Enclosed Trailers

How to Pick an Enclosed Car Hauler or Stacker

An enclosed trailer buys three things an open deck never will: weather protection, security and somewhere to work when it rains. Race teams, restorers, mobile trades and anyone moving a car worth real money usually land on one for those reasons. The costs are weight, wind resistance and a purchase figure several times that of a comparable open hauler. Our range answers most of the common briefs, running from compact single-car boxes up to long gooseneck stackers with a lift deck inside.

Work from interior length, never the advertised number

A trailer marketed as 24ft may or may not be counting the V-nose. Take the car's bumper-to-bumper measurement, add clearance to swing the doors, add the toolbox, tire rack, fuel jugs and spare wheels you will actually carry, then add the overlap where the ramp door folds in. A 24ft interior handles one vehicle and a modest amount of gear. Somewhere between 28ft and 32ft is where a car plus a genuine workbench stops feeling cramped. Beyond 34ft you are usually carrying two vehicles or building out a lounge, and at that point the trailer starts choosing the truck.

Bumper pull against gooseneck

Bumper pull trailers hook to a receiver, back into an ordinary driveway and cost less to buy. They also wag more at speed and run out of usable length around the low 30s. A gooseneck drops its coupler over the rear axle of a pickup, which puts the pin weight where the truck can carry it, tightens up the tracking and makes 40ft-plus lengths practical. The gooseneck also gains a raised nose, which is where most stackers put the sleeping area or extra storage. If a gooseneck is new to you, budget for the bed hitch and check the truck's pin weight rating before you commit.

Aluminum or steel

An aluminum frame and skin will typically save several hundred pounds against comparable steel, which either goes back into payload or takes strain off the tow vehicle. Aluminum also shrugs off road salt. Steel costs less up front, takes a hit without tearing and is easier to repair with ordinary shop equipment, but it needs its coatings kept intact. Screwless bonded skins look cleaner for longer than riveted panels and give fewer places for water to creep in. Neither material is the right answer for everyone, so weigh climate, budget and how hard the trailer will be used.

Stackers, lifts and interior height

A stacker earns its keep by hanging one car above another on a hydraulic or electric lift deck, which roughly doubles capacity without doubling length. The price is height, weight and complexity. Check the loaded height against the bridges and garages on your usual route, confirm the lift's rated capacity comfortably exceeds the upper car, and look at how the deck stows when you are hauling a single vehicle. Even on a conventional hauler, interior height decides whether a rack, a lift or a tall van body will fit, so treat it as a headline spec rather than a footnote.

Reading a used listing properly

Look for a floor that has been kept dry, roof seams that have been resealed on schedule, brakes and bearings with service history, and tires whose date codes are recent enough to matter. Wiring and interior lighting are common weak points on older boxes, and a sagging rear ramp usually means the spring assist has given up. Anything you want photographed more closely, just ask.

Ordering, payment and transport

Prices here start near $4,500 and reach about $90,600 for the most heavily specified stackers. Whatever the figure, transport to the Lower 48 is already in it, so there is no freight surprise at the end; Puerto Rico ships at a flat $550 and most trailers arrive 4 to 10 days after the bank transfer clears. Browse the rest of the Atlas catalog if you also need an open deck, compare against the chassis and equipment trailer listings, or send your questions through the contact form. We are based at 20 Pear Circle, Greenbrier, Arkansas, and you can reach us on (870) 212-9785.