AP Enclosed Hauling Trailer

The original Aero Pod was manufactured for about three years but only as a single bike model. We have wanted to introduce three new models that would accommodate larger vehicles for some time.

In mid 2010 we started a huge project of developing a new series of Aero Pods that would handle these larger vehicles. We wanted to make this a light weight product and also be very aerodynamic.

The third consideration and maybe the most important was to accomplish this product design keeping our manufacturing costs as low as possible yet not sacrificing the quality of the product in any way.

From our years of experience of building our previous model of Aero Pods we learned some good lessons about the overall cost of these products. We shipped them as completed trailers, taking up as much as 15 feet of semi deck space to ship them to our dealers or customers. Shipping one to either coast cost us about $1,500 in shipping charges back then. With today's higher fuel costs it would cost about $2,000.

With an enclosed trailer you are shipping a lot of very expensive air. We found that the shipping costs alone on these large trailers really limited the market for them as our customers balked at these shipping costs. In developing our new 2011/2012 model AST open hauling trailers with their standup feature for shipping and storage it reduced their shipping costs from over $800 to the $400 range as they now take up only 4 feet of semi deck space.

With this in mind as one of our primary cost cutting goals we are working on the new model of Aero Pods, which will be shipped as add-on kits to our AST open trailers. You can order an AST open trailer now and later order an Aero Pod body kit to transform it into an enclosed trailer later or you can order them together when they become available.

The Aero Pod body kit fits on our AST1X, AST2X and AST3X with the 24" front deck extension, giving these models the full 130? of deck space which will accommodate just about all trikes, Spyders, Stallions, Morgan Three Wheelers and even Mobility Conquest handicapped trikes.

We have the basic design completed and the photos above are of the initial 1/6th scale model we have built of the new upcoming model Aero Pod 3. It uses a unique combination of fiberglass side panels that bolt together forming the two sides of the trailer body, with aluminum center panels that all bolt together to form the clam shell design of this trailer. When assembled it forms a complete upper shell that pivots on the front lift up to allow access loading and unloading the vehicle you wish to haul.

We found our previous designs which incorporated a rear door complicated the design, the structural integrity and contributed considerably to the cost of this body shell. The rear of the body shell will lift in a similar manner to the way that the trailer raises from it lowered position.

This is a huge project and will consume a significant amount of funds to complete every phase of its design, tooling, fiberglass patterns and fiberglass molds to complete this project and have it on the market. At this point it is impossible to predict the exact completion date of these new Aero Pod models, however they are designed around the AST chassis so can be added later when they are in production.

Customers who own our original Aero Pods absolutely love them and we have receive hundreds of requests to re-introduce this enclosed trailer product line.