Finding a Used Autocross / Weekend Trailer -- USED Not New

Where could one start looking for a used 2 wheel pull behind weekend event trailer?

Local Craig's List, Autotrader and Penny Saver are not a good option it would seem.

Thanks

Racingjunk.com has a lot of trailer ads, although they're probably most for enclosed.

IME, cheap used trailers usually have worn out tires, bearings, brakes, need decks, etc.  You don't often save much vs buying new.

I would check your local autocross facebook group.  People buy and sell the trailers as they switch classes.

2 wheel?  2 wheel car hauler trailers aren't common anymore.  The few I've seen date back to earlier days when little sports cars didn't weigh much.

In reply to bludroptop :

Looking for a tow behind for extra tires, tools cooler and etc, for a weekend event.

Thanks

Appreciate the input.  Had not thought about Local autocross FB Page.

This group has the answers !!!!!!!!

If you can't find a cheap used one, they aren't all that expensive to make.  Harbor Freight trailer, gear box from Tractor Supply, some plywood and some black pipe and fittings from Home Depot.  You make two "spools" with the black pipe for the tires to sit on, flat.  

FBM works for me, but it can be spotty depending on where you are.

Govdeals.com
Govplantet.com

Those are some government auctions that usually have some great trailers, but you kinda have to wait for the right one, bid, and possibly travel a bit to get it.

I think it's important to know what all you want to carry.  I always suggest going a bit bigger.  Trailers are like garages.  Always go a bit bigger than you think you need.  There will always be a pit bike, fender, or engine that you find for a bargain and have to bring home.  There will also be that one time when you want to buy pavers for a patio, lumber for a renovation, or transport a motorcycle.  Having a trailer one size bigger is always a handy thing.

Oh.... also.  You want big tires.  If you get a trailer with a 1000-lb axle, you're getting 1" bearings and 4.80-8" tires.  Tiny bearings + small diameter tires = yearly maintenance/replaced.  If you get a 3000-lb axle, you're probably getting 5.30-12" tires and 1-3/8" bearings.  The bearing speed is WAAY better.

I will allow that the Harbor Freight 40x48 with 12" tires tows very well at 100mph with probably over its full rated load on it... 

Then I thought to check tire pressure.  I normally run the tires fairly low because it normally just carries four mounted rally tires and a big floor jack.  With several engines and a Contico box full of transmissions and engine parts, and other stuff loaded on top Clampett style, it needed more air...

Thanks again everyone

Check the recent thread where the guy built his own. Doubt you'll find as good a deal on a NOS torsion axle, but a small single axle is the perfect place for torsion axle, or maybe even stubs. 
there is a mechanic/engineer site I'll try to find that sells plans, and also has TONs of great free tech. 
A HF trailer is an ok start, at about half price. But strictly a starter kit, so start from scratch. 
As Curtis said, 1" spindles/bearings, and small tires = yuck. And the HF trailers use 1"spindles on a sheet metal U "axle. Even on a 1" spindle, I use the 12" or 13" tires, to be kind to the bearings!

Cool site

Follow this guys advice, and for your simple needs, don't need to buy any plans from him. 

In reply to 03Panther :

What is interesting is that the bearings for the HF unit are quite significantly larger than the wheel bearings on, say, my old Golf, or my RX-7s.  And those cars both ran on 205/60-13 tires that are only 10% larger in diameter than a 4.80x12 tire.... so the HF trailer at 60 is like one of millions of other cars running at 66-70.

Yeah, they aren't big mammajamma parts, but in context, it's plenty good enough.

By fuzzy memory, the HF trailer had 25mm ID bearings.  They were an oddball size but easy to cross reference.  My Golf had 29mm ID inners and 17mm ID outers.  The RX-7 has 28mm inners and 17mm outers.  Tiny little things.  But they hold up 1200-1300lb for a hundred thousand miles plus...

Many thousands of kilometers, and several sets of tires on my bike trailer with 1" spindles, and 8" wheels. I've replaced the bearings once because the seal failed, water got in, and rusted one bearing, and in this rainy weather, spent yesterday rebuilding it, but not replacing the bearings. I've had it 14 years. For what you're doing a HF trailer is perfectly fine - and a pretty darn good deal

Great Input everyone    Seems that here are a couple of HF trailers with BIG tyres locally.  Will be investigating this weekend.

I feel like a new HF trailer is going to be a better idea here. By the time you get a used one road worthy and outfitted the way you want, you will have spent more than the cost of a new one, and you'll still have a used trailer. 

JG Pasterjak said:

I feel like a new HF trailer is going to be a better idea here. By the time you get a used one road worthy and outfitted the way you want, you will have spent more than the cost of a new one, and you'll still have a used trailer. 

This.  I once bought a used HF for $75, then started adding up the costs to refurbish it.

I put it on the curb with a sign that said "Free Trailer" and bought a new one instead.

Top tip - reinforce the tongue bar... seems to be the weakest point on these.

(I used a brick as a wheel chock for the free trailer... the trailer was gone within an hour and the bastards took my brick!)

There was one for sale on the corvetteforum....  either under autocross and road racing classifieds (most likely) or c6 parts for sale

In reply to bludroptop :

Did you buy a new HF erector set,  or a better built small trailer? 
The tongue on the HF is bolted to a piece of thin formed sheetmetal, with two metric bolts smaller than 3/8 grade 2. 
Some folks think because theirs worked that's ok. I have had a tongue of a poorly made snowmobile trailer rip loose in I 95. 
And it was attached better!

No fun. 
But hey. The safety chains and hitch stayed on van, just fine!

a free HF trailer. The tongue and sheetmetal "U" axle were to rusty to use. Still have the hubs and 25 mm spindles, somewhere. 
 

Thats the two places the sheetmetal tongue bolts to sheetmetal "structural beams". Total of 4 soft metal small bolts, with non locking nuts. 
 

True. Plenty do not fail. At $150-200, it's a good starter set. But not at new pricing. 

In reply to 03Panther :

A friend of mine pulled a HF tire trailer on the interstate through "Mexico" coming back from the concrete beach he mounted a go-pro on the toolbox to see what things looked like at 135 mph.  Apparently the trailer is airborne a lot of the time at really high speeds.

Years later I bought the same trailer (and wheels and bearings) from him for $100.  Then it went to the guys who bought my CSP Miata who still use it to haul tires and spares all over the region for hillclimbs, autocrosses, and time trials.

Love this site

Thanks

In reply to 03Panther :

Been fine... started new and I painted it a different color before I assembled it.  Replace all the supplied nuts with Nylocs and buy a box of washers because it doesn't come with any.

I have a mind block about not using washers.  Hex heads turn into tearing tools.  I treated the trailer as a partial kit that also gave me an easy way to title and register it.  I mean, even aftermarket cylinder heads usually need different valve stem seals because even name brand heads come with garbage white nylon ones, engine blocks need to be gone over, etc.  A trailer is no different, it is a starting point but not a finished product.