We hurriedly prepared this the afternoon before we closed for the holidays. It’s not as complete as we would like, but we hope it’s not too bad. With that as an uninspiring introduction…

We’re excited about the addition of Twi-Lite trailers to our offerings and wanted to get at least a little something online so the holiday-vacationing web-surfing trailer shoppers would be aware of the latest of What’s New at Traveled Lane Trailers.

Twi-Lite trailers are impressive in many ways. First of all, the structural insulated wall panels simplify construction. The result is a smooth, strongly built trailer with a reduced cost of production when compared to the more traditional skin-over-frame construction. While some manufacturers might pocket the savings, Twi-Lite passes them along to consumers. The result is a well-made, clean-looking trailer at a surprisingly affordable price. Actually, we should say trailers, as Twi-Lite offers a range of models. Twi-Lite trailers are built by the folks who have been producing Blue Ribbon aluminum trailers for many years, so they’re designed and built by personnel with a lot of horse trailer experience.

Let’s focus on those wall panels for a moment. They are structural, meaning they are engineered to carry a load, not just cover an opening. And they’re insulated. Insulation offers good thermal properties and contributes to a quiet interior. The laminated panels consist of .050” full hard aluminum inner and outer skins bonded to a high density core. And please note, these panels are engineered products, produced by specialists, not improvised in-house. The panels have 500% more tensile strength than the panels used on some lookalike products.

Each Twi-Lite trailer has an aluminum frame and many of the components are proprietary extrusions. The aluminum frame components are welded. The structural panels are bonded to the extrusions with very strong urethane adhesive as used in the auto industry. The urethane bonding makes for a much stronger structure than if the panels were free-floating. In the pictures, the white areas are the structural panels. The silver components are aluminum tubes and extrusions.

Enough about technology for a moment. Twi-Lite trailers are ROOMY. Most Twi-Lite models have a body width of 6’8” and a height of 7’6”, so they’re wide and tall. The straight load stalls are LONG. The dimension from center of chest bar to center of butt bar is 94 inches. That’s about 10 inches longer than most warmblood stall lengths. And we know some brochures claim lengths of 90 inches or so, but when you account for the thickness of butt bars and chest bars, usable length usually comes in around the low 80 inch mark. Look at the pictures and you’ll see smooth stall dividers, padded butt and chest bars and generously-sized escape doors.

Twi-Lite offers a range of straight loads and slant loads, bumper pulls and goosenecks. We tend to sell more straight loads, so our initial Twi-Lite inventory consists of straight load models as shown here. Twi-Lites are very well equipped in standard form. The trailers shown here are equipped with very few options.

A feature we really like with the Twi-Lites is the drop-down side windows. They have sliding sections for ventilation, but if you really want some air flow, drop them down. It’s almost like having a stock trailer and an enclosed trailer, all in one trailer. There’s a 2-way vent over each stall, also standard. Also, please note that Twi-LIte uses cam bar latches on the rear curtain doors above the ramp. The latches grab at top and bottom, even when they’re open. Which means that you can run with your curtain doors open for additional ventilation. Even though many folks run with their curtain doors open, on most trailers, you’re not supposed to run with them open because the hardware isn’t strong enough. In addition, many of Twi-Lite’s hinges are massive (and they’re welded).

Other useful features? Smooth-riding torsion axles. Self-adjusting brakes. With some designs, you have to back up, but on the Twi-Lite, the brakes self-adjust while moving forward, that is, as you use the trailer. Radial tires. LED tail and marker lights. LED interior lights. LED loading light. The spring-assisted ramps are easy to lift and with a nod to serviceability, the spring assemblies are bolted on rather than welded. There’s much more (and we’ll cover that when we return after the holidays), but this gives you a taste of what Twi-Lite has to offer.

From the viewpoint of practicality and technology, Twi-Lites are impressive trailers. When you take into account how affordable they are, they’re even more impressive. We invite you to stop by and check them out.