Thanks to all the above posters for the good tips. My hitch arrived today, and it is a nice piece of work. I hope the weekend is warm enough for me to do the install.

I have some UNISTRUT square clamps that look as though they would clamp around the square bar, which would give a place for safety cables to attach. This is all talk now, as things change as the wrenches turn.

I think it is safe as is, but the MINI towing will attract attention.

I will share my install, for what it is worth. Again, I am very happy with the hitch, now my tow Jeep can be banished.

Jim

 

Good idea Jim. Keep clearances in mind as well as access once the cover is back on. Lot of phots and info plz!

Peter, I just realize you posted 2500mi, geez that should give you lots of refference! LOL

Plan on building a small teardrop type trailer so the wife does not insist on the gas monster at vacation time, or maybe just the old car topper on the quad trailer? LOL

Brent's trailers look really cool, but I am thinking Mini-Airstream look......

So many projects, so little time.
Tim

 

I bought a trailer on sale at a local outlet. As it happens, I have a pro painter doing my '71 Morris Minor as a side job. We were working on the Minor in my garage over the weekend. When he saw the trailer parts - it's Red and comes disassembled - he said "Hey - why not scoot up to the paint store, get a pint of Yellow to match your car and I'll shoot it for you?"
Well why not indeed...the paint only cost $25.
All I need to do tomorrow is source some nice shiney Diamond Plate for the deck and I'm stylin' !
For some reason I have it in my head that I once saw a drawbar that had internal expanding pins - you pulled a lever to retract the pins and allow it to be withdrawn. I cannot find any evidence of it today though. Might be a brain fart.

Teardrop excellent Idea - - how about this... http://www.aerotear.com/ 75 lb tounge weight!

Yes -14 days... 2500 miles - Denver to Bullhead City AZ taking the South Route then up to LV for AMVIV and back to Denver via I-15 to I-70.
Should be a good MINI Trailering shakedown run!

Peter

 

Thanks for the link.

Have not see that bar but sounds doable.

I need to check my tounge wt with the quad on just for curiosity. The hitch is built very well and mounts so solid that I think the wt limits Brent has posted are a tad conservative. I would guess the 1200 max I have read for the mini would not be an issue.

May try to visit sister-in-law in Oak Creek this year without a plane involved. If so I will touch base before rolling through Denver. Wife wants to pull the Airstream but i can rent a plane cheaper! LOL

Tim

 

My ultimate goal is to pull my BMW R1100RS behind it to Cali. The wife can then enjoy the car for the long straight drives and we can both enjoy the bike on smaller loop rides through the canyons, etc.

I just have to talk her into letting me spend some of the $$ that I work all day for...

 

I will be picking this up on Friday. only 450lbs. More pictures in my gallery. Happy teardroping
Edit: This is a picture I took after delivery

 

Very cool - who makes it and how much???

Peter

 

Mike Miller makes these out of his shop near Redding, CA. He is willing to do custom work as well. Mine is priced at 6,100 as you see it in the pictures. Here is a link to Mikes web pages. http://lassenviewcustoms.teardrops.net/

 

Slam damn gorgeous! At that price does she stay until the morning? LOL Major congrats on that find, glad to see great minds think alike. Probably gonna have to fab my own though.... Buzzed the Dragon today and was happy I had no trailer!

Tim

 

Thanks for the complement.
True the price is a good chunk of paper. However, considering it is a one off custom that is to my spec I don't feel to bad about it. Also, you will get the opportunity to see it first hand at the dragon in May.
James.

 

I hope to be able to come up for a day at least. My schedule is always changing. Worst case I'll just drive up for a day. looking forward to seeing that sweet trailer up close.

 

This is a sweet trailer concept too. The idea is ripe for a new MINI variant.

http://www.anthonyjhicks.com/vknet-h...5!OpenDocument

 

Still putting it together - have to leave Friday morning!

Peter

 

Here it is.

 

Greg,

Details on your trailer and hitch please! That is a monster of a miniature trailer-- Nice.

 

Nice looking trailer Greg!

 

I left Denver last night and arrived in Bullhead City AZ this afternoon.

I wanted to leave much earlier but had major trouble with the lights. The light module I installed developed an internal short - as evidenced by its' delivering power to the trailer lights even when the car lights were totally off.
So I had to go in and install another module. Not fun.

Towing the trailer was a non-event. I had to look to see if it was there...despite coming through the Rockies and down I-15 in almost constant snowfall. The extra cargo capacity was awesome..I'm so glad I bought Brents' hitch!

But...just before I arrived at my final destination I stopped for a light and watched in my mirror as a guy in a pickup came up behind me....not stopping.
He slid off to the side of me - there was no collision.

Got me wondering though....what's going to happen when the trailer gets rear-ended? Will the draw bar fold up and into the rear deck? Will it blow off the ball and skewer itself into the car...and possible me? Will it puncture the fuel tank and kill me in a ball of fire? Ok..I'm going a little overboard now, but I am wondering what will happen. I've never towed with a small car before...and didn't feel the need to worry when towing with my Minivan or an SUV. Maybe I'm just wierding out because a guy ran a red light last Thursday and caused me to total my van.

I must say the looks I got from the three other MINI's that passed me on the road were delicious!

Peter

 

I had the trailer custom built for me. I can get two rows of 4 standing up crosswise in the trailer. One row at the back, and the 2nd row right above the axle. That still allows almost 2' in front for gas can, jack, helmet, HiPressure tank for air tools, water sprayer and misc stuff. All my magnetics go on the inside of the roof. The lid has hydraulic lifts, weather proof seal, and fully lockable. The trailer has all LED Lighting, and spray on truck bedliner on the underside. I have since fully lined the inside with 1/4" plywood on the sides and back, and installed a curved sheet metal inside wall around the curve in the front. So I can mount all my goodies. I also painted the interior plywood and sheetmetal with a nice grey enamel, since this picture was taken. I towed it about 5,000 miles last year behind my Celica GT. I've only towed it a couple times behind my Mini. It tows great! The pictures above show how it weighs on the car with 8 wheels and tires in it, plus another 100lbs of other gear listed above. It will be everywhere this summer. Arkansas, Houston, Denver, StLouis, KC, Topeka, Milwaukee and many more.

The Hitch is Abe Douglas' design. Works well. Here's a picture with it removed. If you look closely, you can see the square openings that it slides into. The part that stays on the car only weighs 13lbs, so it doesn't have a big weight penalty for autox. That was the seller for me.

 

That's a really nice trailer - any idea what the empty weight is?
Peter

 

Its exactly 350lbs which has about 30lbs of tongue weight. Fully loaded it weighs right around 800lbs with about 50lbs of tongue weight. I did have weight in mind when I had it built. All of the tie downs and racking (that aren't pictured) are all aluminum. So is the rock guard on the front. But then I went the opposite of weight savings on the wheels and tires. I chose to go with 13" trailer wheels instead of the 8 & 12". And then I also went with a larger tire. I'm glad I did. It rides so smooth without any of the bouncing of my older trailer. Actually my Mini's ride is much more jarring than the trailers. The torsen axle has something to do with that too, rather than my old trailer's solid axle with leaf springs.

 

nice trailer Greg.

50lbs of tongue weight when max weight is 800lbs is a touch low. I'd shoot for around 10%. Easy enough to adjust by moving some supplies around.

nice trailers pictured, but the airstream one is a little too many $$$ for me. My first tow rig and trailer did not cost that.

Bones.

 

I like it just the way it is. I experimented with moving the weight forward. Specifically moving the tires forward to the front wall. By myself in the car, there really weren't any issues. However with my wife and kids in the car, my rear tires were rubbing on the fenders, and on some big waves in the road, the rear suspension bottomed out on the bump stops. So with the wheels over the axle, everything worked perfect. So that's where they'll stay. I mounted my wheel rack inside, and I've truely tested it on some fast cloverleafs and a mock autoX course. The trailer stays put.

 

Hey guys the Teardrop made it the reverse route of the covered wagons this week.
I have not got my hitch on yet but this is a mock-up of how it will look behind the MINI

 

Very nice!! I have always liked the teardrop trailers. It's a beautiful design.

 

I'm curious, if you get one of those small Tear Drop trailers that have beds in them, how do you use it? Are they insulated from cold? Is it safe enough to pull over on the side of the road to sleep on a long trip? Or do you find an empty parking lot? Or do you stop at a Rest Stop? Curious how people use that--or is it strictly for camping where there isn't any chance of someone encountering you.

Even the possibility of someone trying to break in the trailer while you are sleeping seems a little scary.

Richard
Trailer Newbie