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Trailer modification - Good idea or bad?


JMortensen

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So my car is too wide to fit on the trailer by about 1.5". Trying to figure a way out so that I can run before the season is over. If I have to wait, I can buy narrower tires and rims over the winter and then put it on and off the trailer with those, but I just went and looked and have some ideas, looking for feedback please.

 

Thinking about cutting the frame rail and welding it closed, but not too sure it's a good idea. There is about 6" of overhang after where the leaf spring bracket is bolted up. Was thinking I could cut through the box frame and basically take a long skinny triangle out of it so that the tires would clear. That would be about 3' of cutting, so then thought maybe I could screw a 2x12 to the trailer deck so that the tires would come up and clear a smaller cut. That leaves quite a bit more tube above the leaf spring perch. Bottom of the car should clear one 2x12, downside is I'd definitely need at least a board in front of the trailer to get the front end to clear (which I'd probably need anyway with the rains, because with the 24.5" tires the splitter BARELY cleared the trailer with the plastic spacers on the front springs, so I don't think it will clear with the 23" rain tires on there).

 

Also don't need to cut the whole frame rail, so technically I could notch the rail and leave some amount of it the full height, although it would be real thin and have a 90 degree corner at the bottom which seems like it kinda defeats the purpose, and it would also make it so close that I might really need to consider toe setting and whether the car would fit on the trailer.

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Wheel spacers ("adapters") to push the wheels out, which would in turn allow you to move the leaf spring bracket out and give you the additional needed width?  It's hard to tell from the pictures if this approach will work, but it looks like it might.

 

Silly question:  does your trailer have ramps, or does the entire deck pivot in order to load the car?  Is it possible to "lock" the deck in the level position and use removable ramps to load the car?

 

jt1's approach should work as well....and you really wouldn't even need to build up the whole deck....just the two tire tracks on the left and right outer edges of the deck.

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I have a tentative plan: pull the back of the truck up on ramps, this will tilt the trailer quite a bit by itself. Then I'll try a couple 2x12s bolted to the deck. If that doesn't do it, I'll cut the frame rails. I think by the time I get all that done, I should be alright.

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Two steps forward one step back. Ramps and wood got the car on the trailer. Tie downs are too long. Guess I'll have to look for REALLY short ones, as they only need to be about 2.5 feet long. I know you can chain one end and strap the other. Have a bucket of 5/16" chain but I'm guessing you want bigger. Would also need hooks for the chain. Any leads on that?

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Still too long in the front. The problem is that I bought wrap around axle straps 8 years ago when I bought the trailer. Crisscrossing barely works in the rear, and I've got the tow hooks on the car and the slots I cut in the trailer set up for straight straps, so I think I'd bend the hooks before too long.

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