Maregold
Livonia, NY
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Joined: 06/20/2006
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Anyone have any experience with making an extension for the ramp? It was quite an adventure for my husband in getting the Goldwing up the ramp and into the garage for the first time today. It's steeper than it looks.
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campNride
Oklahoma City
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Joined: 04/16/2007
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The way it looks is you just need a long piano hinge and some diamond plate metal.
1998.5 Dodge Ram 2500 with a few mods
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Hap Hazard
Mammoth Lakes
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Joined: 12/10/2006
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Is the problem with the bottom of the bike frame striking the edge of the trailer at the door hinge (as the front wheel enters the trailer)? If so you can do one of a couple of things.
1) place a lenght of 2"X6" along the lower edge of the door where it touches the ground. This will raise the ramp door edge up by 2" and decrease the angle at the trailer/door lip.
2) place a piece of 2"x6" about 6-8 inches long under the rear wheel as the front wheel enters the trailer. When you move forward over the wood the bike will raise up. This will raise the frame up and prevent contact with the bikes lower frame.
Good luck,
Hap
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baldone04086
Maine
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Joined: 03/03/2007
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All of the above plus you can raise the front of the trailer, that will lessen the angle of the ramp as well as making it less likely you will bottom out at the trailer.
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Chuck&Gail
In the Colorado Mountains
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Joined: 06/16/2004
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Ok, no laughing.
Above suggestion if high centering at hinge works ok. We carry Lynx Leveling Block to level trailer. They ALSO work just dandy to lift bottom of ramp door a bit to prevent high centers. Be sure to put them on both sides so as not to twist ramp. We also carry a few 1/2" plywood squares for fine tuning on uneven ground.
If unhooked, so does raising front of trailer, but watch you have stabilizers down really well in back. I prefer to load/unload while still hooked up.
Now the crack between the door and the ground is a problem. IF IF IF you ALWAYS load/unload on pavement, or solid VERY level ground, added hinged piece works. BUT ... if you are like me you load/unload where ever, and usually it is NOT level. Thus a hinged added ramp doesn't help, and in fact IMO makes things worse. What works great for us is to carry a loose piece of 5/8" multicore plywood about 3x4 feet square. Once ramp is blocked with leveler blocks, lay plywood over uneven crack and drive up. Works great for us. Note board will conform to uneven ground, don't try to make it square. Smaller board would work, but makes backing out more of a challenge. Use whatever size you feel makes it easy.
You can of course walk along side bike up and/or down using engine to pull it.
The antislip stuff glued to the ramp may look funny, but first time you load/unload with a wet ramp, it will look nicer.
Chuck
Wonderful Wife
Lovely German Shepherd.
1999 Mercedes ML320 TV
2003 Wanderer 187TB Toybox (3620# UVW, 4800# loaded)
Not yet camped in Hawaii, 2 Canada Provinces, & 2 Territories.
I can't be lost because I don't care where this lovely road is going
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928gt
Western North Carolina
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I don't understand why the trend(by manufacturers) is to make Toy Haulers higher and higher off the ground. I have watched a lot of people trying to load their toys in some of these and I just shake my head. Some I have watched in the rain literally have to put them in 4WD to get them up those steep ramps into the TH. Very odd trend for a vehicle supposedly designed to haul Toys!! Since I haul a very low sport car in mine on occasion it was important for me to get a "low rider" like my WW LE. An added bonus is better stability on the road, especially in wind or the very curvy roads I frequent.
Regardless, check out some of the race trailer ramps that reduce the ramp angle. They are lightweight, very strong, easy to store, and come in various styles that will meet your needs.
Here is a link to what I am talking about, these are pricey but look around and you will find some cheaper. OR, it might give you some ideas how to make one easily.
http://www.discountramps.com/trailer-ramps.htm
Here is a pic of an example of what I am talking about..
* This post was
edited 11/08/09 09:19pm by 928gt *
David
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SoCalGlide
SoCal
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928gt wrote:I don't understand why the trend is to make Toy Haulers higher and higher off the ground. I have watched a lot of people trying to load their toys in some of these and I just shake my head. Some I have watched in the rain literally have to put them in 4WD to get them up those steep ramps into the TH. Very odd trend for a vehicle supposedly designed to haul Toys!! Since I haul a very low sport car in mine on occasion it was important for me to get a "low rider" like my WW LE. An added bonus is better stability on the road, especially in wind or the very curvy roads I frequent.
Out here in the west where we actually take our trailers off road into the deserts and mountains, the higher clearances for the TH's is necessary to avoid tearing the rear valance or plumbing off the trailer. Since most of us are towing with 4X4 trucks, 5th wheel TH's in particular need to be higher in order to ride level and clear the bed rails of the truck. It's not really done for your amusement.
2007 Ford F350 PSD FX4 SB CC
2008 Eclipse Attitude F33AKSG
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928gt
Western North Carolina
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SoCalGlide wrote:Out here in the west where we actually take our trailers off road into the deserts and mountains, the higher clearances for the TH's is necessary to avoid tearing the rear valance or plumbing off the trailer. Since most of us are towing with 4X4 trucks, 5th wheel TH's in particular need to be higher in order to ride level and clear the bed rails of the truck. It's not really done for your amusement.
I fully understand the 5% or so that take their THs what you call off-road that do axle flips etc when they think they need more clearance. In reality most are done that way to level them out for their lifted trucks or because they think it looks cool more so than for actual clearance "off-road". In my origial post I was talking about the other 95% in the real world that never take their THs off of maintained roads (paved or gravel), there is no good reason they should be designed that high.
It was just my opinion, didn't mean to ruffle any feathers. BUT, the original posters issue is a prime example of what I was talking about and I see it all the time everytime I go somewhere.
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Hap Hazard
Mammoth Lakes
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A famous man (but a jerk) once said "Can't we all just get along!!!" The original post was a question about a problem. The issue was about a Goldwing and loading it. We haven't heard back from Maregold to know if this was even the problem she was asking about. However, for this answer the trailer or how it got in its present configuration isn't important.
The answers given by everyone works for most all situations involving bottoming out while loading.
One additional tip for those with heavy bikes is use the engine power to load, and use the clutch (engine shut down) as the brake to unload. You'll have great control and less likely to slid down the ramp with a brake locked.
Hap
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Chuck&Gail
In the Colorado Mountains
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Personally I always unloaded (and loaded) with engine running. Then if I found myself going astray I had the option of putting it back up, and trying again.
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