Barkleydave, I have my dory on the SUT 250 and it seems very happy there being towed by a Honda CR-V.  It does occasionally bounce, and I am especially careful approaching speed bumps and railroad tracks.

Very happy with my Trailex... this blog entry provides some good shot of the trailer setup.

Note the different front part. CHeck out some of the old threads on the Passagemaker Dinghy forum for part numbers for this item.

This link might also be of interest... my blog entry of building the trailer.

Cheers,

Chris

I bought the Trailex SUT 250 kit and am quite happy with it. I set it up to haul 4 kayaks on J-style cradles. I also bought a relatively inexpensive aluminum pickup truck box and mounted it aft of the axle, within the fraime of the trailer. It's great for carrying the life jackets, paddles and other gear. You might also take a look at the Malone Sport Trailers. I caught a glimpse of one at a favorite launch area recently, and I noticed it comes with 12-inch wheels, which I like much better than the 8-inchers that the Trailex comes with, and also that it has substantial metal fenders instead of the flimsy plastic ones on the Trailex. The one I saw was shiny and new, so I couldn't tell from my fleeting glimpse if it was aluminum or steel.

Thanks for the great info all !

I checked aout the Malone wow very nice and very expensive!

Looks like Trailex is the best choice and I like the way Chris has his setup.

dave

Just completed the build of an SUT 250 for my skerry. Relatively easy tho providing power to the trailer from your tow vehicle can be a bit complicated..in my case from an old Passat wagon . Trailex tech support recommended power directly from the car's

battery, run under the car up to the converter ..I am looking for something a little less physical and hope to obtain power from somewhere inside the car..eg. a cigarette lighter.....Curtmfg.com support very helpful on the phone. I also expressed my concerns over the 8" tires supplied with the kit and was told that this smaller tire is much superior to a 12" with respect to ride quality and potential stress on the boat .......still absorbing this last bit of information and continue to have doubts.......good luck.   Tomc

Tomc...

You will find the 8" tires will do just fine. I have been hauling trailers for over 50 years with all kinds of boats, tractors etc.  My larger boat trailers have 12" and 14" tires. These trailers haul over 1000# and 3000#

Regarding trailer lights on foreign vehicles.

I use a company Etrailer.com

Great service and good prices.  I have purchased 6 hitches from them for various vehicles.  Two of them have been VWs.

If your Passat has a aux 12VDC socket in the rear of the vehicle you can tap into it and it will work fine. (Now emergency flashers will not work with engine off however)

My recent VW Jetta Sportwagen I ran pwr up to the battery. Not a big deal but took more time.  I also did not use the cheap compression splices. All my tailight connections I soldered.

I did pull a 14' alumminum boat with steel trailer behind my Jetta TDI.

The trailer alone weights over 300 lbs and and boat and motor about 300 more.

Pulled fine however milage really suffers.

I expect to pull my CLC with trailex and probably will hardly notice it is there.

Thank you BarkleyBoater......I am somewhat reassured on the issue of the 8 inch trailer wheel....some other writers have offered the same advice. With regard to the wiring from my Passat to the Curt converter, not having much luck....Is there a good site which might lead me thru the correct procedure ??..I plan to go over to my local VW dealer in a few days to get a quick lesson on the tail light wiring assembly.....Tomc

Etrailer.com has an excellent site addressing trailer light wiring for VW.

Type in your vehicle for hitch and it will lead to a link with a video detailing wiring a VW Jetta. (same wiring as yours)

Also detailed instructions are in PFD format on the site.

P.S. I made an inquiry with a local VW dealer and they were rude and said "Your vehicle is not designed to pull a trailer so we cannot help you."

They pull trailers all the time in Europe and Canada behind our cars.

barkleyboater

I have the sut200 so my experience may differ a bit since the box frame for the 250 is heavier.

I recently was returning from VA beach to DC metro area and one of my tires blew out and shredded. Fortunately no damage to the boat.

I found an auto parts store within 10 miles which carried a larger set of high-speed rated tires for the boat which use the same rim. They still fit in the plastic fenders.

Those 8 inch tires are not highway rated as far as I know, I think when I pulled it out of the box, I found a rating of 45mph on something.

The sut200 depends on tire pressure for some of the shock absorbtion and it really kicks up on bumps. i dont think a larger tire will bounce as much. I feel that the base tire is inadequate. Also, I just added new led lights as I got tired of replacing bulbs. I trailered since I was 16 and never had so many bulb problems.

pat

It is not the size of the tire as much as the rating. OEM stuff usually is Class B.

C is much better with 8 ply sidewalls.

If I go with Trialex I will probably move up to 12 inch tires especially if the OEM stuff is the China Crap.