Enclosed trailer...would my Galaxie fit?

[AlanCasida]

There is a 20' enclosed trailer for sale locally and I know my '65 Mustang would fit ok but how about my '66 Galaxie. It is 17ft+ long. I don't have any experience with enclosed trailers so I was wondering if I would have enough room to squeeze in front to tie it down.

https://wichita.craigslist.org/tro/d/peck-2018-rock-solid-cargo-85x20/6853147982.html

[cjshaker]

With the V-nose, I'd think you'd have plenty of room in the front to get in and tie it down, assuming they are going by traditional measurements of box length without the nose added.

My concern would be that since there is no room to adjust the depth of the car in the trailer, that it'd be pretty nose heavy when pulled in front first. I suppose a load leveler could take care of that though. If the Galaxie were backed in, I'd think that would make the front/rear weight ratio much better, but you couldn't say for sure until you tried it. I'm sure you know a tail heavy trailer is certainly not good, but too much weight on the tongue has it's own problems, and a Galaxie with a big block is certainly nose heavy.

Edit to add that while I don't have lots of experience with enclosed trailer types, I certainly don't like flat roofs. I'd think that eventually water penetration would start to be an issue. Maybe I'm wrong about that.

[AlanCasida]

Thanks, Doug. I guess I don't the flat roofs either. A friend sent me the link. I am mainly wanting one for my Mustang but would like one big enough for my Galaxie in a pinch. I imagine a 24-28ft would be a better bet.

[JERICOGTX]

24-28 has a much better resale value. Nothing wrong with a flat roof. Had mine for 19 years now, and it just now needs a touchup on the sealer.

[Stangman]

I will get all the information for our trailer but we got 24 ft V nose for 1000 less and got heavy duty axles and torsion bars and heavy duty sides which I believe are 30 thousandths instead of 24 thousandths

[BattlestarGalactic]

The car being 18~ ft and the trailer only being 20ft of floor.  That would be tight.  Like Doug mentioned, getting it balanced would be tough with no wiggle room.

I've had a flat roof, no big deal.  The biggest deal is a ONE PIECE flat roof.  That eliminates most of the leakage problems.  The lower end trailers have sectioned roofs and that leads to LOTS of chances of leakage.  In 22 yrs, the only problem I've had in the last few years is the right front corner.  I do inspect it routinely.

[MeanGene]

I have a 20' Wells Cargo, would rather have a 24', but it came up on cl for 3K while I was on lunch, and I took time off and went for it- mainly because it has the left side barn door. When the drivers door is 1" past the jamb of the barn door, the tail of my 62 is 1" inside the back door, so I can load it myself. Kinda tight in the front but almost 3', room for jack etc and tying down. Had a couple bonuses, it belonged to an electrical contractor, and he had installed flourescent lighting on the ceiling across the front and down the right side, it had e-track on front and both sides with rigging, and had 3 Pingel motorcycle chocks. The guy got 20 calls after I told him I was headed for the bank, included a pushy gal with a Corvette who was incensed after she offered him more money to cut me out and he said no lol

[Falcon67]

From the options listed, it's priced decently.  Maybe a bit high, but not much for such low miles and last years model.  A lesser trailer here runs about that price at a dealer.  Agree that a 24' would be better for hauling a 17' long car.  And better resale later.  Our 16' cars (Falcon/Mustang) fit the old 24' well and left some room to balance the load.  Plus if you take ANYTHING with you, you'll appreciate the extra couple of feet.  Note also that trailer should easy reach 3800~4000 lbs dry, so adding in the Gal means 100% using a 10K hitch with load levelers.  I'm using a Equal-I-zer 14K unit and it work well.  Much better IMHO than the Curt type chain leveler bars.  Mucho harder to set but pulls better with a big trailer.  The downside is the Equal-I-zer is about double the cost of the Curt 10K unit.

Also, you'll have to learn to shy to the right side when loading, just skinning the inner fender with the tire, to leave enough room to squeeze out of the car. 

[Rory428]

When I was looking at enclosed car trailers 5 years ago, I was thinking that a 20 footer would be more than adequate for my Fairmont, but after a lot of research, I bought a used 24 foot Wells Cargo. Its amazing how fast much of that "extra space" gets used up with the work bench, upper and lower cabinets, pit scooter, fuel jugs, floor jack and jack stands etc. Plus its nice to have enough room to move the car back and forth to find the correct location for proper torque weight. As mentioned, a 24 footer seems to hold their value well, as they are a popular size. If you have room for a longer trailer, I have seen some really good prices on used 28 to 40 foot long trailers, which often are listed for less than a 24, even though they were more expensive to buy new. But many people do not have the room to store such a long trailer, or it may require a more substantial tow vehicle to tow it.

[BattlestarGalactic]

Also, you'll have to learn to shy to the right side when loading, just skinning the inner fender with the tire, to leave enough room to squeeze out of the car.

A '65 door isn't much thinner then a '64.  You AIN'T getting out of the door while in the trailer.  Not happening, no matter how far right you try to put it.  I center my car, but the most I can do is just pop the door open, barely getting a hand/arm stuck in the window area of the door.  The lower portion isn't even opened enough at that point to put anything through.  I can only move the car over 2-3" til it hits the right trailer fender, and that doesn't make enough difference.

When I store my '2 dr for the winter, I leave the window down and that way I can crawl in and start car to back it out.  My driveway is just a slight incline and pushing 4000# uphill to winch it out ain't happening anymore.  When I was 32, maybe, at 52, nope.

[JERICOGTX]

Install a winch in the trailer, and forget about crawling in and out of the door.