PogueMoHone

Here are the givens:

Tommy trailer consideration, height at rear 16"

GT3 RS, clearance height 3.5"; and distance from front to point of contact (front wheels) 40.5"

Longest available ramps for the Tommy trailer 96" (storage issue underneath the trailer)

The Question (s):

I calculated that after 20.5" this setup would start to rub, am I right?

Or alternately:

What size ramps to load an RS on said trailer and not encounter rubbing?

SundayDriver

Calculations will not help all that much as you will be dealing with uneven surfaces at the track. The best thing is to carry a few 2x6 boards to use at the needed locations and times. From there, you may get a sense of how much a longer ramp would help.

mooty

colm,

calc aside, if you just eyeball the lip of the RS, you would need 200' of ramp to clear it. i dont think ANY ramp is going to not rub the lip. you may just have to consider the lip (both the big and the small one) as consumables.

jrgordonsenior

You can always jack up the front of the trailer reducing the angle. You do this by either actaully placing a jack under the hiitch or the tongue of the trailer, or by dropping the rear wheels of the trailer into a culvert or indentation of some type. This effectively lowers the angle onto the trailer....

Also remember it takes about 2 minutes to R & R the front lip....

rlm328

Come on guys this is simple algebra, go ask your kids for help. The inverse sine of 3.5/40.5 = 4.95 degrees. 16"/sine of 4.9 =187". This equal to about 16 ft.

Jarez Mifkin

Just unhook the trailer from the truck, jack it up as high as it will go and drive it up. I have to do this to get my car in my trailer plus the 2xs, it's no big deal.

Plavan

Yeah- Can you say "Wheelie" the way you described it.....

Z-man

That's what I do. Far simpler than lugging lumber around...

-Z-man.

Dad911

I advise not unhooking the trailer from the truck when loading or unloading!

Jarez Mifkin

Why? I keep the chains connected and chock the wheels. My trailer weighs 7,000 lbs before I put the car in and I have not had an issue and do not see an issue arising from this. When I had an open trailer I had some 8x8 wood blocks that I would back the truck up onto to help lower the rear of the trailer.

rlm328

Let me send you some pictures of my tailgate.

PogueMoHone

OK, good info so far, especially the algebra which supports my initial calculation (I think).

However, I am like a "dog with a bone" over this issue, and I have few comments and a final question.

1. Disconnecting the trailer is a risk maximization strategy, and I am into risk minimization.

2. Carrying extra pieces of wood is a "no no", I have seen those skip out (see above)

3. Jacking up the front of trailer would require a substantial floor jack to handle the increased weight. I can't do any heavy lifting.

The "optimum" solution at this point would seem to be to buy a set of race ramps (google) and raise the rear wheels of the tow vehicle 10". The question is (alegbra (or geometry?) again): With a 10 " rear wheel lift, how much would this lower the rear (initially at 16"), assume a 24' trailer length.

Instincts tell me with 9' ramps, 10" lift I would avoid rubbing on an RS (3.5" high and 40.5" overhang). Am I right?

Thanks for your continued contributions and clarifications.

Z-man

Why?

I simply use the jack that's mounted to the tongue of the trailer. (While it is still connected to my truck, of course!) With my lowered 944S2, I need 20 rotations of that puppy, and I won't scrape my front 'lip' with the standard issue ramps. BTW: my trailer also has a "reverse duck tail" (what's that officially called?) rear end.

-Z-man.

aeshultz

+1 on the "don't unhook the trailer from the truck" advise. I did it once (unknowingly), and paid for some nice bodywork on the rear door of a friend's Suburban (Sorry Jeff).

PogueMoHone

From the info I've gathered they (trailer jacks) are are rated to around 1000lbs, and the load of the car will far exceed that limit , so something will eventually happen.

The small bottle jacks have the same limited capacity, and my capacity to manhandle the larger (floor) jacks is limited. That is why the jack isn't an optimal solution for me.

Of course, if the trailer jack is of sufficient "safety" (TUV Standards) capacity (say 4000lbs) to raise and lower the rear to around 8" I think that solves the problem too.

Calculation:
Trailer Height 8" / ramp length 108" = .0741 (slope ratio)

Car height 3.5" / slope ratio .0741= 47.23" (clearance)

And since the front wheel to front of spoiler is 40.5" then race ramps on the rear wheels might work.

The caveat is: besides being a poor driver I am a poor(er) mathematician and that is why I was asking for the help.

See why I worry this to death (dog with a bone)!