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Trailer Genius’S Help Needed


New2Texas

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Looking for some clever suggestions on how to get the boat into my garage. My driveway is slightly inclined, enough that the lowest point on the rear of the trailer touches when reversing up the driveway. I was thinking of swapping out the ball mount on my truck (truck height is normal, not lifted) to one which had a 6 inch drop to raise the rear of the trailer. Has anyone come across this scenario before?

The trailer is dual axle, not sure if that make a difference or not.

Edited by New2Texas
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A friend of mine put two furniture type plastic wheels on the back of the trailer. Something heavy duty like this (http://best-b2b.com/Products/896/925-1/euro-type-aluminum-core-polyurethane-heavy-duty-swivel-caster_462776.html). He's done it for years and seems to work well. In fact some trailer manufacturers come with the wheels stock

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I had a similar challenge with a Malibu Skier and trailer. I built some ramps out of wood (2x8's) to reduce the grade I had to get over from the road into the driveway. Worked great for more than 4 years I lived in the house. Just had to put them in place before backing down or up the driveway each time.

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I had a similar experience with a rental that we stayed in last year. Luckily the driveway is a double wide one and I was able to go in at an angle and get up the steep beginning. Not sure if you have that option, but if you do, I would give that a shot first.

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If you are referring to the prop guard/cage hitting:

I had the same issue, so I began backing up at an angle to get one trailer tire up the steep section of the driveway (effectively raising the tralier), then straighten up after I got past the steep part. You may not have necessary amount of space/distance to do this.

Another option: Prop Guard Rollers

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If you are referring to the prop guard/cage hitting:

I had the same issue, so I began backing up at an angle to get one trailer tire up the steep section of the driveway (effectively raising the tralier), then straighten up after I got past the steep part. You may not have necessary amount of space/distance to do this.

Another option: Prop Guard Rollers

Those are cool!

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I would probably try the angle, and then using plywood on the ground so you run over it when you back up and it raises the trailer. Ive read of people using a lower ball mount to get their boats in their garage so I dont see why that would be a problem. It would be a pain to disconnect your trailer, switch hitchs, and then reconnect though.

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I used the dropped hitch method on my old MC trailer on the Prostar 205. That trailer would drag on everything, even looked at putting a lift on it or change out springs. Then I sold the boat and got my first Malibu and haven't had that problem again. The hitch is easy to do and you can try it, if that don't work then start using boards or another method. Towing with the drop hitch isn't to bad, but the trailer wasn't level.

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It seems to me that if you use a hitch that is dropped six inches or so that you may now drag the hitch instead of the boat trailer when backing the unit up the slope.. :whistle:

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what about dropping the ball mount 6 inches? No one has tried that?

I've done that and it does work, but it involves switching out your hitch if you're towing any decent distance to the lake.

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the easiest thing to try would be to lay a piece of 2x4 on the driveway. The prop guard will hit the 2x4 instead of the concrete and either ride up the 2x4 for a little bit or will push the 2x4 a little bit.

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I've done that and it does work, but it involves switching out your hitch if you're towing any decent distance to the lake.

I've run into the same problem as the OP, but conveniently for me the airbags that my truck rides on allow adjustment. Lowered to go up and then raised once cleared. Obviously a rather extreme solution if you don't already have them, but there may be some compromise in hitch height that allows the clearance needed and still trailerability without switching out the receiver after clearing the driveway.

If you do have to change receivers to do this, make sure to get ones that are the same length so the switch will be quick and not require further backing/manuvering. Not a problem on the flats where you can muscle the trailer but once on an incline its really nice to be lined up exactly.

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I had a similar challenge with a Malibu Skier and trailer. I built some ramps out of wood (2x8's) to reduce the grade I had to get over from the road into the driveway. Worked great for more than 4 years I lived in the house. Just had to put them in place before backing down or up the driveway each time.

Used to the same thing at our old house. Works great but is an extra step in taking the boat out.

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Looking for some clever suggestions on how to get the boat into my garage. My driveway is slightly inclined, enough that the lowest point on the rear of the trailer touches when reversing up the driveway. I was thinking of swapping out the ball mount on my truck (truck height is normal, not lifted) to one which had a 6 inch drop to raise the rear of the trailer. Has anyone come across this scenario before?

The trailer is dual axle, not sure if that make a difference or not.

My parents driveway is very steep (steeper then you can build now days) and long. On our Malibu we put a 2" block lift to help with the scraping. On our Sanger we had our neighbor weld on prop cage roller casters. They've held up well, going on 4 years now.

For our situation, lowering the stinger height did nothing. It was going to scrap no matter what level it was at.

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I know I don't own a malibu, but here is what we did. Used some old casters off a floor jack and welded to the prop cage. I have a pretty good incline on my driveway, so this works perfectly. I can send pics, but can't post on here right now

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I installed the prop cage rollers from California Trailer Works. Works great not only on the driveway, but on other slopes and dips that seem to be all over the place.

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