The trailer has arrived. Chris: L@@K! Pictures!!!

[magnusfeuer]

Custom made according to Caterham dimensions.
Weighs in at about 1000 lbs. Electrical brakes.

I can actually drive the car, setup for 65 mm sump clearance, onto the trailer without hitching up the front. If I do hitch up the front the ramps becomes parallell to the bed.

I tried to tow the car around the block, and it didn't pose me with any problems even with the trailer brakes disconnected due to the Volvo's lack of trailer brake controller circuitry. I'll fix that.

/Magnus F.

[Doug Liedblad]

Magnus

That looks great. We can easily add some spots to mount extra tires etc.

Just in case you haven't towed much, watch out for going too fast and starting to fishtail. Once the oscilations start it can spin both the trailer and the tow vehicle. Or worse.

Doug

[Roll a 7]

Looks very good!!

[moosetestbestanden]

Cool! Thanks for the pics.

I couldn't help but notice that your eyes are closed in the photo. I'll be certain to be behind you on-track under those circumstances. Which shouldn't be a problem based on those slick tires, Nitron shocks etc.

Doug: Just how fast is "too fast"?

[Doug Liedblad]

If you see the trailer passing you, it's too fast.

55 is technically the speed limit while towing. It should be OK if the tonque weight is correct.

I'm now passed my expertise in trailering.

See here or other websites on the subject.

http://www.i-towing.com/

Doug

[slomove]

In my experience the willingness to fishtail depends largely on the tong load(given a certain weight ratio between tow car and trailer). My Hyundai is not overly heavy, maybe a little more than Magnus' Volvo so it should be comparable.

If I load the hitch at less than let's say 80 pounds it fishtails like crazy. I usually load it to around 120-150 pounds and the oscillations die down rapidly. Looking at the position of Magnus' Caterham on the trailer I would guess at least that load. VERY light application of the brakes also helps settling the swing. Speed is no problem up to, let's say 65 or 70mph. Last year when I drove up to Buttowillow a CHP cruiser pulled up besides me and the officer shook his index finger at me. Don't know why he did that ;o)

But, evasive steering maneuvres and other sudden imbalances are always *interesting* with a trailer. My niece and her husband had a 180 degree fishtailing experience with a camping trailer after a tire blew. They ended up on the fast lane of the Autobahn at night and in the rain. No happy campers....

Gert

[magnusfeuer]

I'll keep it to 60-65.

Now that we are all riled up on trailer-porn, we should consider the ultimate challenge.

Trailer racing. In reverse.

Basically we do a timed event where we back our tow vehicles around a simple course with a few cones while pushing out trailers in front of us (without Sevens on them).

A slow event, for sure.

/Magnus F.

[slomove]

Cool, I am in.

[GEORGE54]

The trailer has arrived

Magnus,good looking trailer . But what I notice was your rear vision mirror on the wind screen frame. I have never seen one like that before. Is that a
standard mirror or a after market one? Also you have a side exit exhaust that exits at the rear. Is that to meet local traffic authority rules? Could you tell me are the Caterhams difficult to register in America? And does each state have the own interpretation of design rules? Sorry if there is too many questions ? George54

[magnusfeuer]

George,

The mirrors came from http://www.mirrorsforsevens.com/.
They work very well, but I still keep my left mirror since that corner of the car is not really covered.

The rear exhaust is stock for Caterham in the U.S., but it should not be a problem replacing this with a side unit. There are several cars sold that way in the States (Dodge Viper to name one). However, I cannot do that with the current muffler/catalytic converter setup since it is too long to allow for a clean side exit.

Getting a Seven street legal in the U.S. is a very state specific affair and ranges from a breeze to a bitch, with California being firmly planted in the latter category. Search this site for SB100 for a wide range of discussions on registering a Seven in CA.

/Magnus F.

[moosetestbestanden]

If you see the trailer passing you, it's too fast.

Or the hauler is too slow...

Btw, I had a good look at the track from 35,000 today. No snow. Maybe all the cold weather's done some of the bugs in.

[kiwi]

trailer cost

Hi Magnus
great trailer, would it be too much to ask what it cost?

Regards

Kiwi

Custom made according to Caterham dimensions.
Weighs in at about 1000 lbs. Electrical brakes.

I can actually drive the car, setup for 65 mm sump clearance, onto the trailer without hitching up the front. If I do hitch up the front the ramps becomes parallell to the bed.

I tried to tow the car around the block, and it didn't pose me with any problems even with the trailer brakes disconnected due to the Volvo's lack of trailer brake controller circuitry. I'll fix that.

/Magnus F.

[magnusfeuer]

About $2300, everything included.

/Magnus F.