If your hobby calls for you to transport cars on a regular basis you may be looking for a way to make your life a lot easier when loading or unloading. Most commercial trailers will, of course, come with a stock ramp, but it is typically designed for "middle-of-the-road" applications or a standard vehicle, whatever that may be! However, if you have a specialty car—like a racing car, for example—then this may not be good enough. What are your alternatives to help you load and unload?
Consider Extensions
There are number of different aluminium trailer extension ramps on the market that can help with your convenience and productivity. You won't have to worry so much about the low ground clearance of your racer. Extensions are available with different variations of 'rise'. This describes the elevation from the leading edge of the extension to the point where it connects with the original ramp door.
To determine the correct amount of rise, you need to take into account your car's ground clearance, the actual height of the trailer deck above the ground and the overall length of the original door ramp, when it is open. This will enable you to choose the right extension.
Mounting Extensions
Aluminium trailer ramp extensions can be permanently mounted to the back of the original trailer door and therefore folded up conveniently for storage. Remember, however, that you need to adjust the suspension on the back of your trailer by upgrading the helper springs as needed. This will help to counterbalance the extra weight of the ramp extension when stored.
Adjust Your Trailer
Bear in mind that you may need to get special risers to place underneath the leading edge of the original trailer door. By providing this bolster at this point you can help to keep the leading edge of the original door level with the new extension. When the car is being loaded or unloaded this will take a lot of strain away from the hinges of the original door. You can check to see whether you need this or not by watching what happens when the vehicle is first being loaded. If the action causes the original door edge to be held off the ground, this means that risers should be sourced.
If you don't want to mount a ramp extension within the door itself, then you might like to consider buying standalone assist ramps. They come in different sizes and different lengths according to the degree of lift you want. When you're finished with these extenders you can just slide them underneath the car for storage.
To get a better idea of your options, contact local services such as Sureweld.
Share13 March 2015
Hello, my name is Elliot. I am 32 years old and I live in Perth, Australia. Welcome to my auto blog. When I purchased my car, I didn't really pay much attention to looking after it. The car was really nice, it drove well and looked good. For the first year or so, I had a great time driving around. However, I eventually began to have some problems. The engine sounded rough, the paint job looked really bad and my car just didn't seem very cool anymore. I took it to my local auto garage and they gave me some great advice about how I could care for my auto. Since then, my car and myself have both been much happier.