Aluminum equipment trailers.

[Hersheyfarm]

I fixed my aluminum trailer issue. I got a pj evolution. I know pj has some online hate, and probably justified. They got bought by big Tex parent company. My choices for for my payload capacity needs was between this and diamond c’s new line, baseline. It’s a 16k with a weight of 3100. This pj is 15400 with a weight of 3380. Convenience and price plus the ramps and tool box led me to this trailer. Welds are great, the wire harness is the new plug in solid kind, has nice max ramp style ramps and a great lockable tongue tool box, basically like diamond c lpx. Dexter axles. The tongue/main rail is 8” and 1 piece that bends at the tongue instead of being welded. This new line from pj is i guess their attempt at getting back to quality and competing with diamond c. With my excavator/truck/trailer and loaded i am at 24500. Also the fenders are a new plastic fender, very strong and easy replace. Little weight savings. They are stand on. Will keep this posted.

Pj ev trailer video

 

[lostcause]

I think everyone's use and needs are different, so i suspect not everyone will have the same experience, depending on location, driving habits, loading capacity, and frequency of use. I replaced my steel trailer with aluminum a couple years ago, and time will tell how it goes. My trailer is a lot smaller than what the op needs - the previous trailer I used was an 18' 7k steel, weighing in at almost exactly 2k, so 5k remaining payload. My new one is a 20' 10k aluminum, weighing almost exactly 2k, remaining payload of 8k for the same trailer weight. This aluminum trailer is pretty heavily designed compared to some of the similar capacity competitors. The 10k steel offerings here ranged from around 3k to 3400lb weight, so the payload capacity would have been a lot less, not to mention that with smaller tow vehicles you chew up a lot more of the tow vehicle capacity too. As I said, time will tell on durability - maybe i'll have to tear in and do repairs, maybe i won't.

For reference, my trailer is branded as "Quality Steel and Aluminum". for the same money and even less than some other offerings here, it seemed to be the best in that size. It had a heavier design & build, came with a spare, aluminum wheels - including the spare, both fenders were removable for loading, while most only had one removable, and had built in sleeves for rear posts/pads to load & unload when not hooked to a tow vehicle. I don't tow a lot any more, but so far i'm content with it.

 

[TMGT]

Just so you know, Diamond C, PJ and Big Tex are all owned by the same parent company, American Trailer Works (atw).

You'll probably notice that thr newer PJ goosnecks have a similar construction to the Diamond C in the past few years.

 

[Paystar]

All I will say is after having everything from aluminum semi trailers to small utility trailers, is if it is a really good grade of aluminum and built properly you may have no issues. But in my experience, manufacturers that make small aluminum trailers for the pickup truck market don't use that good grade of aluminum and they are a never ending series of welding cracks.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Just so you know, Diamond C, PJ and Big Tex are all owned by the same parent company, American Trailer Works (atw).

You'll probably notice that thr newer PJ goosnecks have a similar construction to the Diamond C in the past few years.

Pj and big Tex are under atw, diamond c is still owned by the original family. And they are leading the industry in innovation imo and other manufacturers are following like pj.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

All I will say is after having everything from aluminum semi trailers to small utility trailers, is if it is a really good grade of aluminum and built properly you may have no issues. But in my experience, manufacturers that make small aluminum trailers for the pickup truck market don't use that good grade of aluminum and they are a never ending series of welding cracks.

Eby makes a great aluminum equipment trailer and deck over. Close to $20k. All critical parts are riveted. Incidentally the new suretrac model of mine is now riveted.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

I got situated, welded on some d rings in spots I needed, set my tongue weight and scaled. It’s nice having a steel trailer again, especially with an 8” tongue and frame. Going to put 14 ply on.

 

[LD1]

Was that everything full of fuel?

14-ply.....good tires. Just did it on my trailer. But will probably add another 200# to your weights.

Dont leave much room for other stuff, extra bucket, tools, etc. You flirting with the 26k mark

 

[TMGT]

Pj and big Tex are under atw, diamond c is still owned by the original family. And they are leading the industry in innovation imo and other manufacturers are following like pj.

Not unless they bought it back in the past 2 years, ATW owns them and Bain Capitol owns ATW.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Was that everything full of fuel?

14-ply.....good tires. Just did it on my trailer. But will probably add another 200# to your weights.

Dont leave much room for other stuff, extra bucket, tools, etc. You flirting with the 26k mark

Yea full fuel, i doubt the 14’s are 200lb more, 40-50, sure. I have a 600lb gravel bucket i may start back taking. Plenty of room.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Not unless they bought it back in the past 2 years, ATW owns them and Bain Capitol owns ATW.

Might want to research or something but diamond C is independent and never been bought. That same family owns it and the 2 brothers run it now.

 

[TMGT]

Might want to research or something but diamond C is independent and never been bought. That same family owns it and the 2 brothers run it now.

That came from the large Diamond C/ PJ dealer I bought my Diamond C trailer from 2 years ago when we started discussing different brands. The only brand on his lot that wasn't connected was the Good Guys trailers.



Apparently ATW bought/invested in a number of manufacturers in 2019/2020, including Bri-Mar/ B-wise and i believe carry on.

 

[Paystar]

Just so you know, Diamond C, PJ and Big Tex are all owned by the same parent company, American Trailer Works (atw).

You'll probably notice that thr newer PJ goosnecks have a similar construction to the Diamond C in the past few years.

Not saying you are wrong, but there is no evidence anywhere to support ATW having any ownership in Diamond C.
Everywhere you search it says Diamond C is a wholly owned company owned by Mike and Kim Crabb.
And if you google if ATW has any ownership in D-C, everything comes back saying NO.

As a side note, you can't always believe what salesmen tell you. I have had the same thing......sales people giving me completely false information.

 

[TMGT]

Not saying you are wrong, but there is no evidence anywhere to support ATW having any ownership in Diamond C.
Everywhere you search it says Diamond C is a wholly owned company owned by Mike and Kim Crabb.
And if you google if ATW has any ownership in D-C, everything comes back saying NO.

As a side note, you can't always believe what salesmen tell you. I have had the same thing......sales people giving me completely false information.

It wasn't a salesman, higher up. I also looked into it and Diamond C was listed with ATW at the time, maybe the deal fell through, don't know. I just know at the time they were connected, and right after, PJ trailers started to pick up a lot of Diamond C design traits.

I actually prefer them being a separate company, a lot of times, when an investment group buys up a bunch of companies and puts them together, quality goes down.
Just look at an older vs. newer B-wise dump trailer.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Well, understanding people are full of BS is a good tool. As far as companies being bought up and turning to crap, i agree. So far i am happy with this PJ. The more i use it the more i like it. I welded on 4 more d rings where i wanted them. The ramps are great, and I’m not sure who started the “max ramp” style ramps but glad they did, this one uses smaller max ramps than my diamond c deck over used but perfectly placed. Something i was slightly aggravated with on my diamond c max ramps was they were about an inch lower than the deck when folded down. These are perfectly flush.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Something i was slightly aggravated with on my diamond c max ramps was they were about an inch lower than the deck when folded down. These are perfectly flush.

My dislike for the so-called monster ramps is that their distance to the ground when folded out is set.

They happened to have a new trailer with those ramps on the lot when I picked up my ordered PJ with a hydraulic dove tail.

Asked them to fold one ramp down to confirm my suspicion - sure enough, the 90 degree edge of ramp hit the ground before the bottom of it was level with the ground.

Now that was a new and empty trailer. Guess you're supposed to back it up a bit to get them in fully folded out position with a load on the trailer, or put boards under the trailer tires to raise it. And in my case, it wouldn't do any good to dump the air springs, just make it harder to use those ramps.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

The max ramps do cause the tail to be a little lower, i had that issue. But these ramps are double hinged, they will allow for a little adjustment for height, not much but a few inches it seems.

 

[4570Man]

I got situated, welded on some d rings in spots I needed, set my tongue weight and scaled. It’s nice having a steel trailer again, especially with an 8” tongue and frame. Going to put 14 ply on.

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I’d probably go the 14 ply route as well if I was paying retail prices but I got these 17.5s on marketplace and they’ve been a drastic improvement over the stock 16s. I pull that trailer a lot and the 17.5s look basically brand new. I’ve got a different trailer with the trashy 10 ply 16s that doesn’t get pulled nearly as much or loaded as heavy and they’re basically slick. The tilt deck is probably heavier than you wanted but I love the tilt deck and not having to flip ramps.

 

[TMGT]

I have the 14ply 16's on my dump trailer, major improvement over the 10ply, but nothing compared to the 17.5's I put on my deckover, those things are stout, lots more tread compared to the 14ply 16's.

 

[TMGT]

I’d probably go the 14 ply route as well if I was paying retail prices but I got these 17.5s on marketplace and they’ve been a drastic improvement over the stock 16s. I pull that trailer a lot and the 17.5s look basically brand new. I’ve got a different trailer with the trashy 10 ply 16s that doesn’t get pulled nearly as much or loaded as heavy and they’re basically slick. The tilt deck is probably heavier than you wanted but I love the tilt deck and not having to flip ramps.

I wanted a rollback trailer when I was looking at few years ago. They're very rare so I went with a regular deckover with ramps.
Just saw an older Moritz rollback trailer for sale on market place! Man I wish I could have found that 2 years ago.