Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi people.

I finally came across a enclosed trailer that I like. Torsion axles, one piece fiberglass roof, new carlisle 10 ply trailer tires and one owner.. But even though its a quality trailer, it is after all 16 years old and has barn doors instead of the ramp I prefer for my dirt bike.

He wants $4200 for it and I know that's high.. What's it worth in your opinion? Here's a link to a picture at google photo's as I haven't figured out how to change the link to open in a forum yet. Thanks photobucket!

https://goo.gl/photos/AnfaM1H6t5G57Ecq9

That is definitely a up scale trailer. In it's day I'm sure would be up there with the Neo's and Featherlights etc.
It looks like the wall studs are 4'? One piece roof should be an advantage and the overall condition looks excellent, 4 new tires and one owner, I'm not really sure that is overpriced. In my market any cargo trailer is hard to find used and they sell fast. If you consider that it's one owner and hasn't been horse whipped, seems like a good value. If your alternative was a new trailer, well that first trip home is very costly due to the instant depreciation. That won't be an issue here. I guess it's like most things, It's worth what you can get for it. I would have to grab it before somebody else did. It will probably be a long time before a nicer used trailer comes along.
I don't think it would be impossible to fab a ramp door, and find the spring/cable assem. or possibly an entire ramp and spring, although the odds of finding an exact match are slim. May find one close enough to modify. And in the mean time use a portable ramp. It may turn out that the barn doors are a boon based on some of the designs we've seen. Dirt bikes are not as tough to load as 900 lb Harley's etc.
I like it. A lot.

McDave

Torsion axles don't get repaired but wholly replaced.

And nothing lasts forever.

Any way to inspect/test them? Maybe see who made them, give a call?

Here's a 6x12 that looks to be of similar quality. Check out the other Deltas they have used. Not a lot of info on Kiefer so far.
http://www.trailercountry.com/6x12-delt ... 7CrWb.html

McDave

McDave wrote:That is definitely a up scale trailer. In it's day I'm sure would be up there with the Neo's and Featherlights etc.
It looks like the wall studs are 4'? One piece roof should be an advantage and the overall condition looks excellent, 4 new tires and one owner, I'm not really sure that is overpriced. In my market any cargo trailer is hard to find used and they sell fast. If you consider that it's one owner and hasn't been horse whipped, seems like a good value. If your alternative was a new trailer, well that first trip home is very costly due to the instant depreciation. That won't be an issue here. I guess it's like most things, It's worth what you can get for it. I would have to grab it before somebody else did. It will probably be a long time before a nicer used trailer comes along.
I don't think it would be impossible to fab a ramp door, and find the spring/cable assem. or possibly an entire ramp and spring, although the odds of finding an exact match are slim. May find one close enough to modify. And in the mean time use a portable ramp. It may turn out that the barn doors are a boon based on some of the designs we've seen. Dirt bikes are not as tough to load as 900 lb Harley's etc.
I like it. A lot.

McDave

Thanks McDave. Good call on the stud spacing but hard to believe though. And difficult to know if it was horse whipped as he did mention he lent it to friends.. But the clearance between the tires and fender wells look sufficient and may indicate the torsion axles haven't been over loaded.

I'm so busy with other projects I'm not worried if it's sold out from under me, but I better make a offer before someone else does. I think its overpriced after searching ebays sold listings and I rarely buy new. https://www.ebay.com/sch/Cargo-Utility- ... 5573.m1684

As far as the ramp door.. I think I could jack up the front or use a hill to load my DRZ400s. Or just have a single ramp. Definitely not a perk though and worth less to me. What I really like about the trailer is that the wheels are under the trailer, and total width very close to the tow vehicle as I plan on towing this up fire roads in Colorado. But double torsion axle aren't the best choice for pot holes and dirt roads.

John61CT wrote:Torsion axles don't get repaired but wholly replaced.

And nothing lasts forever.

Any way to inspect/test them? Maybe see who made them, give a call?

Very good point John. I did a little research on how to know, and the only way I came up with is eye balling the clearance between the tires and fender wells..

McDave wrote:Here's a 6x12 that looks to be of similar quality. Check out the other Deltas they have used. Not a lot of info on Kiefer so far.
http://www.trailercountry.com/6x12-delt ... 7CrWb.html

McDave

Thanks for that. That trailer is $4,550.00. Yes its smaller but brand new. There's no way I'm paying his $4200 for a 17 year old trailer and I think a offer of $3000 is more than fair.

I didn't even see the "Our Price" of 4500 I googled Keifer MSRP and got to that page. The 5100 Msrp is what I noticed, Not bad for a pretty well built trailer. I did see the delta is all steel, and steel roof, and the wall studs are on 20" centers. apparently they don't screw the outer skin to every stud. I guess their sheet metal (steel) does not require it, and it must be odd sized stock or they take it off a roll. Not the usual 4x8 cause it's tough to get 48" to land on 20" centers.
Is the Keifer Alum or steel? You said you are Colorado, is there a pretty good supply of used trailers? I'm in a rural part of Montana,(surprise) about 10,000 pop. in county, 4000 sq miles, and I have only seen a few Cargos for sale. Almost everything is 5th wheel around here and ranchers don't sell much. They have room to store equipment, and if they need it, they need it now. I got my cargo from So. Dakota craigslist, and it was Feb. so it wasn't high demand.

McDave

Howdy All;

Once upon a time ... I lived in Utah for a few years. Found that they have a very handy online yard sale,
here's the CT (utility trailer), pages;
http://www.ksl.com/classifieds/s/Auto+P ... y+Trailers

There's stuff from Id., Ut., Wy. and a host of other places. These are generally private sales but ... there
are some dealers selling stuff there as well.

Have fun.

hank

McDave wrote:I didn't even see the "Our Price" of 4500 I googled Keifer MSRP and got to that page. The 5100 Msrp is what I noticed, Not bad for a pretty well built trailer. I did see the delta is all steel, and steel roof, and the wall studs are on 20" centers. apparently they don't screw the outer skin to every stud. I guess their sheet metal (steel) does not require it, and it must be odd sized stock or they take it off a roll. Not the usual 4x8 cause it's tough to get 48" to land on 20" centers.
Is the Keifer Alum or steel? You said you are Colorado, is there a pretty good supply of used trailers? I'm in a rural part of Montana,(surprise) about 10,000 pop. in county, 4000 sq miles, and I have only seen a few Cargos for sale. Almost everything is 5th wheel around here and ranchers don't sell much. They have room to store equipment, and if they need it, they need it now. I got my cargo from So. Dakota craigslist, and it was Feb. so it wasn't high demand.

McDave

Thanks McDave

The Kiefer is steel with a fiberglass roof. I'm in Iowa, but my vacation destination was Colorado when I owned a toyhauler. There's a pretty good supply of used trailers in my area, but none of them are this size and configuration. I asked a buddy of mine who is more in tune with the market and he told me the kiefer is only worth 1500-2000..