How many have a trailer?

If it'll fit into a small trailer, it'll probably fit into the passenger seat with the top down. The seat also comes out with four bolts, if you need a bit more room. But if my Miata were my only car, and I needed to haul something bulky every so often, I'd rent or borrow a pickup or van. Don't buy something you'll only need once or twice a year. Remember, you have to park a trailer someplace when you're not using it.

I got a 21" monitor home in the Miata with the top up, but I had to leave the box at CompUSA.

I second Lanny. My Miata and I carry home -- every year -- an 9 foot tall,

6 foot diameter Christmas tree. The guy at the tree lot knows me, and now looks forward to me coming by. The tree is 'netted' and the top is down -- and visibility to the right is non-existent. But it is so-o-o-o kewl!

Two weeks ago, I was forced to evacuate my apartment -- for the oncoming hurricane. I managed to get, in the front seat, everything I needed for a weeks stay at a friend, along with my 5-gallon tool bucket and all my tools. If the Miata can 'move' you -- why do you need to worry about a few chairs?

Besides, your friends with the pick-ups can take up the 'moving friend' slack!

Fulfill your wants -- and you'll be surprised how your needs will conform.

Hmm.... that is a good point abt a convertible that I hadn't thought of... i.e. that with the top down it acts like a pickup bed and can swallow bigger things that even my 4 door Protege cant swallow

But what do you do abt those objects that are kinda trashy such as a big bush with all its rots wrapped up into a ball and in burlap?

Still need a trailer for that as you wont want dirt in the cab of a Miata. No?

You've hit on the essence of the car. If you need to carry stuff you should get something else. I'd be inclined to buy a beater pick-up truck (too) instead of some (probably quite limited) trailer system.

-John

No

The trailer is much simpler mechanically. Not as much repairs or maint needed as a beater truck

Besides i can only afford one vehicle

Then don't buy a Miata...

-John

Generic was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

Now that's not very helpful advice, is it?

I'd be interested in a small trailer as well. For light bulky things like sleeping bags. Isn't something like that available for motorcycles?

Gary Fuchs

snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net wrote:

As Ken Lyons posted in a concurrent thread,

I use newspapers if I need to transport dirty items (tires come to mind) in my Miata.

I have transported very long pieces of wood in the passenger seat, long enough that I started worrying about overhead wires. Also a 23 inch TV (out of the box.) But keep in mind that the linear extend in front of the passenger seat is quite limited; it is easy to exceed. A trailer would be quite handy sometimes.

Though I do not have one. The last time I needed to transport something big a few years ago, a radial arm saw, the Sears manager (himself a Miata owner) offered free delivery when I wanted to try to take it out of the box and home in pieces. :) Which was just as well. The entire top of the saw was one steel assembly, and whether or not it would have fitted in the passenger seat, (I doubt it), I was most certainly not able to lift it! ;)

Leon

When I go autocrossing I roll my tires into jumbo garbage bags before loading them into the passenger area. I found that was easier than newspaper.

When putting new attic windows in a friend's house we put a towel over the windshield frame so as not to scratch the paint, tied down to the top anchors, and tied the other end of the windows to the rollbar like a temporary roof. The other drivers on the way home were very amused, but we got the windows home safely. :)

Like Leon, I've found that with determination, you can fit quite a lot into a miata. For autocrossing I can fit four tires, a 5 gallon air tank, a small toolbox, a small floor jack, a helmet, and a cooler full of soda.

Paco

97 Montego Blue Miata 91 Toyota Previa 77 Suzuki RE5

Yes, and I've seen a few Miatas with motorcycle trailers behind them. But my wife and I go on two-week camping trips with everything in the trunk or behind the seats; you need to travel light and own backpacking gear. No cooler, either.

The point is those bike trailers don't hold anything you can't put in the passenger seat, if the need is only occasional.

Use a tarp.

Good points. There is a surprising amount of room behind the seats, even with the top up. I do most of the food shopping for a family of six on the way home from work and haul it all.

Those motorcycle trailers aren't cheap. Maybe it would be better to invest in some lighter, smaller camping equipment and skip the hassle?

Gary Fuchs

Lanny Chambers wrote:

Behind the seats? I couldn't fit a copy of Playboy behind the seats in my '99. And a case of bottled beer won't fit in the trunk.

Chas Hurst

From an earlier post of mine:

Sounds like there is more cargo hauling capacity in a Miata than there is my Protege by the very nature that the top can come compleye;t down!

Put the root ball in a plastic bag and then put the whole thing into the passeger seat.

---------- Alex

"Lanny Chambers" wrote

Yeah, but you can sleep in this one:

And where is Per Nielsen with photos of his beer run to Belgium?