Well to be honest I don't want a new trailr but I am afraid of buying an All Aluminium trail because of the stress cracks!

 

I noticed that 1-7 year old combo step decks in the trader papers are only $5k-$10k less than a brand new trailer. They sem to hold their value.

 

Just take your time and inspect the trailer real thorough.
I flew to Wisconsin to look at an all aluminum Benson, and ended up buying an all aluminum Chaparral.
I spent 5 hrs and went over the trailer with a flashlight and a fine toothed comb. Now I'm not saying this trailer was perfect,..it has its issues, but the main structure is rock solid and there were no stress cracks, or any other major issues. The floor has a couple of small holes (2" by 3") and the toolboxes are hanging a bit wacky.
I bought the trailer for $9,000, and then bought a bulkhead off e-bay for $150.00.
there are some good deals to be had,....I have seen this same trailer for no less than $15,000 in truck paper, so I feel I got a good deal.
The biggest thing is to know what to look for and check it out well.

 

yep... you better get stretch your head & neck over & above the rear axles & look with a flashlight to see cracks in places that you cannot see by just browsing over the outside.

 

Did I ever!!!
I'm not talking a small flashlight,...I used a 1,000,000 candlepower light,..it would heat up the aluminum.
The guy who was selling it was closed the day I arrived, so I was able to crawl all over the trailers to see which one I wanted without having him looking over my shoulder.

 

I have a question? is it hard to install a axle dump in your truck,the new retinour I have has a connection for it.

 

It is pretty simple. You can usually have someone install one for about $300. That is mostly labor. I believe that the valve is only about $10 or $20.

 

That's good, I can do the install. Turning with a spread axle really tares up the tires on that front axle.

Thanks GMAN

 

You are welcome, Maxbeard. You can go through a lot of tires with a spread unless you have a dump valve.

 

We have a large number of Reitenouer flats and steps in our fleet (we run into Canada) and the biggest problem I see with them is the stainless steel slide rail for sliding the axles keep coming loose. It's all good till you go to slide them into tandem position then POW! There goes an airbag. Ours are 2012's and 2014's.