Tips for Inspecting Used Open Car Trailer

[thetalonguy]

Hey Everyone,

Tried doing some searches for Vipers and open car haulers but haven’t come up with a whole lot of info. Mainly topics such as can you tow a Viper with a U-Haul trailer pop up.

Been looking at used open car trailers; not looking to get into an enclosed trailer. This will likely be used to tow my 02 from NY to Miami and back. Then may get used only a couple of times a year after that.

So far I’ve been primarily looking at 18x7, wood deck trailers. Just found a local Facebook market post for 2010, 18x7 wood deck with spare tire and tie down straps. Pictures look promising and got the guy down to $1,900 before even looking at it.

If all checks out this weekend, then I may pick it up. New to trailers and towing, so am curious on what to focus on during inspection. I’m fine with checking tires, but how do you know electric brakes/ lights / axles are working? Is a tow test a common request? Obviously checking for major rusting or other major damage, but are there any other key indicators to test? I’m very handy if I do need to replace something, but don’t want to go down a rabbit hole of replacement parts and it end up costing more than a new one. Also, was doing some reading last night and read that it may be prudent to change the tires every 3 years, which seemed a bit on the conservative side, but maybe that's common for trailer tires.

Towing truck is all cleared for towing this setup.

Pics below