Featherlite style car hauler??

[LOBBS]

I've been wanting to build a tractor / enclosed car hauler combo for quite some time. I picked up an International ProStar at the Heartland Nats this morning to handle the tractor side of things. I've not had much luck over the years finding info on what I'd need to build a Featherlite style trailer. I don't mind scratch building and/or 3D printing. I have experience with designing CAD, specifically SOLIDWORKS. I just can't seem to find dimensions or even good reference pics to get started. Any good resources out there?

[Force]

There are some and here is what I have found out during my researches on the subject as I have plans to do one myself.
The modern Featherlite trailers are 53-53.6 feet long, 102 inches wide and 13.6 inches total hight with a 31-37 inch drop, axle spread 10.1 feet.
Wheels are often low profile 255/70R-22.5.
Some measurements can vary as all trailers are cutom made as you can get them as you wish, but these are the most common ones.
Here is a couple of drawings I found of a Featherlite trailer, you can use them as a guide.

Edited June 11 by Force

[LOBBS]

1 hour ago, Force said:

There are some and here is what I have found out during my researches on the subject as I have plans to do one myself.
The modern Featherlite trailers are 53-53.6 feet long, 102 inches wide and 13.6 inches total hight with a 31-37 inch drop, axle spread 10.1 feet.
Wheels are often low profile 255/70R-22.5.
Some measurements can vary as all trailers are cutom made as you can get them as you wish, but these are the most common ones.
Here is a couple of drawings I found of a Featherlite trailer, you can use them as a guide.

Thank you sir!! This will help me immensely. I've been searching like crazy to find shots of the frame / axles. These things are so low to the ground that it's seemingly impossible to find good pics of the "bones" underneath them.

I'm thinking I'll buy one of the Moebius 53' smooth side trailers and use as much of that kit as I can. For sure I can use the roof and possibly extend the lower edges of the side panels to match the profile of the Featherlite trailer. May even be able to cut the floor of the kit up to use as part of the new frame. It'd also give me random trailer bits like the gooseneck hookups, supports, wheels/tires (tho I may have to swap those out for low profile ones as you mentioned), etc. From what I can tell the Featherlite frames are somewhat based on drop deck lowboy trailers (I'm sure there's a way more specific name for them) so I may be able to follow that as a guide for the perimeter frame and suspension.

Edited June 11 by LOBBS

[Force]

No problem.
The axles are low mount air ride axles and I have found a few pictures of the underside of a Featherlite trailer.

[LOBBS]

24 minutes ago, Force said:

No problem.
The axles are low mount air ride axles and I have found a few pictures of the underside of a Featherlite trailer.

That answers a bunch of my questions and confirms, to me, that starting from the Moebius Smooth Side (or Great Dane but the Smooth Side's walls would be easier to clean up to mimic the sides of the Featherlite) is the best option. The underbelly of the floor on it is of nearly identical construction. Those axles don't look like they'd be too awful to fab up. I was genuinely confused how the real Featherlite trailer kept the floor the same height between the axles as the rest of the drop but that makes a ton of sense now.

Thank you so much!

[LOBBS]

Just doing some quick searching it looks like the Hendrickson CONNEX Unitized Air Suspension System is the closest match I've found so far to sort out the axle questions. Not sure if it's been modeled in scale by anyone but shouldn't be too bad to do for a 3D print.

Edited June 12 by LOBBS

[Force]

On 6/12/2025 at 5:49 PM, LOBBS said:

Just doing some quick searching it looks like the Hendrickson CONNEX Unitized Air Suspension System is the closest match I've found so far to sort out the axle questions. Not sure if it's been modeled in scale by anyone but shouldn't be too bad to do for a 3D print.

I don't know the make on the suspension they use...but they looks kind of like Neway or something similar.

[LOBBS]

While doing some research, I came across this configuration of race hauler which may make more sense for a private, small race team like I would be trying to emulate. As best as I can find 45' is the legal limit for a single vehicle in the US. And looking into toterhomes / RVs there is a magic ratio of wheelbase to overall length of an absolute minimum of 50% to about 60% with 58% being "ideal". So, for a 45' vehicle I'd need a wheelbase of 270-324". The LoneStar, if I remember correctly, is patterned after a factory 280" wheelbase so it just barely falls into that range but really needs a slight stretch but much less so than starting with a ProStar so I've got one of those coming. And to be honest, it's just a cooler looking truck for this kind of build. I could lean into it being more of a hot rodder influence.

If I allowed 20' in the back to do a double stack garage with a lift gate, and the front bumper to back of a LoneStar daycab length is 11' that gives me ~14' of bunk and shop space between the two areas. I guess the next decision I'd have to make is whether to try and track down one of the resin LoneStar daycabs I've seen mentioned here over the years, if they're still in production, or somehow try to meld the sleeper into the rest of the box since I don't necessarily have to be 1000% accurate. I can still take quite a bit of inspiration from the Featherlite trailers, I just won't have as much room or interior vertical height as would be allowed with a drop deck style trailer.

And I suppose if anyone needs a ProStar with a CTM detail kit hit me up with the change of direction this project took.

Edited Tuesday at 04:39 PM by LOBBS