Loading onto trailer with front splitter/race height

[Pearldrummer7]

Hey guys,

I have an open deck trailer and can barely load the 818R as it is (street height and no splitter). I want to lower it to the proper height but don't have a method of getting it onto the trailer. Any suggestions? Here's what I'm looking at:



It's about 17" from the back of the trailer lip to the ground, and I laid wood over half of my ramps to make the angle less steep. I looked at Race Ramps but they're really expensive for long ones. Can I tilt the trailer or something?

[JeromeS13]

I've seen a lot of people place ramps under the rear tires of the tow vehicle, effectively making the rear of the trailer much lower.

[theburner9]

I cranked the trailer jack up as high as I could and just barely cleared my trailer with the front bumper taken off. The back end of the trailer needed to be about 12" off the ground I think. With the body on, you might as well give up.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Hi Frank
With the 818 at race height it can be a real pain getting on a trailer.
There are a couple of place you get in trouble.
1. The nose on the approach to the ramps. If the nose is 4" and 3 ft in front of the axle. You need a ramp that rises less than 4" per 36".
So your 17" trailer divided by 4/36 = 153" or 13' long ramps.
As the middle of the car goes top of the ramp, the problem is even worse.
Lowering the tail of the trailer definitely helps. We have actually taken the wheels off the trailer and set the hubs/drums on the ground successfully.



In This picture, I put smaller wheels and a drop axle on my trailer.


Just as a side note. The CG of my car is right about at the door striker plates.

Bob

[CHOTIS BILL]

When I was racing my DSR it only had 1.5” of ground clearance so loading on a trailer was a challenge. I ended up making ramps out of 2x10’s 10’ long and then placed 2x4 and 4x4 in a couple of places along the ramp to keep them from bending. I also disconnected the trailer from the tow vehicle, chocked the trailer wheel, raised the front of the trailer, and was then able to push the car on the trailer without scraping. I have also seen people drive the tow vehicle rear wheels up on blocks to raise the front of the trailer.


Good luck,

Bill Lomenick

[Pearldrummer7]

Bob, I like your idea with supporting the ramps from the underside then extending the ramps. I think that plus jacking the trailer from the front might get me closer. As is, I have a ramp made of 6' 2x4's with 2x4 supports like Bill mentions and they rest about halfway down the ramps. I placed them on top of the ramps but lifting the bottom of my existing ramps makes even more sense.

Part of me is considering getting an enclosed trailer, since it'd be much lower. But my fear is that the enclosed trailer will be a good bit heavier than my current steel/wood trailer. My I6 truck has enough trouble getting up hills as is, nevermind with more wind resistance and a few hundred more pounds.

[C.Plavan]

Race Ramps are the best things made. They are so light too. I will never carry around a bunch of heavy wood anymore.

When you get to the race height, this is how you do it.

[Pearldrummer7]

Chad, I considered getting the race ramps for trailers (tow ramps or whatever they call them). I really like the Race Ramps for regular cars so I imagine it's a good product. However, my trailer is so high, I need a custom length race ramp I believe. What's your trailer lip height and your ramp length, if you don't mind me asking?

[Louisromersh]

Theirs always this option a Drop & Load Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm97OZlJOzo?

[Pearldrummer7]

Really cool, but at $12,499 USD... you can get a NICE enclosed trailer and race ramps.

[Buzz Skyline]

Have you tried backing onto the trailer?

[john g]

I'm not a racer, but had trouble loading my 818 onto a U Haul for the state inspections. In the end I backed on and tilted the trailer--detached from he tow truck. I happen to live on a hill that made things easier at home. As I think Bob might say, the idea is to minimize second derivatives.

[Pearldrummer7]

Have you tried backing onto the trailer?

I was thinking the aero of the car would not like being towed like that?

[C.Plavan]

Chad, I considered getting the race ramps for trailers (tow ramps or whatever they call them). I really like the Race Ramps for regular cars so I imagine it's a good product. However, my trailer is so high, I need a custom length race ramp I believe. What's your trailer lip height and your ramp length, if you don't mind me asking?

I bought these ones from Amazon. You can buy others that are longer etc.




They have a nice calculator now too.
http://www.raceramps.com/trailer-ram...alculator.aspx

[wallace18]

I have the 2 piece race ramps and have no problems loading anything even with only 2" ground clearance. Best money I ever spent.

818s 023.JPG

[Pearldrummer7]

What length did you get, Tom? Also, what's your trailer height? I'm trying to balance what works for others as I don't have a splitter or the car in race height. I don't know how much that changes things for me.

[C.Plavan]

Use the calculator link I posted. You will know what you need exactly for your trailer.

[Pearldrummer7]

Use the calculator link I posted. You will know what you need exactly for your trailer.

Oh crap. I didn't even see the link to this. Thanks, Chad.

[kabacj]

I have the 2 piece race ramps and have no problems loading anything even with only 2" ground clearance. Best money I ever spent.

818s 023.JPG

I second this. My car is very low with a longer front overhang than the 818. with the 2 piece race ramps I am golden.

John

[Doutie]

Peraldrummer,
Another thought you might consider is hinging the reach of the trailer. I've done this to a trailer we used to haul a roundie round car. I built a reach from 4" box tubing that hinged from the trailer frame just ahead of the front axle. At the front of the deck was ears that pinned to the reach in the towing mood. Unpinned the deck of the trailer would tip down to the ground at the rear as soon as the car's weight started up a short set of ramps. When the car got over the trailer axles, it's weight would tilt the deck back down so the pins could be reinstalled.
Worked well for our needs, Doutie

[C.Plavan]

Before someone says "those ramps are too expensive", figure the damage done to a car with one mishap with 2x4's and stacks of wood. It will happen at some point. I have seen it at the race track countless times, splitters gone, boards shot out the back while driving up the wood, messed up rockers. You get the idea.

[Pearldrummer7]

Before someone says "those ramps are too expensive", figure the damage done to a car with one mishap with 2x4's and stacks of wood. It will happen at some point. I have seen it at the race track countless times, splitters gone, boards shot out the back while driving up the wood, messed up rockers. You get the idea.

They're only a few hundred bucks. It's not that much money for ease of loading/safety of the car IMO. I agree with that.

"I can't afford to be that cheap" and not get them.

[Sgt.Gator]

Plus 1 on the Race Ramps.

I also use a second pair of them instead of the steel ramps on my BendPak lift. I made a custom set of safety blocks that drop down when the ramps are removed so the car won't accidentally roll off the lift.

[RM1SepEx]

I just loaded my 818S into my enclosed trailer... no splitter yet... connected to the truck, used jack to lift truck a bit, I have a spacer on the lower edge of my door on my 16 foot Thule. I have small angled spacers to fill the hole between the door and the trailer. I use my Bendpack's aluminum ramps and just drove it right in with 1 inch of clearance on the lower front of the nose and the middle of the car when it went over the door to trailer junction.

I'll get photos tomorrow.

[Evan78]

Does removing the front bumper help much? Is it feasible to use Dzus fasteners or similar to make it easy to remove and reinstall? I'm not to the body portion of the build yet.

Can you gain much clearance by jacking the front up so the suspension is near full droop and placing a proper length of pipe somewhere to keep it up high?

[RM1SepEx]

I can't imagine making the nose removable... not possible IMO

[Evan78]

Darn, it would be great to be able to pull it off easily, especially if you have to call a tow truck and don't have Race Ramps, etc.

[Fred@ReverseLogic]

The Race Ramps trailer ramp calculator makes some assumptions that skew the recommendations to favor their longer ramp models. The Reverse Logic trailer ramp calculator (see link in signature below) compares 20 different ramp models to your existing ramps or trailer door. In addition to the standard Race Ramp trailer ramps, the calculator features several custom progressive incline (curved top) ramps that Race Ramps makes to Reverse Logic specifications.

The calculator shows inch-by-inch car-to-ramp clearance measurements over the entire length of the ramps up to the rear edge of the trailer. The graphs included in the calculator will show the problem areas for a given car/trailer combination. You will want to choose a ramp model where the red line (path of car) is above the blue line (shape of ramps) over the entire length of the ramps.

Use the calculator link I posted. You will know what you need exactly for your trailer.

[Fred@ReverseLogic]

I forgot to mention that the trailer ramp calculator handles the slight reduction in car-to-ramp clearance that occurs when the rear tires start to climb the ramps. In some of the graphs you will notice a slight dip in the red line as the rear tires reach the ramps.

[bansheekev]

If you are interested in RaceRamps AutoAnything.com has them and they are having a 20% off sale - just use the promo code WINTER at checkout. Brought my pair down from $300 to $240 which was significant.

Kevin

[Fred@ReverseLogic]

The AA "WINTER" coupon code is no longer valid. But, the "SAVE10" coupon code at www.ReverseLogic.us will get you a 10% discount on $200 orders. Through 31-Mar-2016 ramp purchases are also eligible for a $20 cash back factory mail-in rebate. Finally, California buyers don't pay Sales Tax at Reverse Logic. Don't forget to use the Reverse Logic trailer ramp calculator to select the least expensive Race Ramps model that provides the needed car-to-ramp clearance.

If you are interested in RaceRamps AutoAnything.com has them and they are having a 20% off sale - just use the promo code WINTER at checkout. Brought my pair down from $300 to $240 which was significant.

Kevin