Sapphire Rebellion

As a traveling musician, I needed extra cargo space to carry our band equipment. We had to carry a drum kit as well as a PA for venues that did not provide one. Here are some things that I didn’t think about before buying an enclosed trailer to fill this need. I’m going to write about them here so that you can take them into consideration before making a decision about whether or not to buy a trailer for yourself.

Before buying a trailer, realize that trailers are not hard to steal, so you’ll need locks. You’ll need a lock that goes inside the part that fits onto the hitch, as well as one for the lever that opens and closes it. However, even with both of these locks in place, your trailer can still be stolen. The best protection is a wheel lock that goes right on the wheel. The catch (there’s always a catch, isn’t there?) is that a wheel lock attaches to one of the lug nuts of the wheel you wish to lock. So, every time you wish to remove or use the lock, you must remove or secure the wheel lock fastener onto or off of the lug nut. The alternative is to get that tire balanced with the fastener on it so that you don’t ever have to remove it.

Also before buying a trailer, know that parking is going to be a hassle. Your combined vehicle will now take up two spaces everywhere you go. To park on the street, you’ll need two consecutive spaces; good luck with that. Some parking garages won’t even let you in! And any parking lot or garage that does let you in is going to charge you for each vehicle. That’s right, you’ll pay parking fees for the towing vehicle and the enclosed trailer you are towing, and it adds up fast!

And finally before buying a trailer, note that your gas mileage is going to take a hit. This will depend on the size of the trailer that you wish to tow because of the weight, as well as the dimensions of the trailer. Even when an enclosed trailer is empty, it can add a considerable amount of wind resistance to your towing vehicle and it’s kind of like pulling a giant sail. With a 4-cylinder engine like mine, this really affects fuel economy. You might not notice as much of a difference if you drive an 8-cylinder diesel van that already only gets 13 mpg, or if you only plan on towing around town where your speed is relatively low. But I would recommend getting only a smaller trailer like a 4×6, if you have a big enough 4-cylinder engine, and to have at least 6 cylinders to tow anything larger than that.

I hope these points will help you in making your decision about buying a trailer. Had I known all that I know now, I might have made some different decisions, hopefully you can learn from my experience. -Tim

Technorati Tags: buying a trailer, enclosed trailer, first time, first trailer