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Posted by: watzupdog
I have a 4x7 carry on and it towes great, I put a piece of decking on the floor to cover up the mesh and keep rocks and such from flying up and hitting my atv going down the road. Only problem that I had was one of the wires was stripped and when it made contact with the trailer it would blow a fuse, a simply wrap of electric tape solved that problem. I like the trailer. Light weight and serves my needs.... My hubs get just a little warm when towing.
Tencubed. I dropped down to a 3 1/4 inch drop from my hitch on a 01 F-150. I still need to go lower to get it level. I can pull just fine with the way that it is now. Just wondering how far down you dropped yours and is it level..
Posted by: watzupdog
Sounds like your set up pretty nice. The only thing I've done was to make sure there was no exposed bare wire and to put a triangle orange and red safety sign on the back ramp for other drivers. Mine didnt come with the red/white safety reflector strips on the back like the ones they carried at lowes did... If it was me I would still use the drop down ramp even though you dont need it. Might come in handy to keep the quad from rolling out of the trailer or as you mention in case the quad breaks down it would be a pain to wrench that quad onto the trailer without the ramp... Well glad you like the trailer... These little trailers seem to get beat up alot on this forum.. Mine is working out great..
Posted by: watzupdog
Sounds great. I was thinking today after you mention your bearing getting warm, that I need to get a ball bearing buddy put on mine. I havent taken off the dust cover yet. My luck the bearing would fly out and I wouldnt know how to put them back in again.... I figure with the bearing buddy, all I would need to do is put it on and forget about it. Of course I would check it for heat on trips. Have you sprayed rust oleum (spelling) on all the exposed nuts and bolts. Someone suggested that I do that, because when they said the bolts rust they swell just a little and its a real pain to get that nut taken off. I had a can of the stuff in my garage and it took about 5 mins to get the job done..
Posted by: watzupdog
Tractor supply has 4x7 for $498.. With a gate.. So you get a foot more for the same price as lowes.. Here a 5x8 regular trailer runs for $700. Comes with used beat up tires and wheels that I have to replace at about another $125. So now I'm up to $825, thats $325 more than the little 4x7 and I dont need the extra foot on the side or length. The 4x7 is perfect for my needs.. Easy to roll it around to my back yard and when I need to store it, I just unscrew 2 bolts and the arm slides right out, nobody aint taken that thing nowhere and if they did insurance is only $12 bucks a year added to my policy. For me its worked out great. Maybe if I had more room and rode more than I do, I would go with the bigger, heavier trailer.
Posted by: tencubed
Bought one of this companies 4' X 6' trailers to haul my quad on. Picked this up at a local chain hardware store. Trailer is small and light weight and is minimalist and simply constructed but way better than the flat bed frames you see in so many stores.
Towed the trailer home and noticed the hubs were warm after only about 13 miles. Pulled the dust covers and found the bearings to be well greased. Decided to try it on the road and took it with me to pick up my quad at our other home. After about 40 miles I checked the hubs and they were both warmer than they should have been. Pulled the dust covers and backed both bearing retaining nuts off a bit. Hubs cooled right down and no further problems.
Called the company to advise them they may have a quality control problem. Upon hearing my concerns the service manager advised he would look into it and thanked me for calling. He also sent me a full set of new bearing for the trailer as a warrantee item.
Nice to deal with a company that is responsive to customer concerns.
Well pleased with the way the trailer pulls and handles the load.
Posted by: tencubed
I tow with the bumper hitch on my little S-10 so the hitch is not that high. To get the trailer to set level I cut the tongue and stepped it 3" and shortened it by 4" to make it track very closely to the pickup tracks in corners. While I was at it I added a 2" X 2" post with a heavy ring at the top to hook the winch to in case I need to winch a broken quad aboard. This 2" X 2" steel post also makes an excellent tie down point and security cable anchor.
I put flexible wire covering over the wires to protect them from rubbing thru where they contact the frame. I also elected to add a set of LED tail/turn/brake lights on the rear of the trailer to increase the visibility to other drivers.
I found I did not need the drop down ramp and removed it, the quad in 4WD easily climbs onto the deck.
Posted by: tencubed
One of the reasons I took the rear ramp off was to reduce the sail surface while towing. Even with the mesh deck on the ramp when you get up around 50 MPH that big ramp is like pushing a sheet of plywood thru the air. I get a little static from time to time from guys about driving my little pickup. Seems if you don't drive a 3/4 ton 4 X 4 with big tires your just not doing it right. I really like the 23 to 25 MPG I get when towing the quad on this new trailer. Up about 1.5 from the previous trailer. If I need to get a broken machine on the trailer I have a set of short ramps in the pickup.
I do plan on adding a swing open bar type tailgate to the trailer next month. This will have a locking system and engage the hitch on the rear of the quad. With this the quad will be securely locked front and rear to the trailer. I also have a locking bar that goes thru the wheels to prevent them from rotating or being removed. With everything in place and locked the thieves will have to airlift the quad and trailer as a unit to pack it off.
Posted by: tencubed
I did put Bearing Buddies on the trailer. Found a set that fit at Car Quest but have towed the trailer very little since putting them on. You will need a grease gun to fill the Buddies after you put them on. The bearings will not be effected by removing the dust covers.
I haven't used any treatment on the exposed nuts/bolts but it is something to consider for sure. Thanks for the idea. I doubt I will be using the tilt feature on the trailer and will probably weld the nuts to the bolts to prevent their accidentally coming loose.
The major concern I had about this trailer was it is so small I could not see the right side in my rear view mirrors. When I put the extra lights on I mounted them high and wide enough to correct this problem. With a few more modifications I'll have a trailer that suits my needs.
Posted by: georged
The local Lowe's home improvement store has the Carry-on 4x6 for $498. Seems a little pricey when regular utilities with full-sized wheels are $7-800 or is it just a high price for that trailer?
Posted by: WoodRat
A Bearing Buddy on each wheel is great because it provides a small additional grease reservoir extending out from the hub. The outer wall where the Zerk fitting is attached on the Bearing Buddy gradually sucks in toward the hub as grease is used, about an inch or so, allowing you to see when more grease is needed. I have these on my old motorcycle trailer, and they provide a lot of peace of mind when towing down the highway for hundreds of miles. Lately I only use the trailer to haul firewood and such around our place with the quad.
