I picked up my 2005 Hawk 2 horse LQ gooseneck from Salt Lake City, UT last Thursday night where I meet a driver who gave me the pink slip and split.  On my way back to California I stopped at a well lit truck parking lot and checked the trailer out better.  First thing much to my dismay they had covered the dressing room with steel skin no holes for outlets wires gas lines, etc...I had told the dealer that sold me the trailer several times that it was going to a conversion company and to leave it bare ribs inside the dress area.  When I talked to the dealer the next moring he said no one told him to leave it empty.  When I called Hawk they told me they send all there trailers finished with steel inside to the conversion companies in the midwest.  They said the steel skin makes it stronger.  No kidding, this trailer is like a tank and with wood on top of steel with cabinets I am afraid my 2003 f-250 power stroke will not handle the load.  As is empty, It pulled fine coming home but felt it was close to the hauling limite. At rolling, stopping, or going, it feels like the coupler is banging into the hitch.  It got started to bug me and could not see how any horse could deal with that.  The ball is the right size 2 5/16 just like the coupler calls for.  It feels like there is slack in the coupler.  It did not pop off, thank God.  No matter how slow I stopped and started it jerk the bed.  Brakes or no brakes. 

I could never get my brakes adjusted right.  So rode with them off the trailer in stop and go traffic.  Still the hitch clunked against the coupler.  They were either to much or to little.  And at times felt like they were not working the trailer at all.  At the end of my trip home my brakes felt stiff like they had back pressure.  Once I unhooked the trailer they were fine.  It was a bumpy jerky ride for 9 hours.  High speed highway was fine.

Last but not least the door locks are really scketchy, the pass through door is broken and will not open at all, thankful it is stuck in the closed position.

They did not bring the inside wheel wells up the wall like I asked.  I pray my horse will not climb on them.

They put 4' windows in the gooseneck, I asked for 3'.  Now I have no room for bunk cabinets like I planned.

The wood planks vary in size down to 3" and are split at places were they were screwed in.

I think this is a great trailer, but am so disapointed that this is hardly the trailer I ordered and the workmanship is lame.  It was like here ya go to bad its not all that you ordered its yours.  I don't know what to do.  I am taking it to a dealer on Weds. to have the coupler and the brakes looked at.  I am waiting to hear back from my conversion company to see if it is ok that there is now steel sheets welded to the frame in the dress LQ area that he no has to drill through.  Any Advice out there ???

Take it back and call HAWK headquarters.  I'm betting your dealer didn't do something upon ordering.  I have never heard ocmplaints like this about Hawk before.

If it's not the trailer you ordered then it's not the one you'll be paying for(tell them this).  I bet you are wishing you'd inspected it before you took delivery.

Last resort call your lawyer.

Definitely call Hawk and keep talking higher and higher until someone will work with you. You shouldn't have to make do with a trailer that doesn't meet your expectations. Hawk has a good reputation and I'm sure they want to keep it that way! If all else fails, a lawyer is a good idea.

wow - sorry to hear of your trouble.

So far as your coupler ... I am wondering if you were connected correctly? Was the coupler fully opened when you dropped it onto the ball? and then locked closed?

Thanks for the reply's.  I hooked up the trailer yestrerday totally myself.  The first time since the delivery driver hooked me up.  When I un-hooked after the trip home from Salt Lake City I noticed it was really hard to crank the hitch up off the ball.  I had to move my truck around and it finally came loose.  I think the guy did not hook me up right.  It was his first job since He was fired from his last hauling gig he told me.  Great...hu.  He insisted the hitch was on and I told him no I could see the pin was not all the way down.  The new paint made it hard to manuver.  Thank God I was in the bed making sure it was in.  I must have be lined up weird or yes maybe the coupler was not in the right open position.  I drove it around yesterady and low and behold it pulled the way a gooseneck should.  No jerking on the ball take off or stop.  As far as the other stuff....I talked to my conversion company and a couple other at random company's and they all said they could work around the steel skin inside the LQ area.  Just extra weight but should not add to much they said, right it adds about 800lbs.oh well.  The extra large windows in the gooseneck prevent me from haveing the cabinets I planned for months, but thats life.  I don't think hawk would give me another trailer beacuse the windows are to big above the sink and bunk or because they put up steel skin, and low profile wheel wells.  I will ask what they are going to do for me. 

The big thing for me was the wheel wells in the horse area.  I do think Hawk should pay to have them slope up to the wall higher if my big filly starts stepping on top of them.  They will pay to replace the floor and bulkhead latch under warrenty. 

I do think this is an beautiful custom trailer, wish you could see it.  I have learned a great great lesson.  Never never buy a trailer unless you see it first ( before delivery ), even if you think you have every detail worked out.  Handing a check that big to a guy in the middle of the night, tied, and confussed about what opptions you got is a bad idea.  Very Stressful.  I blame my dealer for not relaying my order correctly.  He lied about the wheel wells, interior, and windows.  I will keep the trailer and see how it works for me if not then sell it in a couple years and try again.

Thanks all for the support, I love the site !  T 

Hi,

Did they write you up an order?  I couldn't tell from your post.  If there's a written special order and major things are wrong, I would definitely ask them to take it back & fix it.  If it's just a verbal order, then I'd still contact the manufacturer & give them a chance to make it right.

Happy Trails,

Michelle

My deal and or Hawk changed there mind and have only given me one option.  Keep the trailer.  I will have to take what they decided to build not what I ordered.  I am taking it to the conversion company and as long as they can work around the steel liner I wont have to go to battle with the dealer and or company.  I expect to be compensated for this disapointment, very frustrating to say the least.  I learned you need to have everything in writing and signed.  If I had to do it again I would have insisted on pictures of the whole trailer before they brought it to me.  It is better to buy local I think now.