Capacity is quite good. Has a hose, and is up high enough to gravity feed. I need to shorten the hose some. See the gas tank under the tire rack?

And the silver box is a normal helmet/shoe/suit rack that you can get off Ebay that is designed for race trailers.

Best thing about the whole rig is the stereo. I like having tunes in the paddock. I also installed a 5 gallon water cooler on the front of the trailer. Got tired of spending $15 a weekend on bottled water. Now I just fill it up before I leave home, throw in the ice from the fridge, and be done with it.
 
Duh...it ASSumed the red tank under the tires was nitrogen. Just noticed the hammock too. Tell me don't lie around in that thing!

Ron: sipping non alch mai tai, swinging back and forth with a straw hat and surf jams in his hammock, "Jeff, don't forget to torque your calipers after your afternoon pad change! And remember to remove the blowers from the rear drums before you hit the track, the flaggers get tired of collecting them, and ..."

Jeff: :mad::mad1::rolleyes:
 
You know, the more I look at Ron's trailer the more I like it. Hey Ron, you just need satellite internet/DirecTV onboard now. I can fix you up on both of those :)

Paul
 
pballance said:
You know, the more I look at Ron's trailer the more I like it. Hey Ron, you just need satellite internet/DirecTV onboard now. I can fix you up on both of those :)

Paul
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True, yelling at Jeff while he works on the coolest IT car evar British category at teh minimum) while watching a 50" plasma HD broadcast of some cool race would be over the top, LOL
 
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