After a great deal of research, I could not find any place that offered a better deal on a trailer than Hooper. I had seen them locally, but found that I could save about 20% by picking up the trailer directly from the factory - well worth the two hour drive and gas money.
I met Mr. Hooper in person and spent quite a bit of time talking with him. He's a pretty good guy, and I found out from my wife's cousin that he's well known in the community.
As for the trailer, I bought an 18 foot flatbed that I custom ordered. Dual axles, 7000 pound gross weight, brakes on both axles. I've owned the trailer for a little over two years now, and I'm well satisfied with it. The only thing I would have changed would be to get self-adjusting brakes - I didn't know at the time this was a possible option.
As for the previous reviewer's complaints, I'm wondering about his expectations. This is the third trailer I've owned, and none of them had primer under the paint. I'm not convinced anyone does that. My paint has held up fine except for the inevitable scrapes, scratches, and dents that a trailer receives - primer wouldn't likely have helped in these cases. It's easy enough to patch the scrapes- it's not like this is a show trailer. Who can say whether axles were "used" or not? And maybe the other reviewer's axles were new, but moved from one application to another. If they're functioning fine, why complain? At least find out the facts before blasting the manufacturer - no mention if anything was actually wrong with the axles.
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