Hey all, i've just started a project, im building a Swift Gti track car. I'm building it to 3J specs, so it wont be road registered. So I'm not sure how i will go about transporting it. My daily is (another) swift, so I've got nothing to tow it with. Some of my friends own commodores, but not with a towbar strong enough to pull 1500kg's. So should a buy a cheap ute and car trailer to get it around? or one of those old Isuzu light trucks with a tray? Also what's the average price on a 1.5 ton car trailer, and whats the upkeep (ie rego fees, maintenence on electric brakes) Sorry if i posted this in the wrong section

mate if you can find a small truck under 3tonne with a ducktailed tray you are laughing.

Something like that would be good, but not necessary.
We tow my datto 1600 3J car with a manual 2litre subaru forester with factory towbar with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Before that we towed with an 86 FWD celica, not ideal but did the job. Point being,you can do it on the cheap with a fairly basic tow car if need be.
Trailers are bull shit expensive to buy new, expect to pay a few grand. We found a neglected trailer that we picked up for a few hundred bucks and spent the time fiixng it up.Looks like shit but again,it does the job just fine. Just grab a mechanical (cable) or hydraulic braked trailer, no need to go electric. The cheaper the better, all it has to do is carry the real car, so it doesnt have to be flash!!

yea oath if ya can find a shithouse trailer and spend a few dollars top do it up a bit ya save ya self some $$$ in the long run

Have you checked out the IPRA forum?

When we first started out we bought a $1000 trailer to get us going and used it for over 10 years. It's amazing how a little maintanence can keep a trailer going for a long time

Cheers
Ross

since when does a swift weigh 1500kg? wouldn't it also be lightened for track work?
a commodore would tow it fine.

I think this is really important for me.



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And the trailer ways 0kg, amirite?


Surely the Swift, plus spare tyres, plus fuel, plus tools plus plus plus, would weigh close to 1200kg?

The average hire trailer from a servo weighs between 700 and 900kg..

You can get a trailer built to be especially light weight, but will still weigh atleast 400kg (with brakes and suspension) and will cost $3500+ for anything decent.

So essentially you need something that can tow 2000kg if your going to hire a trailer, or 1600kg if your going to buy a decent trailer.

1600kg is easy, 99% of Commodores and Falcons can tow this weight with the correct tow bar.

2000kg is harder, you need something live axle in most cases.

The other alternative is a dog style trailer, where there is no weight on the tow car, have it set up with electric brakes, then you need to get an exemption to overide the vehicles towing capacity from Dept of Transport.



I dont have a picture of this type of trailer finished in a car-carrier setup, but this is one nearly done:

tell us more about that trailer your building jabes!

lol,, I towed a 1100kg L series subi + BP hire trailer, with my 1200kg 1990 camry wagon, looking back at that now prolly not the best thing to do, but it did make the trip from brisbane to sunnycoast, thats prolly why i had troubles getting traction going up the on ramp onto the highway

but yea id suggest getting a trailer cheap in need of some attention and fix it up, so much cheaper that way