Hi all

I currently store my trailer in my garage with the car on it but am considering a local caravan storage company as this will make it much easier for me to work on the car. They can provide grass standing storage for £109 for 6 months, or concrete standing for £140.

Whilst I know the trailer is weatherproof and I don't worry about it raining when towing etc I am a bit concerned that it will age quicker being left outside. Am I being silly about this? I know many people store trailers outside.

It's an old Brian James Micro-max with the fold up arm as seen here:

Garage

If I do this I will go over the trailer pre-storage and make sure everything is in good condition etc. Probably rub down and Por15 some of the corroding bits such as drums and suspension arms etc. Then WD40/GT85 any other exposed areas to help stop water ingress.

- So firstly, am I being silly? Get over it Chris?
- Secondly, should I take any extra precautions before storage?
- Thirdly - is it worth the extra for concrete based storage.

Thanks in advance

Chris

i keep mine outside, i keep it covered with a couple of tarps.
it still gets a little bit green under the tarps over winter but a quick blast with the pressure washer gets it all off.

i think the concrete may be better, the grass may hold more moisture under the trailer.

Concrete will be better .but I must admit it is much better uncover ie brakes not sticking etc...parking on grass will cause lots of grief .

on grass is ok if you can put axel stands under it to lift the wheels.

Thanks everyone

Concrete and a tarp seem like the best option then. I'll also jack it up and put it on blocks so it's not sat on the tyres. There will be times it can go back in the garage but right now it's a pain for every job i'm doing.

Cheers

Chris

I'd be happier with it on concrete under a cover rather than grass.

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Originally posted by woodstock
Thanks everyone

Concrete and a tarp seem like the best option then. I'll also jack it up and put it on blocks so it's not sat on the tyres. There will be times it can go back in the garage but right now it's a pain for every job i'm doing.

Cheers

Chris

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I just keep thinking of the maths involved in this.

£280 per year, plus a tarp, let's for simplicity call it £300.

At a guess (no close up pic) the trailers worth £1000 ? so every three years storage costs the value of the trailer.



How many times a year do you use it ?

Last time I hired a trailer (hydraulic tipping car transporter) it cost £52 per 24hrs (Anglia Trailers).

You would need to use yours more than 6 times a year for it to be cheaper than hiring one,
and then there's the maintenance. Perished tyres, corroded light units, non of that when you hire.



Just my thoughts.
Paul G

Hi Paul

Thanks for your comments. I agree that the maths for storage doesn't work out too good and in reality I'd much rather be spending that money on the car itself.

At the moment I'm only really thinking about this Winter and then I'll see how it goes. I have a long list of jobs to do and losing 30-40 minutes each time I want to work on the car is frustrating. It also means I'm less likely to do jobs in the cold and dark evenings as they come round.

For example I need to do some work on my front suspension rockers after one of them worked loose on a recent trackday. To do this I need to jack the car up which means getting the trailer and car outside, unloading the car and working on it. This sounds simple enough but it also means that at the end of the evening I have to have the car in a state to push it back and then reverse the process. I started this last weekend and had to temporarily put it back together to get it away at the end of the day while i order parts. If the trailer was stored elsewhere I would have been able to leave the car on axle stands. I now want to double check the thread guage of one of the bolts which is a two minute job but I need to get it all off the trailer and jacked up again to do this - you can see the frustration. Add to this the bad UK weather over the winter and this won't be fun so i'm just considering all possibilities.

Another possibility is building a car port and I'm looking into this also but that has it's own complications.

In terms of hiring a trailer, I've looked into that before and it doesn't work out for me. At the moment I am using it about 5-6 times a year and would like to use it more. I've also found that 24hrs is not enough for trackday so best case you end up hiring from the evening before until the day after and paying for 48hr so it adds up much quicker.

Thanks

Chris

Depends on your use doesn't it, where the storage yard is, and where the nearest hire base is, availability, etc.


- If you use it as a one-off, thats pre planned, not very often, and you can hire one locally, sell it and go down the route.
- If you use it most weekends, often dont work on the car during summer or generally dont have the same issue, a few months hire over the winter might be a good shout
- And if the hire based is a 45minute drive, and you need to book it 6 weeks in advance to ensure they have one in, but the storage yard it 10minutes up the road and open practically 24/7, a years storage might be a bargain for the convenience.


Obviously you will get some aging outside that you wont get in the garage, uv damage, rust on the brakes, deertiation of any wooden floor, but I have stored all my trailers outside and I just dont have the indoor space, which also has a cost.
For and extra £21 I would probably go concrete, certainly if the grass is knee deep, but if 'grass is' basically gravelly wasteland, and the concretes not much better.... etc!



Daniel

have you got space to store it on its side?

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Originally posted by Grimsdale
have you got space to store it on its side?

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Another thought might be finding a like minded person and clubbing together to pay for the storage and sharing the use? Or perhaps even finding a like minded person that has space to store it too,...

quote:

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Originally posted by woodstock
Hi Paul

Thanks for your comments. I agree that the maths for storage doesn't work out too good and in reality I'd much rather be spending that money on the car itself.

At the moment I'm only really thinking about this Winter and then I'll see how it goes. I have a long list of jobs to do and losing 30-40 minutes each time I want to work on the car is frustrating. It also means I'm less likely to do jobs in the cold and dark evenings as they come round.

For example I need to do some work on my front suspension rockers after one of them worked loose on a recent trackday. To do this I need to jack the car up which means getting the trailer and car outside, unloading the car and working on it. This sounds simple enough but it also means that at the end of the evening I have to have the car in a state to push it back and then reverse the process. I started this last weekend and had to temporarily put it back together to get it away at the end of the day while i order parts. If the trailer was stored elsewhere I would have been able to leave the car on axle stands. I now want to double check the thread guage of one of the bolts which is a two minute job but I need to get it all off the trailer and jacked up again to do this - you can see the frustration. Add to this the bad UK weather over the winter and this won't be fun so i'm just considering all possibilities.

Another possibility is building a car port and I'm looking into this also but that has it's own complications.

In terms of hiring a trailer, I've looked into that before and it doesn't work out for me. At the moment I am using it about 5-6 times a year and would like to use it more. I've also found that 24hrs is not enough for trackday so best case you end up hiring from the evening before until the day after and paying for 48hr so it adds up much quicker.

Thanks

Chris

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quote:

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Originally posted by 907

Mmmm, I know the feeling.
I have to play musical chairs with the cars sometimes.

I did at one stage move my seven into covered storage, but then realised that it would then never get IVA'd.
At least if it was road legal I could move it easily, and tax & ins is not much more than the storage cost me anyway.


The car port idea sounds good to me, but then I don't know the "complications".

Good luck.
Paul G

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