- Home
- About Us
- Join/Renew
- Member Benefits
- Member Pages
- Log In
- Help
- Museum Store
Hi Bob,
I know your friend Murphy and I am sure he is correct. Adding the lights is a great
idea and I have heard it a couple of times on Blog. I found a set at Costco with a
remoter for just a few dollars. I am sure I will be buying a sett of them. I searched for my trailer almost as long as I had been looking for a Pierce Arrow. I think I will be keeping both unless someone comes along and has to have them.
Ken
Ken,
Watch the internet and Craigs List in your for a trailer that better suits your needs. I wanted a heavier duty, 2 foot longer, 6 in taller trailer, 120 v wiring. I started watching Craigs List and within two weeks I found exactly what I was looking for in slightly used condition. The sale of my old trailer will get me back 2/3 to 3/4 of what I paid for the new one.
Dave
Hi Dave,
I bought the trailer for another car that I have and will never sell. It fits in it much better. If I have to get another trailer for the Pierce it will be 6 inches wider also. I will never get rid of the Featherlite unless another one comes my way.
Thanks for the info it is much appreciated. I consider myself an expert at shopping for anything on wheels. Ha Ha.
Ken
Ken,
I felt the same way about keeping the trailer that came with my Pierce. There were just a few things more I wanted so I started keeping my eyes open and exactly what I wanted popped up on Craig’s List, in good used condition for a good price. I have to admit, Featherlite would be my choice if I did a lot of towing.
While I prefer your Pierce, that “other”” car looks great.
Dave”
David C. : Pierce even put their Pierce /Arrow on the clutch/bellhousing inspection cover. This cover is never seen except when the floor boards are removed for maintenance or for a clutch adjustment.
When I was pricing a new trailer, the charge for an additional 6″ height was about $500, or roughly $1000 for a foot extra. This is when the trailer is originally built. The labor to modify an existing trailer would be prohibitive,
When Wayne Hancock ordered a new trailer from a local trailer manufacturer, he found that the trailer was too short for his Series 80 Sedan. He called the trailer manufacturer, they took the brand new trailer back, made him another trailer with the higher ceiling height, and even delivered the taller trailer, and picked up the shorter trailer.. I think Wayne told me that the price difference was less than $1000.
I wish there had been a ‘common knowledge’ system to lower the rear of a Series 80 for loading and unloading. My wonderful Derham-bodied Series 80 Town Car has a small tear in the top covering where the spring mount for the trailer door contacted the roof of the rear of the car. An unfortunate accident that could have been avoided if a simple ratchet strap or threaded spring compressor system was available or even thought about.
Ken, your wonderfully original undercarriage should be preserved as much as possible. When I get back home I’ll see if it is possible to make some form of system that will not me attached to the car except for the loading and unloading process.
As for getting under our cars: We ALL have to get under the rear of our cars, to put axle straps over the axle, in order to tie down the rear of the car. It’s actually rather easy, since most trailers have a ‘beaver-tail’ that provides extra clearance. It’s this ‘beaver-tail’ that causes the height problem with our sedan vehicles hitting the door spring in our trailers. Not an issue with a coupe or roadster.
Greg Long
One of the better systems for securing a car in a trailer (although you still had to climb under!) was on both a Cord and a Packard Darrin owned by the late Bill Pettit. At one point, new cars being delivered to dealers had these heavy metal loops which clamped to the springs and/or axle of the new cars, for securing when delivered. He took these, modified slightly, and attached in the spring/axle areas of his cars. Then, there was a nice big fat loop to hook to when securing in the trailer, and you didn’t have to worry about axles or brake lines or anything getting in the way. I asked him about judging, i.e. originality, and he said he’d never been questioned about the loops.
Hello Greg,
I appreciate your comments I agree with wanting to save the undercarriage. I now understand why when I was looking for measurements on the height I was asking an
owner of Coupe and it appears a coupe is 3 inches shorter than the Sedan. You describe my problem perfectly with hitting the spring housing when loading. That is why I was
considering taking it off. Thank you to everyone that advised against me taking it off.
The door would be very heavy if it did not have the counter balance of the spring.
Ken
Here’s how a Model T was loaded in my trailer, after I put a top on it, and the owner didn’t want to put the top down (it was an older kit, been in a box for years, it needed to stay stretched for a while!)…this was all the owner’s doing, it already had rear fenders off as he’s not quite finished the restoration…I thought it was funny looking, but it was effective! Lowered the whole car enough inches to clear the trailer by a couple….
David,
Some of us will do anything to put a vehicle in our trailers. Now that was thinking.
It still looks like a tight fit.
I have thought about changing the wheels on my Pierce Arrow for transport then
putting them back on after I arrive.
Ken
My customer base includes the trailer industry and I think more trailers are made in GA than any other state.
One of the 8 plants I was in this week was a plant that is owned by Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett’s company). They had a trailer they were building that was 14′ high and had a car lift inside, so you could either put a tall car or 2 lower cars in it, stacked. The lift can be from 13-24′.
I think they will build just about anything you want. I have no interest here, just passing info.