Car hauler - wood deck or steel deck?

[aquaholic]

so i'm gettin close to pullin the trigger on a flatbed to haul the xj, tahoe and possibly a racecar. here's the question. wood deck or metal deck?

[cal7308]

wood for sure, metal get verrrrrrry slippery when wet......trust me

[aquaholic]

i was actually thinking steel. only for the reason that i'm not finding any wood deck trailers with d-rings on them. steel deck trailers all seem to have factory mounted d-rings. don't know why this is. can anyone explain that?

[dan58]

x2. You can easily replace wood when it gets beaten up too bad.

[aquaholic]

i'm totally not getting the d-ring thing on the wood deck trailers though. fwiw i really am having a way easier time finding the wood deck trailers.

[limegreentj]

probably because they are waaay stronger when a metal d ring is welded to a steel trailer versus bolted/screwed to wood

[dan58]

My D-rings are welded to the frame of the trailer.

[trailblaze]

metal is nice when you have to winch or slide a damaged verhicle on. wood is cheaper... probably lighter... and if it's got a stiff well built frame i don;t see why d-rings would be a problem

[YZEATER]

put d rings on the side of the trailer. or just use the stake pockets that are on most trailers.

[mxg342]

Are you going deckover? That Tahoe is going to be pretty wide. You're probably going to need a deckover 18' at a minimum.

[joshs1ofakindxj]

My 16' trailer has heavy duty metal grating on it then we welded on a few years ago to replace the wooden deck. This is nice because you can pull into a car wash with the ATVs or jeep and hose it off there. For ATVs you have infinite tie-down spots.

[jim91303]

i have an eccono trailer .... all steel and diamond decked .... 2 words .... RINO LINER ! its not all that heavy ... $2300 25'x8' with 5' dove tail and hide a way ramps.

nice thing about wood .... you can use trailer as a pit to work on it. pull boards out climb under .... gives more room to work.

[2002wranglerX]

I had a steel deck and i really liked it. someone once told me that steel decks were lighter... but i have no idea.

I never had an issue with the whole slipperty when wet thing. and when my rig leaked oil/coolant all over it, i just hosed it off, as opposed to wood which would soak it in....

I don't think you can really go wrong either way though.

[MF Steve!]

Wood. You can mount d-rings anywhere there is metal underneath the wood simply by through bolting the wood and metal underneath it. Steel gets hot, slippery, and is more costly to repair.

[jackb1]

I have a wood deck and it sits outside. After 4 years, I had to replace the wood (and fenders) from rot. I welded D rings to the steel frame around the edges. I have minimal complaints and would probably have different ones if it were all steel. If I had to do it again I'd buy an aluminum trailer and if I ever find a reasonably priced one I'm upgrading.

[SirFuego]

I use a wood deck and don't have any complaints. I've use steel ones before and didn't notice much of a difference.

What length are you looking at? I have a 16' and it's just fine for my ZJ, but I think my next trailer is going to be an 18'.

[oros35]

Wood deck. Steel is good if all you are ever gonna haul is something on wheels, but as soon as you want to haul something else you'd wished you had wood.

[RedRaider]

I have a 16ft w/ wood deck and am very satisfied with it. I would have gone aluminum if it wasn't so damn expensive, for the weight savings. i think steel deck would be much heavier than wood and I'm right around the tow limits of my FJ with a wood trailer. If you tow with your FJ, you might want a trailer sway control device, because of the FJs short wheelbase. You also might want slightly stiffer rear springs for the FJ, so it doesn't sag, especially if you go steel deck.

[JeepSteeler]

I vote wood. I lay a coat of Thompson's water seal or similar every spring on the wood on mine and it holds up just fine. The steel on the trailer is what is going faster. I hit a lot of dirt roads and don't have mudflaps, so the trailer gets sandblasted constantly from the rear tires. Another benefit of wood.

[notmYJ]

I am gonna away from everyone else and say Feather Lite aluminum. No rust, no rot. A friend of mine had one for years before he went with an enclosed Hallmark, and never once a problem with it. We put alot of miles on it hauling all over the mid atlantic, race track to race track.

http://www.fthr.com/bumper-pull_car-trailer/model3110/

[mxg342]

oh and get sealed lights (preferrably LED's) and make sure the wiring connections are soldered and heat shrinked. The electrical portion of my trailer is the biggest PITA.

[aquaholic]

well here's what i've found. i can get a brand new 2009 Gator 6'10" x 16 from trailer mike up in new castle for $1850 or i can go down to the plant in kentucky and pick it up directly from them for $1700. the A frame in the front goes the whole way back to the axles so it looks really strong in that respect. it comes with brakes on both axles, ramps and a break away kit. i guess from all the responses i'm gonna go with a wood deck and probably from Gator. i was truely struggling to find a steel deck one anyway. i'm also struggling to find a deck over that i can afford. i do like the wider deck on those but the slope to bring a car up on to it might be to much to get a race car over. if you guys know of any nice used ones around let me know or pm me. its gonna be hard to buy a used one though when the new ones are so cheap. from what i've seen on craigs list most of the used ones for around $1000 are junk anyways. btw, the tahoe makes it on a 6'10" wide with 2" to spare.

[dan58]

Here's THE trailer that I'd buy if I were in the market. They're the cat's ass for our needs.
http://www.pj-trailers.com/detail.cfm?ID=B5

Two of my friends have these babies. They are wide enough for full widths, but they aren't top heavy like a full deckover.

[tjblair]

Here's THE trailer that I'd buy if I were in the market. They're the cat's ass for our needs.
http://www.pj-trailers.com/detail.cfm?ID=B5

Two of my friends have these babies. They are wide enough for full widths, but they aren't top heavy like a full deckover.

what do those go for ?

[YJBIZ]

Yeah I have a wood deck trailer and it is 82" between the fenders. That is all I need. It can fit a full size on there.