Art & Inspiration Vintage drag car trailers, pics please

I hate ramps! But that is ridiculous! I'd a peed myself on the way up and soiled myself backing down.

 

built this in 11 or 12, old boat trailer price was free little bit of steel a free trailer box and wha la........however did add trailer surge brakes after not stopping good enough when towing behind 36 P/U

 

As long as the OP guy is still posting too.
I'll add a photo of trailer I still use,I built in the 1960s from scrap,even made my own axle from "C" beam an some spindles & WW2 runway < was EZ to get then !

 

Great looking trailer buddy!

 

In his book, Tommy Ivo commented on the discomfort/near-terror on running the Corvette up and down those ramps to the roof of the trailer. I agree with you; I sure wouldn't want to do it.

 

I’m in the process of building a 10’6” single axle trailer for my single seater. I’m using 2-7/8” well drill rod for the perimeter and tongue. The front wheels will sit in small wells and the deck will just be two runners made from old aircraft steel runway(Marston mat). I found a vintage dropped trailer axle for a whopping $25. It uses six lug wheels so I have to figure out if they are the same as a Chevy.

 

I picked up a cheap house trailer frame and made into a car trailer for my Anglia and champ car.
In the succeeding week I chopped three feet off the back, moved the axle forward, fixed a faulty hitch, mitered in a skid plate to the tongue, added a third draw bar member to the tongue, boxed the front crossmember, added fenders, added three tie-down sites, and narrowed it down so the Anglia and Speedracer will just fit.

 

We built this from a trailer house frame for our dragster

 

I would like to politely suggest building a tandem axle trailer. I understand the difference in costs, however with the speeds and distances we tow at today a blow out on a tandem is a lot easier to deal with then on a single axle trailer. Also not Passenger Car tires, Trailer tires rated above your expected load range and speed.
p.s Tandems are a lot easier to back -up too

 

I totally agree here! And the cost of 4 x LT tyres is the same as two truck tyres . The extra axle cost is minimal.
Single axle trailers are prone to "roll oversteer" due to design. [they sway] This is because the axle steers in the direction of suspension compression which then transfers weight to the opposite side [starting oscillations]
If the trailer builder does the "unthinkable" and mounts the spring hangers at the rear and the shackles/sliders at the front the trailer induces "roll understeer" which is more stable and self correcting.
To make a trailer appearance look period requires old style fenders and wheels [keep the rest of the trailer modern]

Here is a trailer that kerrynzl built 20 years ago. Apart from the 4 x cross-members [75 x50 x 2mm RHS] the whole trailer was folded up from 2mm sheet steel , including the tongue.

For a spare he simply welded tie-down loops above the axles on the underside. A puncture simply involved jacking and chaining the wheel off the ground [just to get it home].
He also made the wheels the same as his tow vehicle.

This trailer weighed 380kg [836 lbs] and was also used to tow farm equipment.
The life expectancy of paint in NZ is short due to UV




A few years ago Kerry decided to build an improved version , longer with galvanised deck/runners.
The runners double as the frame rails.
These were folded in a press brake [to cut costs he built a pair of trailers] This time the tongue wasn't folded , but 100 x 50 x 3mm RHS
Here is the profile of the runners/frame rails

Here is a finished trailer with galvanised fenders. The 4.8m deck [16'] weighed 475kg [1045 lbs]

The 2nd trailer of the pair was dressed up a bit with teardrop fenders and chrome wheels
It was 5 kg heavier due to the wheels [the fenders were lighter as they don't need brackets]
480kg [1056 lbs]
Because the drawbar / tongue is long, it behaves like a longer trailer. It is easy to back up and tows beautifully [behind a S/W]




All these trailers were homemade using basic garage tools [the pressings were outsourced]
Kerry said the most difficult part was the thinking and daydreaming ideas

 

Hello,

This roadster looks familiar. When we used to scour the La Jolla Coastline searching for waves from 1960-64, we must have seen this near the Bird Rock Area. Gas was plentiful back then and it was always a thing to fill up before the 100 plus miles of coastal driving back to Long Beach from this area of San Diego. After a great morning of surfing one spot, we would get lunch, take a nap and look for other surf spots on the ragged coastal roads. The thing that sticks in my memory is that my brother and I had this thing for Mobil Gas.

When we were little, our dad used to take us to Terminal Island and the biggest dock held a tanker that pumped Mobil Gas. Then our neighborhood gas station from the time we were in elementary school was a small Mobil Gas Station that we walked by everyday to talk to the mechanic and get a frozen Coke out of that weird sliding machine. So, when we started driving, it was always stopping at any Mobil Gas Station or at least the one in our neighborhood. Favorites last forever… today, we still stop at our own local Mobil Gas Station, just down the street.

Jnaki

In those days, the San Diego Roadster Club car was owned by Lou Bingham, he owned the Mobil Gas station in Bird Rock, La Jolla. No dual axle trailers were built back then, so the standard single tire trailer was the choice. This trailer had a custom touch: Note ½ tire carcass for each Firestone Racing Tire so as not to damage it while transporting it to the drags or dry lakes. If the ½ tire carcass was bolted to the trailer tracks, then it would also give it some protected support while transporting anywhere.

 

Hello,

The Cedarquist Brothers had a red 1929 Ford Roadster with a 32 grille during the early years of drag racing in So Cal. Their single wheel trailer was typical of the early 1958-60 trailers used at Lions Dragstrip and other places.

Don and Dave Cedarquist’s roadster at San Fernando Dragstrip. B/Roadster record holder in So Cal.

Jnaki

The roadster was painted a Torch Red by Daddy’s Auto Body

 

Check out the latch on the cowl. It all comes apart for maintenance. Clever idea.

 

Anyone know anything about this tow rig?

 

I just picked up this one today definitely an old homemade job. Used 36-39 Wide 5 axles, drums and wheels. Newest tire is 1968 if I remember right. Someone cut the hitch all up for the Pintle style but towed great considering there is no suspension. I figured 68” wide and 13’ long it was built for earlier style cars 20s-40s. Of course I’d love to believe it hauled a bitchin 22-34 ford but that’s just my flavor of car! May put suspension on it but will definitely be getting fixed up regardless! Old style tail lights/tires/wide five V8 caps! Will make a killer trailer for my 3 window A!