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Width Of A Boat Mate Vtx Trailer With Guide Posts Removed


Cory

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I currently have a 2008 Vride on a tandam axel Ryan trailer which just fits width wise into my garage door (about 2 or 3 inches to spare on each side). I usually have to make a couple attempts to back it in--it's tight. I'm contemplating stepping up to a VTX, but I'm concerned it will not fit through my garage door (or will be too close to reasonably fit). The 2008 Vride has a 93.5" beam and the VTX has a 98" beam. However, the wheel fenders on my trailer are the wider than my boat. I'm curious if the boatmate trailer for the VTX will be wider than my trailer? If so, by how much? My garage door is technically 9' wide by 8' high, but with moldings and all it is more like 103" wide. I could replace the 1.5" thick moldings with 3/4", but that will only buy me 1.5" total. Our concrete foundation wall on the garage rises up 2 feet from the ground on either side of the garage door, so widening the opening may not be easy, and I'm not sure I'm willing to do that anyway.

Does anyone have the actual width dimensions fender-to-fender of the boatmate trailer for a VTX?

Thanks.

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Tires are at 102". If you are ordering new, order a narrow trailer - the boat will sit higher, but you'll have width clearance, provided you don't have a headroom issue.

Peter

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I just got off the phone with Ryan Trailers (compnay that made my trailer for my 2008 Vride). It turns out my current trailer is 98" wide (fender-to-fender) and the trailer they make for the VTX is 102" wide (fender-to-fender). This will be a problem for me.

SmoothWaterMan: I assume the 102" you are quoting is for the boatmate trailer, right? I didn't know you could order a "narrow" trailer...

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Tires are at 102". If you are ordering new, order a narrow trailer - the boat will sit higher, but you'll have width clearance, provided you don't have a headroom issue.

Peter

How much narrower is the narrow trailer compared to a regular trailer?

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Cory, do you two garage doors in the front?

Yes, I have two single garage doors. But, my concrete foundation stubby wall rises 2ft high off the ground between the two doors. The garage is a two story building and a main support post for the front of the building runs down between the two garage doors to the foundation. Since we are on the water, when we built the garage back in 2007, the engineer required we use very substantial metal mounts that tie this post into the foundation stubby wall at this point between the garage doors. I guess what I am saying is removing this portion of the foundation and re-engineering our two-story detached garage is not something I'm willing to do. I sure wish I had been aware of the width issue when we built the garage back in 2007. I knew I had to be concerned about height, but didn't even think about width. sigh...

It may be possible to cut an inch off the concrete on either side with a concrete saw... Not sure, I"m heading out to our cabin this weekend to do some yard work, I'll be investigating this for sure.

Edited by Cory
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I hear you. When we bought our house it had the two doors and the VTX wouldn't fit. I had to redo the entire header, and we also had to reinforce the exterior support walls because of the distance. My wall had about 18" high concrete foundation that we had to take out as well. Don't rule it out. You may be surprised what new boat motivation can do!! :whistle:

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This probably doesn't answer any of your questions but figured it was one more data point for you.

I have a 23' LSV on a Dorsey trailer and it goes in the garage.

Fender-to-Fender is 100"

Guide-to-Guide is 110"

Max width by law on road is 102"

Bit of a pain, but I take off the guide posts and have to remove the wakeboard racks.

Here are my door dims;

garage.jpg

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If I'm not mistaken, I believe the beam on your boat is 102", so your boat is wider than the fenders on your trailer. Perhaps I need to look into a Dorsey Trailer? I would imagine that your trailer holds your boat a little higher. Do you have the spinner racks or fixed mount racks? I heard the new G3 towers are lower profile when folded, this may allow me to look for a narrower trailer that holds the boat higher.

This probably doesn't answer any of your questions but figured it was one more data point for you.

I have a 23' LSV on a Dorsey trailer and it goes in the garage.

Fender-to-Fender is 100"

Guide-to-Guide is 110"

Max width by law on road is 102"

Bit of a pain, but I take off the guide posts and have to remove the wakeboard racks.

Here are my door dims;

garage.jpg

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Cory, I stand corrected....

My boat does not extend beyond the trailer fenders. Now that I'm home, I took a look and the tires actually extend ever so slightly past the fenders. I just measured from outside edge tire-to-tire. I came up with 103.5".

According to the 2007 user manual, LSV model beam is 100".

The dealer told me fender-to-fender was 100" but he probably just referenced the boat beam. Now I know I'm dealing with 103.5". I have to admit it is a tight squeeze backing in when you're only working with 106" but I've gotten used to it.

I have spinner racks but they are still too wide for my door.

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Cory, I stand corrected....

My boat does not extend beyond the trailer fenders. Now that I'm home, I took a look and the tires actually extend ever so slightly past the fenders. I just measured from outside edge tire-to-tire. I came up with 103.5".

According to the 2007 user manual, LSV model beam is 100".

The dealer told me fender-to-fender was 100" but he probably just referenced the boat beam. Now I know I'm dealing with 103.5". I have to admit it is a tight squeeze backing in when you're only working with 106" but I've gotten used to it.

I have spinner racks but they are still too wide for my door.

Not sure about OR but in most states you technically need an overwidth DMV issued permit to haul your boat :crazy:

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Cory, I stand corrected....

My boat does not extend beyond the trailer fenders. Now that I'm home, I took a look and the tires actually extend ever so slightly past the fenders. I just measured from outside edge tire-to-tire. I came up with 103.5".

According to the 2007 user manual, LSV model beam is 100".

The dealer told me fender-to-fender was 100" but he probably just referenced the boat beam. Now I know I'm dealing with 103.5". I have to admit it is a tight squeeze backing in when you're only working with 106" but I've gotten used to it.

I have spinner racks but they are still too wide for my door.

That's pretty impressive backing skills. Are your spinner racks hitting the vertical sides of your garage door opening or the top where it slants down towards the outer corners? If your garage was flat across the top would you be able to back in without removing the swivel racks? I'm able to back into my garage with the swivel racks turned all the way in, but I've only got a couple inches to spare.

Edited by Cory
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Not sure about OR but in most states you technically need an overwidth DMV issued permit to haul your boat :crazy:

CA is 102" without a permit so the 103" at the fenders would technically be a problem.

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salute.gif I don't have anything helpful to contribute except wow, those are great trailer backing skills if you get the boat in there every time, backing up, with only an inch and a half on either side.
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CA is 102" without a permit so the 103" at the fenders would technically be a problem.

Good website that shows the rules for a lot of states and Canadian territories I just found:

http://www.readybrake.com/state_laws.html

Looks like depending on the area, the rule is either 96" or 102", with Hawaii being the exception @ 108"

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I just got off the phone with Ryan Trailers (compnay that made my trailer for my 2008 Vride). It turns out my current trailer is 98" wide (fender-to-fender) and the trailer they make for the VTX is 102" wide (fender-to-fender). This will be a problem for me.

SmoothWaterMan: I assume the 102" you are quoting is for the boatmate trailer, right? I didn't know you could order a "narrow" trailer...

Yes, for a Boatmate Trailer. And yes, you can. :)

Peter

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Just got off the phone with Boatmate. They make a line of boat trailers for Australia that are narrower (98" fender to fender) due to AU street laws. He said US VTX boatmate trailer was indeed just shy of 102" fender-to-fender. The AU boatmate trailer should be about 98' fender-to-fender, but will cause the boat to sit about 3.5' to 4" higher.

So at least I know my options and what I have to work with.

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That's pretty impressive backing skills. Are your spinner racks hitting the vertical sides of your garage door opening or the top where it slants down towards the outer corners? If your garage was flat across the top would you be able to back in without removing the swivel racks? I'm able to back into my garage with the swivel racks turned all the way in, but I've only got a couple inches to spare.

I admit it was certainly interesting the 1st time I tried it....probably quite entertaining for any neighbors watching!! :innocent: Now I can get it in rather quick.

Unfortunately, we have push it out by hand. I haven't been able to tow it out since I can't make the necessary micro adjustments needed.

Regarding the 102" vs 103" fender dimensions, yes, I could be slightly out of spec. I wonder if the fenders are right at 102" and the tires are pushing me out of bounds. Really surprising for a trailer manufacturer to do that but who's going to tell...:whistle:

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I admit it was certainly interesting the 1st time I tried it....probably quite entertaining for any neighbors watching!! :innocent: Now I can get it in rather quick.

Unfortunately, we have push it out by hand. I haven't been able to tow it out since I can't make the necessary micro adjustments needed.

Regarding the 102" vs 103" fender dimensions, yes, I could be slightly out of spec. I wonder if the fenders are right at 102" and the tires are pushing me out of bounds. Really surprising for a trailer manufacturer to do that but who's going to tell...:whistle:

Ok, this is good info for me. I won't be able to get away with such a close fit, since my garage opens to gravel (i.e., I can't push it out by hand). I have to use a vehicle to put it in and take it out. I have to admit, I have had one or two times where pulling my current boat out ended up harder than putting it in.

Edited by Cory
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