Tow story or \"My new trailer\"
My latest adventure:
I bought a trailer over the winter w/o seeing it. My dad bought it to haul machinery on and decided it was too big to do what he needed. He has a habit of buying things I want then selling them w/o telling me. We have similar tastes but live several states apart, about a 10 hour drive, so its just a matter of logistics. Anyway, knowing this I made it very clear I was in the market for a trailer.
As soon as he decided to sell it I asked him for a description. What I got was kind of vague, but it sounded like it would haul a K5. I told him I definitely wanted it and sent him the money asking for a better description. He gave me a pic and a little better description. "Twenty foot trailer, might have six lug axles, dovetail on the end, tilt deck, and its got a small winch on it" and the clincher; "The guy I got it from used it to haul a backhoe" YES!
So I fly up to Cleveland to visit family w/ plans of renting a truck & pulling this thing back. It is now the middle of January so there is snow and ice everywhere, but at least I get to see the trailer I bought.
Turns out the specks I got were off a little off. The axles were eight lug, it was a 16' deck, and the "little" winch was a Warn XD9000. It also had a pintle hitch and real load range E trailer tire.
Well, with the crapy weather and no rental trucks w/ pintle hitches or 2" receivers I had to leave it at my dad's.
Fast forward to the spring. I fly up again, found a rental place w/ a 2" hitch. Unfortunately the weather was still crappy. I left it again.
A couple months later and I've got some days off coming. New plan; drive up in my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee. Its got a V8 & 4 wheel disc brakes. I figure no problem pulling an empty trailer even w/ the Dana 35C rear end. Of course a new wrinkle pops up. My dad wants to sell me his '95 Yukon. Even better I'll fly up hook up the trailer & drive home. Dad says "No, that won't work. The rear is toast on the Yukon."
Well, I finally manage to borrow a truck to pull this mess back. It wasn't the best tow rig, but at least I knew it was reliable and well maintained. A '94 Z-71 that I helped to do a SFA swap on. It also has about 5" of lift & 35s.
I drove up from Atlanta to Cleveland no problem. Load up and head out w/ plans of stopping for the night at my sister's in Cincinnati. Day 2 will be the next post. Things got interesting from here. More pics too.
My latest adventure:
I bought a trailer over the winter w/o seeing it. My dad bought it to haul machinery on and decided it was too big to do what he needed. He has a habit of buying things I want then selling them w/o telling me. We have similar tastes but live several states apart, about a 10 hour drive, so its just a matter of logistics. Anyway, knowing this I made it very clear I was in the market for a trailer.
As soon as he decided to sell it I asked him for a description. What I got was kind of vague, but it sounded like it would haul a K5. I told him I definitely wanted it and sent him the money asking for a better description. He gave me a pic and a little better description. "Twenty foot trailer, might have six lug axles, dovetail on the end, tilt deck, and its got a small winch on it" and the clincher; "The guy I got it from used it to haul a backhoe" YES!
So I fly up to Cleveland to visit family w/ plans of renting a truck & pulling this thing back. It is now the middle of January so there is snow and ice everywhere, but at least I get to see the trailer I bought.
Turns out the specks I got were off a little off. The axles were eight lug, it was a 16' deck, and the "little" winch was a Warn XD9000. It also had a pintle hitch and real load range E trailer tire.
Well, with the crapy weather and no rental trucks w/ pintle hitches or 2" receivers I had to leave it at my dad's.
Fast forward to the spring. I fly up again, found a rental place w/ a 2" hitch. Unfortunately the weather was still crappy. I left it again.
A couple months later and I've got some days off coming. New plan; drive up in my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee. Its got a V8 & 4 wheel disc brakes. I figure no problem pulling an empty trailer even w/ the Dana 35C rear end. Of course a new wrinkle pops up. My dad wants to sell me his '95 Yukon. Even better I'll fly up hook up the trailer & drive home. Dad says "No, that won't work. The rear is toast on the Yukon."
Well, I finally manage to borrow a truck to pull this mess back. It wasn't the best tow rig, but at least I knew it was reliable and well maintained. A '94 Z-71 that I helped to do a SFA swap on. It also has about 5" of lift & 35s.
I drove up from Atlanta to Cleveland no problem. Load up and head out w/ plans of stopping for the night at my sister's in Cincinnati. Day 2 will be the next post. Things got interesting from here. More pics too.
