Okay I currently have a 16’ open trailer with a rear load height of 21" and 49" ramps (25.4 degree load angle). The trailer is not a dove tail or anything and seems much taller than most car haulers. This setup worked fine to load/unload my stock suspension height E30 without a front valence mounted. My car will now have the SpecE30 suspension, and I am very worried that I won’t be able to get the car loaded with my current ramps. Could you guys measure the height of the back of your trailer and the length of ramps you use to load your E30 without damaging anything. I have contemplated purchasing expensive new aluminum ramps or going with the Race Ramps trailer ramps in combination with my short steel ramps. I have also seen guys build custom additions out of wood. Do you think a local Trailer/Welding shop would be willing to lengthen my ramps? Do local trailer shops sell better car hauler ramps? So far I have found very few sites that sell car hauler ramps online, and the 94" ones I want are out of stock and $460 shipped to boot which is half the price of my entire trailer. Any ideas, suggestions, or pictures would be great. Thanks.
Trailer, Ramp Length, E30 Loading
On my open trailer with my 944 I used to drive the rear of my tow vehicle up onto a set of those plastic rhino ramps to get a better angle.
I’d just rig up something temporary to get you to your first couple of events. That will give you an opportunity to see what other folks are doing. Your current set up will never work.
The back of my dovetail is several inches lower then yours. The trailer has integrated 6’ steel ramps and I add >3’ of wood ramps.
After you’ve seen some ideas you could make supplementary wood ramps for beer money.
mcmmotorsports wrote:
I like this idea. I have plastic ramps, but I don’t know about the full weight of the rear of the truck and the trailer being supported by them. I will look really weird loading and unloading at RRR as well. I have previously placed the truck on a hill or a steep driveway to aid in lowering the back of the trailer.
They have two types, 8,000lbs and 12,000 lbs. I had the 8K and they were more than sufficient. Got the idea from others in the SE, they do this all the time.
When you put the tow vehicle’s wheels up on ramps to lower the rear of the trailer, the trailer’s wheels are the pivot point. The pivot point is much closer to the rear of the trailer then the tow vehicle’s rear wheels. Therefore by raising the tow vehicle’s rear wheels 12", you are likely to only get 3" of trailer rear drop.
Dropping your rear 3" puts you about where my trailer rear is. But you still have 4’ of ramp and I have 9’. Grab some 2X10’s and cut an angle off of the leading edges. Use 3 thicknesses of 2X10 to lift the leading edge of your ramp by ~4.5". That ought to work.
Use your floor jack to jack up the rear of the truck/front of the trailer to lessen the angle. CB
Yeah I was also thinking about getting a serious drop hitch and reversing it so the ball will be mounted higher to increase the angle. I will look at building some wood ramps to help me as well. Should be easy with my nail gun.
King Tut wrote:
I have a Trailex with ~20" load height and 9’ ramps. With the stock “is” airdam it is close to rubbing, but wouldn’t do any damage if it did since the ramps are smooth.
With my Miller Motorsports Park Edition splitter installed, I had to get some 5’ raceramps to add to the Trailex ramps to avoid scraping.
If you are looking for long ramps, there’s no substitute for aluminum. I don’t know if you would want to (could?) lift extended steel ones. The stacked 2x8 solution is the easiest/cheapest by far.
I found a local Trailer shop that sells 5’ steel ramps for $129 a pair so at least I would have a little more length. The wood solution will be built this weekend.
mcmmotorsports wrote:
This is exactly what I do. Mine has a small dovetail on the back. It’s raining, so I ain’t measuring it for you. 
My ramps are very short and I thought I’d never be able to use them with this car but they work fine. I have no problem with the front air dam but do have to be careful I don’t compress the suspension any when loading or the exhaust will hit.
What i do as a quick and easy thing is use my floor jack and put it under the mall mount then hooked to the tow vehicle and jack it up. It reduces the angle of entry. Just make sure and put a wedge in front of the wheels. 
So I finally found a place that sells aluminum ramps made in the USA with a 5 year warranty for a decent price:
8’ long x 12" wide, 3000# capacity set of 2 ramps - $329 shipped
- Trailer Hooks that hook into slot on trailer
- Straight Ramps
The only thing I am worried about is the 3000lb capacity. I know the E30 is pretty close to that weight. They also have a set of 9’ long x 12" wide ones with 6000lb capacity for $549 shipped Is the $225 worth more capacity and another foot of length?
King Tut wrote:
[quote]So I finally found a place that sells aluminum ramps made in the USA with a 5 year warranty for a decent price:
8’ long x 12" wide, 3000# capacity set of 2 ramps - $329 shipped
- Trailer Hooks that hook into slot on trailer
- Straight Ramps
The only thing I am worried about is the 3000lb capacity. I know the E30 is pretty close to that weight. They also have a set of 9’ long x 12" wide ones with 6000lb capacity for $549 shipped Is the $225 worth more capacity and another foot of length?[/quote]
I don’t think all 4 wheels will be on the ramps at the same time, so you should be okay.
King Tut wrote:
[quote]So I finally found a place that sells aluminum ramps made in the USA with a 5 year warranty for a decent price:
8’ long x 12" wide, 3000# capacity set of 2 ramps - $329 shipped
- Trailer Hooks that hook into slot on trailer
- Straight Ramps
The only thing I am worried about is the 3000lb capacity. I know the E30 is pretty close to that weight. They also have a set of 9’ long x 12" wide ones with 6000lb capacity for $549 shipped Is the $225 worth more capacity and another foot of length?[/quote]
Or your 4’ steel ramps and $20 worth of 2X10’s?
You think the wood will only cost $20? I will stop by Lowes today and check. I was still planning on building some wood ramps just incase I need extra angle.
mcmmotorsports wrote:
[quote]King Tut wrote:
I don’t think all 4 wheels will be on the ramps at the same time, so you should be okay.[/quote]
Yup. 101" wheelbase and 96" ramps. You’re good.
King Tut wrote:
I wouldn’t worry about the 3000# capacity. Don’t work on the car under them, of course. :laugh: There’s not much chance of failure. And it would make a great thread anyway. I’m surprised THAT hasn’t happened to Ranger yet.
King Tut wrote:
[quote]
I like this idea. I have plastic ramps, but I don’t know about the full weight of the rear of the truck and the trailer being supported by them. I will look really weird loading and unloading at RRR as well. I have previously placed the truck on a hill or a steep driveway to aid in lowering the back of the trailer.[/quote]
Be sure you know the load rating of your ramps. I thought mine were pretty stout until I broke one doing that.
Steve D wrote:
[quote]
I wouldn’t worry about the 3000# capacity. Don’t work on the car under them, of course. :laugh: There’s not much chance of failure. And it would make a great thread anyway. I’m surprised THAT hasn’t happened to Ranger yet. ;)[/quote]
Last night I showed my wife how the car tends to support itself on 3 of 4 jackstands. I explained how this was kinda dangerous because it’s so easy to knock the weightless jackstand away when you’re under the car working. The damned car tried to come down on me last year in exactly this way.
You never know how women are going to react to things. I figured that it was possible she’d demand that I get a lift. Which would relieve me of any guilt re. going further in debt.
All she did was tell me not to get killed.
