E30 Zone

looking for a new trailer and want a good one - the obvious choice is Brian James but they do come in quiet heavy. I have come across another company called Fountain Trailers (www.fountain-trailers.com) who are only 40 miles from me. they do a what looks to be a cracking trailer and it only weighs 375kg (bear ion mind this is for a 13ft x 6ft bed and not a small caterfield trailer).

anyone had any experience of this company and their products ??. as my car weighs in at about 1000-1050kg then total weight will be about 1400kg which is about eh towing limit of my towcar -having just had a towing accident i dont want to tempt fate (& breakl the law!) by going over towing limit.

weighs 400kgs and can carry up to 1400kgs. The 14ft bed is the min I would go and if car is approx 1000 you are just in. I tow with quite a small car and am amazed at the stability of these things, never even had a slight moment when towing with one..highly reccomended.

I used to use a Brian James with the E30 and it was superb, would highly recommend a tilt bed if you can go for it, so much easier to load/offload and saves getting on your hands and knees in the wet to get the ramps out from underneath! Get a stabiliser bar as well

too late !!! i bought the fountain trailer - got a bargain on an ex demo one, not a tilt bed one but so far so good. will think about stabiliser though - i always use one for the caravan and the car/trailer is much heavier !!! cheers

JCB... you can get those over centre ball clamps that replace the tow-hitch. Better than a separate stabiliser.

I know Brandon James (Brian's son) and his trailers are superb. Always striving to be ahead of the game and introduce new features / safety to their trailers. Expensive, but bloody good.

Get a 16' trailer if you can.
It is much longer than the car but enables you to position the car correctly for enjoyable towing.

I have a Brian James tilt bed - absolutely superb.

Karl

Mine's a 16' tilt bed and you're right about the positioning of the car. If you've not got it correct, you can tell the difference!

A little question for you trailer guys that haven't got a tilting bed...

1. When you are loading the car on the trailer do they have some load supports(like axle stands) that you put down when winching the car onto the trailer?

2. I presume the trailer is attached to the car the is towing the trailer before loading your track car?

3. Do you have any issues with the bottom of the car/sills rubbing or catching when the car is going up the ramps and onto the trailer? If so what can you do about this, i presume this is more of a problem with high bed level trailers.

1. Yes (if supplied / fitted to the trailer)

2. Yes (most definitley, otherwise the trailer will tilt over!!!)

3. Yes - my front spoiler used to catch, even on the tilt bed. The only way you could get round that is to get longer ramps for a non-tilt trailer.

Geeman wrote:1. Yes (if supplied / fitted to the trailer)

2. Yes (most definitley, otherwise the trailer will tilt over!!!)

3. Yes - my front spoiler used to catch, even on the tilt bed. The only way you could get round that is to get longer ramps for a non-tilt trailer.

Excellent G and a very quick response. You answer for number 3 was my only possibly solution for the problem.

i attach to car before loading / unloading
i put jockey wheel down as well to prevent load on car suspension
i have rear stands fitted to trailer but ....and here is the key...DONT DROP THEM ALL THE WAY... this means that when i drive the car onto the ramps the trailer tilts down at the back (the stands are about 4 inches off the floor) . this means the ramps and trailer are perfectly in line with each other so the back of the trailer does not snag on the sills of the car. what this does is remove the nasty angle where the ramps meet the trailer which will inevitably catch the car sills if your car is low like mine (i cant even get a trolley jack under my car without lifting the car in the suspension about 10mm !!).

i looked at BJ trailers but they were more expensive. also fountain are based about 30 miles from me and had an ex demo trailer for Ԛ£1100. its easier for spares/repairs/servicing and also BJ has a long lead time on orders (about 5/6 weeks) and i needed one quickly !!. i also found the fountain one was a bit lighter than the BJ ones - it only weighs 375kg. cheers
Jonathan

Where are Fountain Trailers then...? Never heard of them, so I'm guessing they will be the 'other' side of Lincoln to me...

they are at hubberts bridge (between sleaford and boston) just off the A17. the MD (chris fountain) is only a young guy (late 20s) but is very switched on and decided to go into trailer building after he was fed up of having to use crap trailers for his motorsport !!

www.fountain-trailers.com

JCB wrote:i attach to car before loading / unloading
i put jockey wheel down as well to prevent load on car suspension
i have rear stands fitted to trailer but ....and here is the key...DONT DROP THEM ALL THE WAY... this means that when i drive the car onto the ramps the trailer tilts down at the back (the stands are about 4 inches off the floor) . this means the ramps and trailer are perfectly in line with each other so the back of the trailer does not snag on the sills of the car. what this does is remove the nasty angle where the ramps meet the trailer which will inevitably catch the car sills if your car is low like mine (i cant even get a trolley jack under my car without lifting the car in the suspension about 10mm !!).

i looked at BJ trailers but they were more expensive. also fountain are based about 30 miles from me and had an ex demo trailer for Ԛ£1100. its easier for spares/repairs/servicing and also BJ has a long lead time on orders (about 5/6 weeks) and i needed one quickly !!. i also found the fountain one was a bit lighter than the BJ ones - it only weighs 375kg. cheers
Jonathan

Hmm jonathan doesn't this mean the there is huge upwards pressure on the towbar when you drive up the ramp...

Also you drive up the trailer, do you not winch it in

I know what you mean, i can't get a trolley jack under mine without getting someone to pull the front wings up, bloody lowered cars, but i woudn't have it any other way

i use a towing dolly so much easier and cheaper

m-dtech wrote:i use a towing dolly so much easier and cheaper

But probably illegal as they're not "braked".

When I'm at home I don't have room to hitch up the trailer before loading the car. But you need rear stands for this! I winch the jockey wheel up high until the ramp angle is small enough so that the car doesn't snag on the way up.

If I'm already hitched then I'll still put the stands down and winch up the jockey wheel to achieve the same thing.

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that a dolly is only to be used when recovering a vehicle. Not definate though.

I think the legal limit for an unbraked trailer is 750kg. Which is why you sometimes see a Fiat Ciquento behind a campervan - it's the only (sensible) car light enough.

Just found some info here:
http://www.ukmotorhomes.net/towing.shtml

The speed limits make it look like a death wish!

fair point about the upward pressure on the towbar - hadnt really thought of that !!! i will unhitch and wind up the jocey wheel so the rear prop stands hit the floor before loading

TOWING DOLLEYS - very illegal and very dangerous. towing a one ton E30 without brakes is aking for trouble. I knwo if i brake hard when my trailer is attached i can feel the overrun brake on the trailer coming on. also when i set off againg i have to pull the trailer brake off before i set off. This is why when braking hard i always try and let the car "run on" a few feet so as to pull the overrun brake off ready for when i want to0 set off again - its much easier and kinder on the tow car clutch !. BU THTE MAIN POINT IS THE LAW - over 750kg a trailer MUST be braked. I have read about folk who have had a proper braked trailer yet have still been fined as they exceeded the towing limit of their towcar. DONT TAKE A CHANCE AS YOU WILL BE EASY TO SPOT BY ANY EAGLED EYED COPPER !
check out this link to read about the unlucky chap who got fined
http://www.easytrack.co.uk/forum/fmess. ... ctid=36132