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Garage Help


bamaboy

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The ingenuity of the TMC folk has never ceased to amaze me.  I am wondering what tricks you guys have come up with to get under a garage door.

 

I put the G away this weekend and had to let some air out of the tires to get her in.  I got it done but would rather not do this twice a year and stress the tires.  I am curious about other options.  So far I have heard....

 

1)put some janky steel rims on the trailer and pull in and out with those on then change back to the good rims and tires.  I am worried about the concrete in my garage.  I'm not sure if this is a valid concern or not but I guess I could lay some kind of pad down.  Any thoughts on this option?

 

2)take off the front set of wheels and use a drop hitch.  I tried the drop hitch when putting away and it didn't help much.  I'm guessing the dual axle trailer didn't allow much pivot.  I figure if I do this, it will compress the spring on the remaining tires and allow some pivot on the axle.  

Any other suggestions?  

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Fold down the tower???

Just kidding. ..Jeeps idea of ixle realignment is probably best solution.   1. it's permanent, so will help the next owner,  2.  Will not require janky wheels laying around the other 363 days a year. 

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2 hours ago, oldjeep said:

1) If you have torsion axles, reindex the arms to lower the trailer - assuming your fenders allow enough space.

2) Go to a shorter wheel tire setup permanently

Fixed axles OJ.  

1 hour ago, Pnwrider said:

3) stop being cheap and raise your garage door height. 

what a dumb suggestion

25 minutes ago, itznowonder said:

When I garaged mine and it was slightly too tall all it took was to lower the steering wheel so the tower could drop just slightly lower...Maybe for you too?

I looked very thoroughly to try and see if I could gain a couple inches here and there.  The tower has a stop built in so it can't go any further.  Thanks though.

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7 minutes ago, bamaboy said:

Fixed axles OJ.  

what a dumb suggestion

I looked very thoroughly to try and see if I could gain a couple inches here and there.  The tower has a stop built in so it can't go any further.  Thanks though.

Fixed axles and leaf springs?  How quaint ;)   Are the axle tubes above or below the leaf springs?

If the tubes are above then you can drop the trailer with blocks and longer u-bolts (assuming you have the clearance between axle/boat and propguard/ground)

If the tubes are below then you can flip the axles above the leafs - assuming the same clearance issues as above.

 

This is a truck with blocks used to lower it, same concept on a trailer whithout the shock mounts

lowering-truck5.jpg

Edited by oldjeep
  • Like 2
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Would it help to remove the front wheels on the trailer, then deflate the tow vehicle tires?  I would feel better about running truck tires at 14PSI to crawl in than the trailer tires.

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Bigger drop hitch?  Mine sits about an inch off the ground and I can easily get about 2-3 inches of extra clearance compared to my normal hitch.  I have to use a separate automotive jack in order to get the tongue down low enough.

 

Edit:

 

This is for a tandem boatmate trailer.  My front tire squishes when I do this.

Edited by hunter77ah
Addl.
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2 hours ago, Pnwrider said:

3) stop being cheap and raise your garage door height. 

I am just in the process of doing this on my second house.  Both garages on my last tow places had a garage more than large enough to hold the boat.  But they split the doors into two small doors that are not tall enough, or wide enough to get the boat in.  Next week I am changing all the door in my garage and going to 8ft+ height.  I actually looked at building a separate garage but priced out this option first.

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44 minutes ago, Stevo said:

Don't u have room with your garage headers to raise it by 1foot.

like others have probably said it would help resale for a new homeowner, and it's not like boats are getting any smaller.

If I do this then I don't have anything to obsess over all winter.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!  

  • Like 1
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Good luck.  Ill post a couple pictures of the before and after from my change if you are interested.  I was surprised at how cheap it was to change out all the doors and redo the stone. 

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Just talked with the trailer manufacturer

 

1)unloading on one axle is a no no.  He said with how heavy the G is, it could be the axle.  

2)He recommended against changing the tolerances.  He says they are already set very low

3)He liked my idea of getting some rims and rolling her in and out.

4)he said raising the door is stupid.  Haha.  Just kidding

 

So my plan is to get a quote on the door.  And depending on how cheap I am feeling possibly go to my FIL house (ghetto lowes) and get some 15 inch 6 lug rims.

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23 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

Plan C - dig a couple holes ;)  Couple trenches in the concrete for the tires and it would make sure you backed it up straight :)

Plan D - jack the garage up !

Steve B.

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Fill the ballast!   

 

But seriously, just get some small tires for in and out once a year. Might be more effort that just letting air out of the tires and refilling them. 20 minutes of being "flat" is not going to kill them, just don't make a jackknife turn and roll the bead off the rim. And if you are really worried about it, jack the trailer up and put it on jack stands for the winter to keep the weight off the tires, but at that point you might as well just get smaller tires and swap them out.

  • Like 3
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ahopkins22LSV
3 hours ago, bamaboy said:

If I do this then I don't have anything to obsess over all winter.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!  

I'm sure something else will fill that void rather quickly. 

Raise the damn door lol. 

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2 hours ago, twitchee2 said:

Fill the ballast!   

 

But seriously, just get some small tires for in and out once a year. Might be more effort that just letting air out of the tires and refilling them. 20 minutes of being "flat" is not going to kill them, just don't make a jackknife turn and roll the bead off the rim. And if you are really worried about it, jack the trailer up and put it on jack stands for the winter to keep the weight off the tires, but at that point you might as well just get smaller tires and swap them out.

I'm thinking some 15 inch steel rims.  Just swap them out right now and let it sit on the steel rims over winter.  Pull out in spring, and put the tires back on.  Then laugh in victorious glory at my 8 foot door! 

 

I whipped your A$$ 8 foot door!  Mwah ah ah ah ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited by bamaboy
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