What is the min width between a trailer's side rails I can haul a Fiero with? I am away from home temporarily and without a Fiero to measure. (I'm not worried about getting the door open once it's loaded)

If I remember right, the Fiero is almost 69 inches wide, so it would probably need a 74" wide trailer

You could squeeze one on one that narroow but you will have to climb in the window or sunroof. The standard car hauler is 8 feet wide and even that's not enough to open the door; it has to swing out over the fender.

Let me rephrase the question. What's the widest dimension on a stock Fiero?

The widest dimension is at the side mirrors... about 77".

Don,
I've had both wide and narrow trailers. What I always, always make sure of is that I can open the Fiero door over the top of the trailer fenders. BTW, if I can be of assistance, let me know.

Ron

tow dolly always works if its not lowerd and havley modded that how i got mine home.

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: tow dolly always works.......

Word, doors open also. I have towed all my Fieros on my dolly many times. Towed rear end on the dolly. Tie the deck lid down, trust me, .

quote Originally posted by cliffw: Word, doors open also. I have towed all my Fieros on my dolly many times. Towed rear end on the dolly. Tie the deck lid down, trust me, .

iv herd towing it on the rear is no good for it because of the steering i towed my from jersy to pa from the front and nothin happend to it

Here's the utility trailer I used to tow my 88 coupe back from Colorado Springs to El Paso. It was 16' long by 78" wide. The Fiero fit on it just fine, but I had to crawl out the window. Since it has manual windows, I could then get the door open far enough to roll up the window. A trailer without the side rails would have been ideal, but this is what I had, so I made it work.



Here's a rear shot. Forgive the darkened shadow....I don't know if the seller would want his pic posted, so I'm blacking out the image.



As you can see, it's pretty tight. Either a wider trailer or a real car hauler without the rails would have been better.....but this is what I owned at the time. The other issue is that with the weight of my trailer and the Fiero, the F150 was near it's towing limit....particularly since I was towing in the mountains of Colorado. I debated taking my F250, but it has a 460 and a voracious appetite for fuel. In retrospect, it would have been much easier with the bigger truck....but in 2005, gas had hit the princely sum of $2.00 a gallon.

Anyhow....less than six and a half feet wide and it's probably not going to fit. Also, I towed this car backwards....which isn't a great idea, as there is a fuel mileage penalty. The car is much more aerodynamic going forward.

[edit] You'll also notice on the rear shot that I put the car's passenger side as close as possible to the edge of the trailer for a little extra door clearance on the driver's side. It did help. And the car being offset slightly did not upset the balance of the trailer...I towed it home at 70 mph with no sway or other issues.

Hope this helps.

[This message has been edited by Frizlefrak (edited 09-18-2008).]

Here's the thing. I need a trailer---for multiple uses. I stopped by my older cousin's the other day--on the way up here to Ark, and he has his 20' for sale, at a very good price. Nice looking trailer, very well built, bulldog hitch, good tires, heavy duty ramps, good solid 2" X 10" flooring, but only 76" between the rails. I want to buy one-"use it for everything" trailer--not just for hauling a Fiero.
I do not want a big really heavy trailer tho--will be towing it with a generic Chevy Silverado automatic-small v-8 gasoline engine.

I agree that a multipurpose trailer is great to have. My 16' trailer not only transported the Fiero from Co to Tx, but it moved my wife and I twice, and a couple of my friends. It payed for itself several times over.

The main thing to look at is the GCWR of your Silverado. Take that number and deduct the weight of the loaded truck (truck,fuel, passengers, baggage, tools etc) and the difference is what you can safely tow. Also, deduct 20% off the top if you are towing in the Mountain West and using a gas engine, as they loose power with elevation.

As an example, if your Silverado has a GCWR of 10,000 lbs, and you tow out here where I do, take 20% off and you have 8000. Then say the truck weighs 3600 empty, plus 600 lbs of fuel, passengers, and luggage. Now deduct 4200 and you have 3800 left that you can tow safely. Factor in the weight of the trailer and whatever you're hauling to see if you're in the ballpark. Your numbers, of course, may be entirely different. I suspect your GCWR will be higher than my example.

And if you're towing a car or anything seriously heavy, trailer brakes are a necessity. With a half ton truck, it's a deal breaker. As I said, if I had it to do over again, I'd bite the bullet on the fuel cost and use the F250. Half ton trucks are very light duty vehicles....suspension, braking, etc....and a trailer with a car on the back can easily be close to 5000 lbs. Steep mountain passes without trailer brakes could get hairy.

All of which means the half ton truck is your limiting factor. I'd look at the weight of that 20' trailer closely....you may find with a car on the back that this particular setup is beyond safe limits. Although you may be OK if you tow on relatively flat highways. Running the numbers will tell.

I do a lot of towing....particularly a fifth wheel, and I'm a big advocate of staying within safe limits. If you run the numbers and they don't match up....bigger truck or smaller trailer is the answer. I see a lot of smaller trucks pulling big trailers these days....and they get away with it under normal circumstances....but I wouldn't want to see what would happen in a distressed situation. Safety first.

Good luck.

My trailer can fit a 72" wide track and my Fiero has about 1" to spare (1/2" each side) with 245/50-15 tires on the front with maximum camber. I can not open the doors more than a couple inches though.

A stock Fiero is probably closer to 69" - 70" wide at the wheels.

quote Originally posted by maryjane: I do not want a big really heavy trailer tho--will be towing it with a generic Chevy Silverado automatic-small v-8 gasoline engine.

Well Don, there's your problem, you need a real truck.

Actually, that twenty footer can probably haul more than most trucks should pull. As I indicated earlier in this thread, if the side rails are short enough, that trailer should be fine. I had a simlialr trailer like that one time, sold it because the side rails were too tall to allow me to open a Fieros doors. I'm way too old and fat to be crawling through windows or moon roofs.

Ron

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 09-19-2008).]

With an unreal fuel bill as well? No thanks. I won't be using the trailer too very much--will probably spend more time behind one of the tractors on the property than it does on the highway. This one has higher than normal rails, measures 76" between the rails--I 'think'. (Had someone else get the measurement for me). It's first job is going to be hauling broken off telephone poles from Hurricane Ike----my fence post problem has solved itself. Just take my chainsaw with me and cut them to manageable lengths and load them as I go.

quote Originally posted by blackrams: Well Don, there's your problem, you need a real truck. Actually, that twenty footer can probably haul more than most trucks should pull. As I indicated earlier in this thread, if the side rails are short enough, that trailer should be fine. I had a simlialr trailer like that one time, sold it because the side rails were too tall to allow me to open a Fieros doors. I'm way too old and fat to be crawling through windows or moon roofs. Ron

quote Originally posted by blackrams: Well Don, there's your problem, you need a real truck. Ron

Not sure which model Silverado Don has but according to Chevy the 1500 Silverado has a GCWR of 16,000 pounds. I think that's more than enough to handle a 20' Trailer. As long as you are not hauling it full of lead bars or something like that.

I bought the 20' tandem. Not ideal for hauling a Fiero by any means, because of the narrow 74" width between 23" high rails, but at least it has functional elec brakes, good lighting, bulldog hitch, and well built ramps.
Thanks for all the replys!!

the last few times i hav towed my fiero has been with a u-haul trailer behind my 05 3.7v6 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and it has been just fine.

quote Originally posted by maryjane: I do not want a big really heavy trailer tho--will be towing it with a generic Chevy Silverado automatic-small v-8 gasoline engine.

Get a good trailer, and your truck will be fine.

I'm using a '95 GMC 1500, 2wd, shortbed, 5spd manual, air shocks on the rear, small v8 w150K+ miles.

My trailer is all steel, tilt bed, removable fenders, tandem axles, brakes on both axles, rated for much more than a Fiero weighs.

With a Fiero on flat ground ( KY to Detroit ) it is a bit slow on the on ramp, but runs with the traffic all day.

Hauling a much bigger car ( Lexus 330 ) over the Applician Mountians ( DC to KY ) I had to down shift one and sometimes two gears a few times to climb mountians, but other than that it ran with the traffic all day.

David Breeze

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