Hi, new here and looking for trailer advice

[rrich1]

Hi,

I just found out on Christmas that I will be able to purchase my grandfather's '31 AA pickup soon. He sold it around 6 years ago before his Alzheimers disease really set in. I don't have all of thee information on it but the seller (family friend) will be sending me pictures soon of the documentation.

The truck was initially sold with a trailer but it broke and now they don't have it anymore. What is the typical trailer that people are using to haul these? It is a dually. Is a standard 16-20' trailer with dual axles rated at 3500 lbs a piece sufficient? I own a 2011 Ford F150 with trailer brake so I should have no issue hauling it. I dont normally pull anything but the bed gets used for woodworking and other house projects.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. I traveled with my grandpa to Walcott everyear for almost 20 years taking it to the truck show.

[Charlie Stephens]

Look forward to a picture. The AA designation was reserved for the large commercial trucks of that era and the term pickup usually referred to the truck built on the passenger car chassis. You should add your general location to your profile, you can never anticipate when it will be valuable in responding to your posts. Welcome to Fordbarn.

Charlie Stephens

[rrich1]

Originally Posted by Charlie Stephens

Look forward to a picture. The AA designation was reserved for the large commercial trucks of that era and the term pickup usually referred to the truck built on the passenger car chassis. You should add your general location to your profile, you can never anticipate when it will be valuable in responding to your posts. Welcome to Fordbarn.

Charlie Stephens

Charlie,

Thanks for the proper terminology. I knew but wrote pickup anyways. I'm looking for a pic and will post one that I can find. The truck is a few hours away so I dont have any current ones but was told it still looks the same.

I'm located in central IL and will add it to the profile.

[1930artdeco]

Welcome to the Barn rrich1. Since I am not sure which one you have I will say that if it is an AA with a duelly rear axle then you will need something quite wide to handle it. Plus don't forget about the sides of the bed as well. A dual rear axle trailer should be just fine since the AA shouldn't weigh more than 3500 lbs. If it is a pickup then something that will haul a car will be fine.


Mike

[Bob C]

Welcome, I wouldn't use a Uhaul trailer as they are a little short and the tire straps aren't long enough to go over the tires.


Bob

[Gil Sissons]

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In thinking about what type of trailer you need the first question I
Ask is what your intentions are for the trailer after the truck is
brought home? Do you see your self hauling the truck around very
often? If not going to actually use the trailer a lot you might
consider just renting a heavy duty trailer at your local rental shop.
Vast majority of the time these trailers just sit home waiting around
for something to do.

Gil. NoCal

[30 Closed Cab PU]

If you are in a Model A club, perhaps one of the members has one you can borrow or rent. If you are looking to buy, a club would be another resource to ask questions/advice, or maybe has member have one you can buy.

[rrich1]

Gil-

I don't for see hauling the truck often, maybe once a year. The truck is going to be delivered to me on on his flatbed. I don't need a trailer right now and wouldn't probably have to have it until 2030 but I figured if I knew what kind was needed or what to look for and a deal came around I could get one.

I believe the AA is a stake truck. Here is a photo of a photo. I cannot for the life of me find any other pics of it. It has black fenders and green cab. The pics are old but it still looks the same. Hopefully I will get updated pics soon. He wants to wait until nice weather to get the truck to me. He lives in a suburb of Chicago so it's a few hours away from me right now.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

I have two customers with AA trucks that haul them in a regular 24' enclosed car trailer with no loading issues. They will also fit nicely on a U-Haul sized open trailer. The key IMO is to ensure you have a large enough tow vehicle so that the tail does not wag the dog.

[Gil Sissons]

Rich you are looking at about 3800# truck.
Brent has a good point in not asking too much from the tow rig.
Using a trailer just once a year pretty hard for me to justify buying
when you probably have implement rental shops around you with
trailers set up to do this job easily.

Gil. NoCal

[30 Closed Cab PU]

Originally Posted by Gil Sissons

Rich you are looking at about 3800# truck.
Brent has a good point in not asking too much from the tow rig.
Using a trailer just once a year pretty hard for me to justify buying
when you probably have implement rental shops around you with
trailers set up to do this job easily.

Gil. NoCal

His avatar info says he is in Central Illinois, he may not have rental places close. Its mostly cornfields with a few scattered larger cities. If answer is nothing close, bet there are a lot of farmers with trailers.

[Redbird]

Measure the width of the tires front and back, then check the width of a uhaul. Tie it down good and take her home. Your P/U should be plenty to pull it!

[kenparker]

The standard "loboy" as we call it in Texas,either 16" or 18" long, like the one the farmers use to haul their tractors are usually six (6) feet wide. That is a tight squeeze for a AA model A. I use a 16' "car hauler", It is 6 ft 6"" wide and the extra 6" makes all the difference. I haul Model A coupes, Pickups and sedans regular and easily. Once hauled a AA from california to Texas with it. My tow vehicle as a GMC 1500 with the little 4.8 liter V8. Taxed that engine and tranny, so we had to travel at 45- 50 all the way home. Would not do that again. kenp

[whirnot]

Here is another thought. I used a 16 foot car hauler for a number of years to haul Jeep's, model As, and pickups.
Once you own one, you find many uses, you can build sides for it and haul other things. Garden supplies, firewood etc. Then I had an enclosed trailer made, as we will sometimes travel to car shows, meets, and conventions, too far to drive the A. It is so much easier to load and unload, protects better, and can be used from time to time, to store a car. It is really nice to have as a garage at the event.
Mine is an 8 foot wide by 16 foot vee nose.
It is the perfect size for an A but might be too small for the AA. My F150 with brakes pulls it fine, but mileage drops to about 10. About 14 with the flatbed.

[rosenkranswa]

We have a 24' x 8' x7' enclosed V-front which we tow with an F-250 Turbo Diesel. This will handle most anything. We got the extra height for the Model T, but its useful for the AA as well, in fact not sure you could load an AA in a regular height trailer. The F-250 pulls it with no problems, but be sure you have a load equalizing hitch on the tow vehicle, the rated load is usually for an equalizing hitch and is quite a bit more than a standard hitch. Good to get it with sway bars as well.

We pull from PA down to FL each winter with the T in it.

[ronn]

If you buy a trailer, I would suggest buying a new one. The used ones in the NJ area tend to go for as much as some of the less expensive new ones.

Then you have to consider replacing tires and redoing bearings, so in the end, the new ones are the better way to go in my experience. Would also buy at least an 18'
so if you need it for any other vehicles, they will all fit. 16 can be a little small.

[KUDZUVIPER]

Hello all, I would not recommend the uhaul standard open car hauler to move an AA, did that 6 years ago hauling similar AA with later pickup bed...trailer was too short for the length of the AA(also, half the rear tires hung over the side edge of the trailer), could not go over 45-50 MPH with out major trailer swaying.

[burner31]

Mine is a 20 footer, which is a little overkill for a Model A, but I also use it for my '57 Chevy.
Works great, cost...$1500

[30 Closed Cab PU]

Originally Posted by burner31

Mine is a 20 footer, which is a little overkill for a Model A, but I also use it for my '57 Chevy.
Works great, cost...$1500

Nice. Leaves room for that large tool box on the front for tools/supplies.


What is the battery on the front used for? A wench perhaps?

[ronn]

A wench perhaps?

I sure hope not. that could be a bit rough...........

[burner31]

Originally Posted by ronn

A wench perhaps?

I sure hope not. that could be a bit rough...........

Yes, in front of the tool box is a wench.

[Paul Bjarnason]

Aside from making sure your tow vehicle has the tow capacity and the trailer is rated to carry your AA truck, two things are important. First, make sure your trailer has brakes on both axles. Not all trailers with 3500 lb axles have brakes on both axles and my personal experience has told me you need the best possible braking capability. Second, get a trailer tongue scale to be sure you have the correct tongue weight, which is critical to avoiding a swaying condition which could cause you to lose control. Your tongue weight should be 10 - 15 percent of the total loaded trailer weight. Of course, make sure your trailers wheel bearings are freshly packed and your tires are in good condition and properly inflated.

[rrich1]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. At this time I don't think I will actively pursue a trailer but keep an eye out if one pops up. I poke with my father who has a trailer that would work if I needed to borrow one.

Regarding being in central IL, it isn't all cornfields with no big towns. I love 10 min from a sister town of 120k...surrounded by corn and bean fields. [emoji16]

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[whirnot]

Originally Posted by Paul Bjarnason

Aside from making sure your tow vehicle has the tow capacity and the trailer is rated to carry your AA truck, two things are important. First, make sure your trailer has brakes on both axles. Not all trailers with 3500 lb axles have brakes on both axles and my personal experience has told me you need the best possible braking capability. Second, get a trailer tongue scale to be sure you have the correct tongue weight, which is critical to avoiding a swaying condition which could cause you to lose control. Your tongue weight should be 10 - 15 percent of the total loaded trailer weight. Of course, make sure your trailers wheel bearings are freshly packed and your tires are in good condition and properly inflated.

I would have to greatly disagree. That is way too much weight on the hitch. My trailer and Model A weigh in at 5500#. maximum for the trailer is #7000. According to your figures I should have 550 to 825 pounds of weight on the hitch. Way over most hitches capacity.
As long as your trailer is nose heavy by a couple hundred pounds and you don't have an overslung condition it will tow fine.

[Paul Bjarnason]

Originally Posted by whirnot

I would have to greatly disagree. That is way too much weight on the hitch. My trailer and Model A weigh in at 5500#. maximum for the trailer is #7000. According to your figures I should have 550 to 825 pounds of weight on the hitch. Way over most hitches capacity.
As long as your trailer is nose heavy by a couple hundred pounds and you don't have an overslung condition it will tow fine.

No. I used to think what you are saying is correct, i.e., just have "some" tongue weight and make sure your trailer and tow vehicle are level. I found out the hard way that this is not the case, when a couple of years ago, I came close to having a serious accident while pulling my skidsteer on my 14K GVW trailer, when my gross weight was probably around 10K. It was a horrible experience. After that, I did some research and everywhere I looked I got the same answer: 10 - 15% of the gross trailer weight should be on the tongue. Some places recommended a weight distributing hitch, to help out. Also, I bought a scale to measure my tongue weight, just to be sure. Here's what GMC says, which is the same as what everyone else who is authoritative says on the matter: https://www.gmc.com/gmc-life/trucks/...or-safe-towing But, you could go for years without a problem and ignore this advice, like I did. Now, I am a believer!

[daveymc29]

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Wow am I jealous. Beautiful truck. Get a trailer it will go into with a bit of working room on either side. The F150 I had had a straight 6 and I pulled a 1940 John Deere from Oklahoma to a museum in San Ramon with no issue except backing up. Then it reacted as if I had no brakes at all. After the first adventure of backing down a driveway and across a busy street I made sure to never had to back up again until I got rid of the trailer. I believe the trailer brakes (electric) were non existent when moving backwards. I felt like someone had covered the area with ball bearings.

[whirnot]

Originally Posted by Paul Bjarnason

No. I used to think what you are saying is correct, i.e., just have "some" tongue weight and make sure your trailer and tow vehicle are level. I found out the hard way that this is not the case, when a couple of years ago, I came close to having a serious accident while pulling my skidsteer on my 14K GVW trailer, when my gross weight was probably around 10K. It was a horrible experience. After that, I did some research and everywhere I looked I got the same answer: 10 - 15% of the gross trailer weight should be on the tongue. Some places recommended a weight distributing hitch, to help out. Also, I bought a scale to measure my tongue weight, just to be sure. Here's what GMC says, which is the same as what everyone else who is authoritative says on the matter: https://www.gmc.com/gmc-life/trucks/...or-safe-towing But, you could go for years without a problem and ignore this advice, like I did. Now, I am a believer!

If you are going to put 800 # of toungue weight in an F150? Good luck, I hope you can keep the front wheels down.

[Paul Bjarnason]

Originally Posted by whirnot

If you are going to put 800 # of toungue weight in an F150? Good luck, I hope you can keep the front wheels down.

Good point, Bill. Depending upon the weight of the trailer load, keeping the front wheels down could be an issue and maybe require a weight distributing hitch. But, we're talking about a Model A on the trailer here and, therefore, I doubt the necessary tongue weight to get into the 10 - 15% tongue weight area would be more than 500 lbs., which should not be a problem for a half-ton pickup.

[ronn]

Yes, in front of the tool box is a wench.



I see a winch, but not a wench..............

[30 Closed Cab PU]

Originally Posted by ronn

Yes, in front of the tool box is a wench.



I see a winch, but not a wench..............

Sigh, bad thing is I proof read this and I thought that was the correct word.

[ronn]

good on you 30.................


I was hoping for the former..............!