woodstock
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| posted on 22/9/14 at 03:25 PM |
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Trailer Storage...
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
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bigfoot4616
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| posted on 22/9/14 at 03:50 PM |
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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.
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ian locostzx9rc2
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| posted on 22/9/14 at 04:10 PM |
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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 .
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jossey
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| posted on 22/9/14 at 04:48 PM |
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on grass is ok if you can put axel stands under it to lift the wheels.
Thanks
David Johnson
Building my tiger avon slowly but surely.
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woodstock
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| posted on 22/9/14 at 07:08 PM |
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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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nick205
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| posted on 22/9/14 at 08:54 PM |
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I'd be happier with it on concrete under a cover rather than grass.
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 22/9/14 at 09:59 PM |
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quote:
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
I suggest; if you can, cover the tyres to protect from uv, plus, don't leave the brakes on.
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907
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| posted on 23/9/14 at 07:10 AM |
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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
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woodstock
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| posted on 23/9/14 at 09:56 AM |
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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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dhutch
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| posted on 23/9/14 at 12:12 PM |
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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
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Grimsdale
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| posted on 23/9/14 at 12:26 PM |
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have you got space to store it on its side?
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woodstock
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| posted on 23/9/14 at 12:43 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Grimsdale
have you got space to store it on its side?
Not in the Garage and I don't have any access to the rear garden except through the door at the back of the garage, i haven't measured it
but it would be a tight fit and i would somehow need to lift and move the trailer on it's side through the doorway.
Another idea worth investigating though, thanks
[Edited on 23/9/14 by woodstock]
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HowardB
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| posted on 23/9/14 at 03:54 PM |
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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,...
Howard
Fisher Fury was 2000 Zetec - now a 1600 (it Lives again  and goes zoom)
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907
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| posted on 23/9/14 at 09:27 PM |
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quote:
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
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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woodstock
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| posted on 23/9/14 at 10:02 PM |
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quote:
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
Yep, musical cars...
A car port with gates and a roof would be ideal, so it would become more of a tandem garage. That way I could have the trailer in the car port
normally and potentially move the car onto the trailer in the car port if i'm doing something where i need the space in the garage (engine out
work, bodywork repairs etc.
The main complication is the fact that the garage sits halfway along the side of my house leaving the gap from the front of the garage to the front of
the house at just under 4m. The car on the trailer with the trailer arm up is 3.8m. So if I finish the car port flush with the front of the house that
gives me 20cm of spare space before allowing for the gates being mounted. So basically that's very tight. Having the car port extend beyond the
front of the house makes it more complicated and also potentially unsightly especially with the approach to the house coming from this side.
It's just a bit too close for comfort and something like fitting a splitter or diffuser on the car could put it beyond this limit. And what if i
changed cars... etc. If I had 5m i'd be doing it now.
The other complication is making it look right and not making it look like someone's dropped a shed on my driveway :-)
[Edited on 23/9/14 by woodstock]
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