New addition

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400brian
Posts: 5626
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:00 am
Real Name: James T. Kirk
Location: South Central Wisconsin

New addition

Post by 400brian »

15 years ago, my brother and I bought a 2 place clamshell R&R trailer off ebay. It was 10 years old at the time, but it was serviceable. I pulled it out to Ohio in the summer of 2008, cooking the transmission in my 98 Chevy truck in the process ( it didn't fail until a year later ) and brought home 2 340/S sleds on that trip. It hauled college kid stuff on trips up to Duluth, and Green Bay, we put a fair number of miles on it.

I replaced a tongue that some how got bent, the aluminum underpinnings had to be welded because of cracks in the frame members, then a couple years later I spent a fair amount of money bolting 4 big aluminum angles along side the frame rails to fix it again. The rims, tires, and bearings were all replaced twice, and keeping the lights working seemed constant.

Today we upgraded! After looking for a trailer in a 500 mile radius since August, we took delivery of a new trailer from a dealer near La Crosse, WI. As with everything right now, ordering a new trailer was a no go, as the wait time was at least a year. It seems very few dealers order sled trailers like I was looking for, but the Auto and Toy Trader in West Salem finally got one in I could live with.

It is a tandem axle Legend Explorer, 7.5' x23' V-nose, drive on drive off. It is 6" taller than the standard 6.5 foot. I pulled it home with our 1/2 ton Pickup at 70 mph without issue.

This is a big deal for us.
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'09 Vintage Challenge Survivor, and I wasn't late for supper!
'10, '11, '12, '13,'14,'15,'16,'17, '18, 19, 20, 21, 22 Vintage Challenge Survivor !
72 400 restored, Father bought new in '71
73 X8 restored
'74 340 green machine
'74 X8 9 time VC finisher
'78 Spitfire in progress
2 '75 340S 1 running, one on deck
'78 LF 440 future CC clone
'73 Skiroule RTX 440, 500 mi.
snowmoer
Posts: 69
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:05 pm
Real Name: Dan
Location: Cedar City UT

Re: New addition

Post by snowmoer »

That is one nice looking trailer! I am glad I found a used one just as the shutdowns were starting in the spring of 2020. The prices have gone through the roof now. Glad you found what you were looking for.
Dan
1981 Liquifire
1984 Sportfire
1984 Trailfire LX
1996 Yamaha V Max Mountain Max
2018 Ski Doo Summit Sport
2021 Ski Doo Grand Touring Sport
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400brian
Posts: 5626
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:00 am
Real Name: James T. Kirk
Location: South Central Wisconsin

Re: New addition

Post by 400brian »

Yes, the prices are substantially higher than a year ago.

'09 Vintage Challenge Survivor, and I wasn't late for supper!
'10, '11, '12, '13,'14,'15,'16,'17, '18, 19, 20, 21, 22 Vintage Challenge Survivor !
72 400 restored, Father bought new in '71
73 X8 restored
'74 340 green machine
'74 X8 9 time VC finisher
'78 Spitfire in progress
2 '75 340S 1 running, one on deck
'78 LF 440 future CC clone
'73 Skiroule RTX 440, 500 mi.
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WinnipegStPaul9
Posts: 5577
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:00 am
Real Name: Don Amber
Location: Churubusco, IN

Re: New addition

Post by WinnipegStPaul9 »

Nice purchase Brian !! I'm starting to go the other way in that I'm considering selling my big trailer and keeping a small enclosed one.
Feel free to check out our website www.buscobullet.com for restorations or parts.
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nick80lf
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Real Name: Nick
Location: The snow free zone of Ohio

Re: New addition

Post by nick80lf »

Out of curiosity how does a two place aluminum snowmobile trailer cook a transmission on a 10 year old 1/2 ton truck? I would think it was significantly under the towing specs for the truck. Just wondering if there's an interesting story behind this.
80 Liquifire (purchased 1996 ~ Running)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2010 ~ Running....Now)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2011 ~ Not running - I officially have a problem now)
83 Snowfire (purchased 2014 father/son restoration project)
78 Spitfire ~ sold (should have been shot for this)
snowmoer
Posts: 69
Joined: Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:05 pm
Real Name: Dan
Location: Cedar City UT

Re: New addition

Post by snowmoer »

nick80lf wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 6:43 pm Out of curiosity how does a two place aluminum snowmobile trailer cook a transmission on a 10 year old 1/2 ton truck? I would think it was significantly under the towing specs for the truck. Just wondering if there's an interesting story behind this.
The transmissions that Chevy put in their trucks back then was not the best. I had a Chevy truck at work that did a little towing well under the tow rating. It went through two of them in 60K miles. Luckly they were all replaced under warranty. The truck got replaced at 70K miles.
Dan
1981 Liquifire
1984 Sportfire
1984 Trailfire LX
1996 Yamaha V Max Mountain Max
2018 Ski Doo Summit Sport
2021 Ski Doo Grand Touring Sport
BU1
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 7:54 pm
Location: MN

Re: New addition

Post by BU1 »

Congrats on the trailer, Brian! As we get older it sure makes things go better with more user friendly equipment.
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400brian
Posts: 5626
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:00 am
Real Name: James T. Kirk
Location: South Central Wisconsin

Re: New addition

Post by 400brian »

nick80lf wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 6:43 pm Out of curiosity how does a two place aluminum snowmobile trailer cook a transmission on a 10 year old 1/2 ton truck? I would think it was significantly under the towing specs for the truck. Just wondering if there's an interesting story behind this.
The weekend this trip was undertaken on was right around 100 degrees. This is a half ton, it had around 100k on it, and it had no aux tranny cooler. When I got out to Ohio, I could see an oil mist on the front of the trailer, so it appeared it was hot and pushing oil out. The return trip was just as hot and now I had 2 sleds in the trailer. When I returned home, the tranny now had a whine in it that it hadn't had before. A year later the wife came home from Green Bay with college girl stuff in the trailer, and reverse died right in the driveway. She got LUCKY!

I still own the 98 truck. My dealer rebuilt the tranny for around $1500, and it has been good since.

'09 Vintage Challenge Survivor, and I wasn't late for supper!
'10, '11, '12, '13,'14,'15,'16,'17, '18, 19, 20, 21, 22 Vintage Challenge Survivor !
72 400 restored, Father bought new in '71
73 X8 restored
'74 340 green machine
'74 X8 9 time VC finisher
'78 Spitfire in progress
2 '75 340S 1 running, one on deck
'78 LF 440 future CC clone
'73 Skiroule RTX 440, 500 mi.
User avatar
nick80lf
Posts: 1160
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 10:45 pm
Real Name: Nick
Location: The snow free zone of Ohio

Re: New addition

Post by nick80lf »

Brian....I thought you were going to have a pretty good story about an over loaded snowmobile trailer. It amazes me how much my milage drops pulling my clam shell. The wind resistance has to be terrible. Bet that V nose cuts through the air easier.

Very nice looking trailer.
80 Liquifire (purchased 1996 ~ Running)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2010 ~ Running....Now)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2011 ~ Not running - I officially have a problem now)
83 Snowfire (purchased 2014 father/son restoration project)
78 Spitfire ~ sold (should have been shot for this)
User avatar
400brian
Posts: 5626
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:00 am
Real Name: James T. Kirk
Location: South Central Wisconsin

Re: New addition

Post by 400brian »

The clam definitely pulls a bunch of air. However, the tires track with the truck, and the new trailer has the tires way out there, so we will see how that goes in snow.

On the way home with the new trailer we were running 70 mph on I-90 in towing mode, and the 2017 Silverado was showing 12 mpg. Once we got onto a state HWY running 55 mph, the mpg came up to 14.

You can tell you have more mass back there, that is for sure. I have never pulled a trailer with brakes before, and you can tell these are working, the braking distance does not seem to be too bad.

'09 Vintage Challenge Survivor, and I wasn't late for supper!
'10, '11, '12, '13,'14,'15,'16,'17, '18, 19, 20, 21, 22 Vintage Challenge Survivor !
72 400 restored, Father bought new in '71
73 X8 restored
'74 340 green machine
'74 X8 9 time VC finisher
'78 Spitfire in progress
2 '75 340S 1 running, one on deck
'78 LF 440 future CC clone
'73 Skiroule RTX 440, 500 mi.
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