trailer dilemma

[davemac]

I need a little advice. I'm about to purchase a new home, and just found out the neighborhood covenants prohibit keeping a boat on premises unless garaged.

Well the house has a three car garage and the largest bay is wide enough, but not quite deep enough to accomodate the Response. The s/a Performance trailer I have is in excellent shape w/ minimal usage, but does NOT have a drop down/ swing away tongue. Based on the specific design of my trailer, installing one of those hinge units would only knock about a foot off the current length...and I could really use two feet or more of savings.

I suppose I should start by asking dealer about trailer trade. Any other suggestions or advice??

Thanks.

Dave

(ps. yes, Chris, I know...if I had bought your rlxi I would not be having this problem)

[vlxjeff]

Does your measurements include the removal of your swim deck??

[davemac]

Yes, I will double check, but I think the garage is 23' deep. The response is 20'6", so about 22" including platform. Trailer sticks out about 3-4 feet in front of bow. If I remove platform, I'm coming up about a foot short.

If I were to remove platform and unbolt the brake actuator (that bolts onto the tongue), I think it might just fit. Obviously removing the actuator is not practical. With a typical swing away trailer that just extends about 6" in front of bow, I could fit the boat w/ the platform, or easily without the platform.

[ilovetrains]

I am having trouble picturing your trailer tongue sticking 3-4 feet out in front of the bow. That makes me think your trailer is way longer than it needs to be??

A good metal fabricator should be able to add a swing away and insert a rubber brake line for your brakes.

[99response]

The Performance trailers have more tongue length that a comparable boatmate. I was never able to fit a classic response into my garage with a performance trailer (no drop tougue), but now I can fit my response lxi with boatmate trailer & swing tongue in no problem.

Dave, besides the pivotal mistake in not purchasing a boat with a pivot tongue, I think you have a way out. Bill at Performance custom builds every trailer, he has built one-offs for people in weird situations like narrow garages/driveways etc. No reason your trailer couldn't take a trip out to NY and be modified just the way you want. Worse comes to worse, order a new trailer and eat in the cost of you new abode.

I have one other bright idea I'll PM you about.

-Chris

[davemac]

I'll post a better pic in a while. Essentially the side frame rails do not come together until well forward of the bow. Thus the single tongue part of the frame is very short on this particular trailer.

[ilovetrains]

OK - I now have an idea of what you are dealing with. Hmmm. What about going the other way. Wonder if you could cut the bow support, move it 2-3 ft forward, move the bunks forward, move the axle forward, and chop the back of the trailer off? A lot of work, to be sure.

[davemac]

OK - I now have an idea of what you are dealing with. Hmmm. What about going the other way. Wonder if you could cut the bow support, move it 2-3 ft forward, move the bunks forward, move the axle forward, and chop the back of the trailer off? A lot of work, to be sure.

Now that is "thinking outside the box". Will evaluate, but probably more work/expense then worth. Thanks.

[BlastRlxi]

You could always angle the boat so that it fits in. You may not get another car in next to it but at least the boat is in and that's what is really important anyway.

[SunriseH2OSkier]

I feel your pain. I had the same problem with my '01 Sunsetter that had an Elete trailer under it. The trailer design was really inefficient, causing the tongue to stick out much farther than it needed to, even though it was designed for the boat. And much like yours, the design was such that I wasn't going to pick up much by adding a swing tongue. Only way I could fit it in the garage was to remove the coupler - not technically that hard to do, but a PITA to have to bleed the brakes the following Spring.

As already indicated above, the Boatmate trailer under my RLXi is designed much more efficiently. Even though the RLXi is only 6" shorter than the Sunsetter, I picked up probably more like 18" on the trailer, and that is without a swing tongue. I would like to have the extra space afforded by a swing tongue, but because it isn't necessary to get the boat in the garage, I'm not going to pursue.

Your best bet is likely to be going back to the manufacturer to see what they can mod. You can't expect much in a trade with your dealer. Boats aren't moving that fast, DD even slower, and if your trailer only fits a Response/ResponseLX/Sportster? Really going to be tough to move. I'm guessing that your dealer is not going to be particularly motivated to give you much for it.

[radioman]

here is thinking out side the box. leave the door open.

[vlxjeff]

I did a quick search and this thread might be of some assistance, if you decide to modify your trailer.

[davemac]

Here is a better picture. Trailer extends 3-1/2' beyond nose of bow.

Dave

[jayjoans]

I remember seeing a picture on either TMC or MBO of a guy with the same issue, and he cut out a box in the back wall of his garage where the transom would fit into. If I recall, the box went into a family room on the other side of the wall, where he put a flat screen on top of it and it worked out OK. Don't know what you have on the back wall, but if it is backyard or something like that I would look into making construction changes, those are much cheaper and DIY for the most part.

just sayin'

[TLo]

You could put carriage doors on the small garage (the kind that are attached on the sides and swing closed in the center, like barn doors) and cut a notch out of the center for the tongue to stick out. A little plug could fill the hole when the doors are closed without the boat in the garage.

[Bill_AirJunky]

I have a two car garage & an RV stall on the side of the house with a 10' gate in front of it. I've done the hole in the gate for the tongue of my old boat. It worked, but looked pretty stupid. The new boat has a breakaway tongue & is a much better arrangement.

Looking at your tongue, it doesn't look like that trailer design would work very well for the breakaway tongue mod. I think I'd consider either modding the trailer some other way, or modding the house. Either way, it might cost you a couple grand now, but will pay off in the long run.

[SunriseH2OSkier]

Here is a better picture. Trailer extends 3-1/2' beyond nose of bow.

Dave

Looks exactly like the Elete trailer I had with my Sunsetter. IMHO, if you end up into some kind of mods on either the house or the trailer that run you a couple grand, I'd just bite the bullet and go buy yourself a Boatmate trailer. You'll be much happier.

[auto]

My solution was to move away from a neighborhood with any of that HOA crap.

[jgouveia3]

here is thinking out side the box. leave the door open.

or be like one of my neighbors when i lived in West Palm Beach. He cut a hole in the garage door. looked pretty funny.

[99response]

Here is a better picture. Trailer extends 3-1/2' beyond nose of bow.

Dave

Looks exactly like the Elete trailer I had with my Sunsetter. IMHO, if you end up into some kind of mods on either the house or the trailer that run you a couple grand, I'd just bite the bullet and go buy yourself a Boatmate trailer. You'll be much happier.

Performance is WAY better than Elete. I've towed thousands and thousands of miles with performance trailers and towed quiet a few with a boatmate. Those performance trailers go down like no other.

-Chris

[BrianM]

Looks like you could have a metal fabricator fix you up to get about 3' reduction with a swing tongue. Cut the diagonal tubes at the straight bar where that spare tire is. Then change the angle to come together right at the winch. That will give you a much longer straight tongue section for you to install a swing tongue. Would cost you some money to do but a good fabricator should be able to easily do that and make it just as strong as before. Will be cheaper than a new trailer.

Edited August 6, 2008 by BrianM

[SunriseH2OSkier]

Here is a better picture. Trailer extends 3-1/2' beyond nose of bow.

Dave

Looks exactly like the Elete trailer I had with my Sunsetter. IMHO, if you end up into some kind of mods on either the house or the trailer that run you a couple grand, I'd just bite the bullet and go buy yourself a Boatmate trailer. You'll be much happier.

Performance is WAY better than Elete. I've towed thousands and thousands of miles with performance trailers and towed quiet a few with a boatmate. Those performance trailers go down like no other.

-Chris

Didn't mean to imply that the Performance trailer is anywhere near the POS that the Elete was, only that the way the side rails of the trailer come together at the coupler is the same, making it so that a swing tongue won't gain you much.

My 'happier with a new Boatmate' comment is relative to cost - if I'm going to wrap a couple G's into modifications on my house, I'd wrather just get the new trailer and leave the house alone. If the Performance trailer can be modified with appropriate structure for significantly less, then that would make the most sense.

[Bill_AirJunky]

My solution was to move away from a neighborhood with any of that HOA crap.

Man, I'll second that. Hope the amenities are worth it.

We have shared waterfront.... a 300' beach, our ramp, docks, slips, etc. That just about makes up for the BS the HOA deals out........ almost.

[davemac]

Looks like you could have a metal fabricator fix you up to get about 3' reduction with a swing tongue. Cut the diagonal tubes at the straight bar where that spare tire is. Then change the angle to come together right at the winch. That will give you a much longer straight tongue section for you to install a swing tongue. Would cost you some money to do but a good fabricator should be able to easily do that and make it just as strong as before. Will be cheaper than a new trailer.

Thanks, Brian. That sounds like it might be the best option.

Dave

[95echelon]

I don't know the laws in your area, but here if you do not join the homeowners association then you don't have to abide by their rules. Do you like your neighbors?

What about a garage in the backyard? The cubby at the back of the garage is a great idea too, i am currently considering doing that for my motorcycle.

EDIT: Also, with the platform off i can fit my echelon on the Elete trailer in the garage and i even have surge brakes (longer) the wegde must be down and it only clears by a few inches, but it works.

Edited August 6, 2008 by 95echelon