PJ trailers

[CToney]

We are looking at a 28ft tandem dually PJ gooseneck with beavertails. I just wanted to know if anyone ran one similar or their opinion on PJ trailers. It looks ok except for exposed wiring going to the brakes. A similarly equipped Canadian built trailer is $5000 more but has better wire protection and a fir deck.

 

[EGroeneveld]

I have been happy with my 2007 PJ 12' 14k rated dump trailer. No problems. It could have a better paint but does not seem much differnent in paint quality from by Big Tex, Great Northern or Pace trailers.

 

[2Rowdy]

A buddy of mine had one it was a great trailer. He sold it and downsized to a small bumper pull.

 

[HBarlow]

Adding a section of convoluted plastic tubing from an auto parts store or conduit from a home improvement store to shield the bare wiring would be a lot cheaper than $5k.

There are lots of PJ trailers in service in TX and I think they are generally considered a good product.

 

[JCrockett]

I have a 20' 14k PJ bumper pull, trailer is holding up great except the paint job sucks! Supposed to be powdercoated but its not holding up. I tow heavy with it and have gone through brake shoes already but other then the paint I am very happy with it. Bought it new in 06

 

[Grizzly]

My son purchased a 14' Big Tex Gooseneck Dump trailer. He had it narrowed down to PJ and Big Tex. He decided that the Big Tex was better and heavier built trailer and a little cheaper. Big Tex also has Dexter axles. The salesman could never tell him what the PJ had. The Big Tex did come with 16", 8 hole wheels and LR E, ST tires. Don't know what the PJ had. He is going to change out the tires to American made LT's. The Big Tex came with a spare and he could order it any chart color he wanted. He picked silver. Not sure if PJ offered colors, other than black and if you want a spare, you pay for it.



He's very happy with it, especially after I gave him a MaxBrake Controller for Christmas. His old Draw-Tite wasn't cutting it.



Hope this helps, george

 

[OGaddis]

I've had a PJ gooseneck 25' for about 8 years. It has tandem axles but not dual wheels which is the only thing I regret about it. Occasionally it would be nice to have the additional capacity of the duals. I mainly haul 1 ton (1600 - 1800 lbs - I haul 6 at a time) bales of hay with it but have also hauled my Cat 262B skid steer. It is very stable when pulling. The beavertail is the pop-up style (spring-loaded) and will make a flat deck for the full 25'. Paint is fine after 8 years (it's a kind of loud red instead of the more common black). I would agree with the idea of just adding some wire loom if you are worried about the wiring - I've never had a problem with it. Mine came with a spare tire and a nice storage location on the gooseneck. When I was looking it was by far the highest quality for the money. I looked at Big Tex, Diamond Quality (a locally made trailer), and others I no longer remember in addition to the PJ. The frame on the PJ was more substantial than the others and the weld quality was excellent. I was told that they used the same frame regardless of the capacity (single vs. duals) in the sizes I was interested in. The finish work was great while finish on several of the other trailers seemed clumsy and the ramps and beavertails were not as well designed.

 

[Slow Six]

I had a PJ bumper pull I bought because it was cheap. I got what I paid for. I traded it on a Falcan 25 ft. tri axle fifth wheel/gooseneck and have never regretted it. The value is in the Falcan plus parts & service is as close as Fort McCloud.

 

[CToney]

The trailer that we are looking at has spring suspension and not dexter axles. Dexter axles are an option according to their website. It doesn't have the pop up in the tail section either. I though powder coat paint was better. The things that I do like about it over the Norberts trailers is the wider jack stance, toolbox, channel iron crossmembers instead of tubing (tubing rusts out from the inside with moisture getting in the around the screws holding down the deck boards)/



The things that I don't like the looks of is the wiring, no name axles, pine deck instead of fir, 235/80r16 tires instead of 235/85 r16 tires. A new deck is $300 plus labor and the existing one should last a while.



We have to sell our '95 Trailtech triaxle w/ beavertails first though. It has a 20ft deck and 5ft of tails w/ 3 7000lb axles on spring with electric over hydraulic brakes. We need a bigger trailer to maybe pull with our semi to haul tractors on occasion.



Thanks for the insight.

 

[NIsaacs]

PJ's web site, Texas, shows they use Quality Axles from 3500-7000 lb and one 12,000 lb one. They also use AL-KO Kober in 8,000-16,000 lb. some can be had with air brakes.



They also list Carlisle and Dexter brakes. AL-KO are good axles, they used to be Hayes Axles.



Nick

 

[d6c]

PJ upgraded to tubing (from channel) on the left and right sides sometime between 03 and 07. Tubing makes for nice rat runs for wiring and thats the only advantage, tying down to the rub rail is a pain, the bottom flange of the channel surround on the older trailer is much superior. Also, if you are looking at a beavertail trailer and it is lo-pro, you are going to have very little rear end clearance, I know this one from experience, owning two PJ's.

 

[CToney]

The trailer we're looking at has two 10,000 lb axles and is not the low pro. Dexter axle parts are easily accessible up here but others are not. The crossmembers are channel. The trailer is new so it should be an '09-'10.

 

[KcoleKennyc]

I owned one PJ, a 24 ft. gooseneck. It looked good but it tracked to one side I measured everything and never found the problem. Never owned a Big Tex but looked at a few and they are top of the line. They are built in Mt. Pleasant, Tx. along with Top-Hat, Trail Master, and Fleetneck. All of those are good, heavy-built trailers. Pulled a 36ft, dual tandem Trail Master about 300K with lots of heavy loads with no problems. I'm currently having a tripple axle with duals gooseneck built at E-W Trailers in Whitesboro, Ok. They prime and paint their trailers before the floor is installed, most builders just spray a couple coats of paint and cover the part that you see and let everything else rust. E-W Trailers has lots of trailers on EBay, look at their feedback.

 

[DGamelin]

I am a dealer for both PJ and BigTex. The PJ are normally less expensive than the Big Tex and it shows. To start with the difference between the Dexter and the AL-KO are a long ways apart. As far as axle strength and wheel bearings we don't see issues with those. A dexter 10 and 12K axle comes with 5" wide shoes, and AL-KO is 3 1/2" for the same rating. In about a year and a half how the brakes work will be apparent. As far as warranty issues go, Big Tex will be there immediately if necessary and with PJ's you're pretty much on your own and we tell our customers this. Big Tex uses a better tire. My last run back from PJ's in less than 200miles on a new trailer I had a tire blow, and as a dealer I'm still waiting to get that tire warrantied. The frames of the two trailers; Big Tex uses a 16lbs 12" I-Beam for all Goosenecks with different side rails for added structure, PJ's uses a 14lbs 12" I-Beam for 30' and smaller and 19lbs 12" I-Beam above 30' long. As far as the tubing as the outside rails on a PJ's, I don't see anything wrong with it as long as the trailer isn't being continuously loaded with fork trucks. They have a tendency to cave them in, C-channel can take the impact better. As mentioned the rust issue also. The powder coat of a PJ's is much prettier on the lot but the paint is brittle. Big Tex bought GMs used paint booths, at one time I thought they had the best paint out there but that seems to be going down hill in the last year or so. Now I'm not trying to talk bad about PJ's. Different trailers serve different purposes. PJ's has their axles moved further forward than Big Tex does. So for our customers who don't run dullies, the PJ's has a lighter tounge weight. In my part of the country dullies are a rare bird. The price of a PJ helps to sell them quite often. I would recommend the upgraded tires on a PJs tandem singles or tri axles.



____________________

93 250 2wd xc 354 auto

04. 5 3500 4wd qc dully 373 6-speed

 

[HBarlow]

That's good information for a prospective work trailer buyer. It is the first comparative information I've ever read on trailers.

 

[Grizzly]

As pointed out on Post #6, my son came up with about the same conclusion between Big Tex and PJ.



george

 

[CToney]

Thanks for the insight DGamelin. The difference in the axles might be worth the difference in price and yes the tires didn't look the greatest and they were 235/80 r16 instead of the 85 sidewall too. I went to dexter's site and their brakes are 3 3/8" on the 10,000 and 5" on the 12,000 lb axle. I thought the pj change in i beam weight was from the 25' on up.



What is your take on torflex axles compared to spring axles?

 

[Slow Six]

Got the torflex on my Falcan and so far I like them.

 

[d6c]

Some of the sharp jack-knifes I have performed with my trailers would wreck torsion axles after one time. A friends overloaded stock trailer with firewood made it one trip, then needed a new axle on the front. Straight line on the highway torsion is the way to go, anything else, slipper spring set-up is far superior. Low deck heights and ride quality are positive points of torsion axles, make your choice.

 

[DGamelin]

I'm not a fan of torsion axles. First if you brake one you are out 600 to 1100 bucks you brake a spring it is a 100 bucks. That's reason enough for me. You can usually rebuild an entire spring setup for less than the cost of one torsion axle. They don't work well off road because of the lack of a load equalizer. Over some bumps one axle can end up tacking the whole load, that is what we see brakes them most often. I'm sure you have seen an enclosed trailer over a curb and one axle is off the ground the other one has twice the load on it it was intended for. As for the ride I think it is a myth, and was told so by an axle mfg. I have towed empty goosenecks with torsion and they bounce a lot. They ride their best at half load, too light or heavy isn't good. The only place I would have them is on a smaller horse trailer because some of the lighter axles usually don't have bump stops in them like most 3500lbs axles. What this does is they over torque on big bumps not good for the axle but good for the horses legs. This is where the idea of good ride came from for torsion, it was good for the horses. Remember most spring axles have equalizers that cut the hight and inpact of a bump in half, and except for extremely tall bumps both axles stay loaded. This is why I think they ride better. I have seen torsion crank so far shearing off the bump stop, the tire hit the bottom of the deck and the tire couldn't turn. The trailer had to be unloaded to get it to move. With a spring the axle would hit the frame, not good for that axle but it wouldn't stop the trailer.



Another thing I wanted to point out about the PJ's is you can get a third flip over ramp for a $100 and if you want for another $100 have the back of them plated. This works as a pop up center that usually cost around 7 to 800 bucks. Even if you don't need the extra ramp take it off. I would recommend it for the guys who haul things like dozers. Because if you mangel one a 100 bucks with the purchase of the trailer or 250 to 300 when you need one. The guys who have had one slide sideways on them know what I mean. This option is also available at Big Tex, just not at such a deal. Be careful of the Big Tex pop-ups, they're finger pinchers.