Can we create a list of trailers that work for a car with 1.5" of clearance?

Neil posted in another thread that the Aluma trailers work. I was actually looking at those. 

I have a Carson 16’ open trailer. I use the long 11’ race ramps butted up to the back of the trailer and jack the trailer up all the way with it attached to the truck. My ball hitch insert is flipped upside down to make it easier to jack higher. I use a mounted winch to winch it on but it could be driven up. The open trailer is around $2800 new and the race ramps are around $600. Pretty cheap package for basic hauling.

That sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. Carson seems to be a west coast trailer brand but I'll look into the availability here in Wisconsin. They didn't answer their phone, probably closed with the virus.

Many trailer manufacturers will offer a "beaver tail" option on their trailers.  The last 3 I bought of which one was an open offered the option for not a whole lot more.  It helps a lot when loading cars with minimal ground clearance.  You just need to make sure it isn't too much of a drop or the car will high center going onto the trailer.

The beaver tail option allows the back 3-4 feet of the trailer to act like a loading ramp as it drops down.

And as Crit suggested, a set of ramps from race ramps should finish the setup.  Once you have your trailer and have it connected to the truck you can take measurements which will allow you to purchase the correct set of ramps for your setup.

https://www.raceramps.com/c/trailer/

Gobble, where in Wisconsin are you?  I'm in Menomonee Falls.  Are you racing or just doing track events?  Would be nice to get a few of us together when we do track events up here.  I'll be doing a couple of races with SCCA and track event at Road America and Black Hawk Farms if the COVID issue every goes away and the season actually starts.

Gobble, where in Wisconsin are you?  I'm in Menomonee Falls.  Are you racing or just doing track events?  Would be nice to get a few of us together when we do track events up here.  I'll be doing a couple of races with SCCA and track event at Road America and Black Hawk Farms if the COVID issue every goes away and the season actually starts.

 

Seriously? I grew up in Menomonee Falls. My parents still live in the same house right in front of the high school, the road that connects from Lilly Road.

Since I've never driven a car like this, I plan to do a couple day school with Francesco at Autobahn and then just do a few driving school days like Porsche / BMW clubs. I'd love to compare cars sometime. Where are you in the Falls? I'm in Richfield now. 

@gobble,  I had great luck with my Pace "Outback" 22' enclosed trailer. That trailer had a nice low deck height and a 3' beaver tail.  To get enough length I had the 3' beaver tail, the 7' door and 11 foot Progressive race ramps.  

Just about any trailer can be made to work if you have long enough ramps.  But obviously starting with a lower deck height helps.  They key to figuring out the proper ramp length is to make sure the ramp angle is less then 3 degrees.  Race ramps offer a progressive ramp that allow the ramp angle to remain low and be shorter then if they were straight ramps.

Here is a picture I took of my angle gauge sitting on top of a piece of metal that goes from where the tire hits the pavement to the bottom of the front splitter.  As you can see you need to stay right around (preferably below) 3 degrees.

Charley 

Here is my car on an inexpensive Triton trailer. It works perfectly for what I need. I've been intending to post of video of the car being loaded with Race Ramps, but it's been 33 days since I ordered them and they still have not shipped!!!

@gobble, looks great!  Did RaceRamps give you an estimated shipping date?  When I got mine many years ago they shipped quickly.  Of course we weren’t in a world wide pandemic at that time.

I think I was told something like a week when I ordered them, but it's been over a month and they haven't shipped yet. 

A very, very ordinary 24" enclosed car trailer, plus a set of RB Components ramps (don't see them on their website anymore, but someone has to be making something similar). Front of the trailer is lifted about 6" past level.

Splitter *just* scrapes.

I'm about to pull the trigger on a Trailex 8045.  It's all aluminum, weighs less than 1000 lbs.  Although it has 11' ramps, it will need progressive race ramps sold by Reverse Logic.  I started to make my own spreadsheet to do the ramp calculation and it turns out Reverse Logic has one openly available to download, so save yourself some time! 

Anyone have experience with one of these?

BTW, Jason at Henderson Motorsports has been awesome to work with and the trailer can be customized pretty easily.

@azwcat - I'm not sure if this will help you, but might also be of interest to others...??

I purchased a Brian James Race Sport trailer to use with my Radical SR3 RSX as well as with my VW Golf R.  As you can imagine they are quite different to load/unload!!

The Golf is very straight forward, and can easily be loaded using the rear door ramps with the fold out extensions.... it still needs the trailer to be raised at the front (off the tow ball) to lower the rear of the trailer, but once that's done it drives in very easily, with absolutely no need for the winch being used...

The Radical is a bit more difficult.... and as pointed out by others requires a ramp angle of less than 2.3 degrees, at least to begin with, and then once the cars front wheels are up on the ramp surface the angle can be progressively increased (just like the Race Ramp solution).  I originally looked to purchase a set of Reverse Logic's 105" Progressive Incline ramps... but freight to Tasmania was over $500... so I took a different route.  If you live in the US and have better access to the Reverse Logic ramps, then their 105" Progressive Incline ramps would work great!

I ended up using their calculator (the one you refer to in your original post)... and from that took some dimensions, modified it to be an even better fit for the Radical, and then ended up making a set of steel frames and put aluminium decking on their surface. I would be happy to share the detailed drawings for these if anyone is interested...... They have a hinged joint in the middle to make them fold up to a shorter length... easier than handling 4 separate pieces.

Here's some photos of the first time I loaded the Radical. My driveway is pretty steep which doesn't help... but you will get the general idea. (the last photo here is the first 'trial fit' and shows a little bit better how the ramps link-up to the standard ramps in the rear door of the trailer.) 

It went in really well... just touches the front splitter in two locations when loaded in my driveway (driveway has an increasing slope which doesn't help).... and clears by about 2mm when on flat ground at the track.  The trailer has to be raised a fair bit at the front (off the tow-ball with the trailer brakes on) and I used the standard 'drop down' legs at the rear of the trailer (not really shown in these pictures) to act as support.  The car winched in really easily.

To store the ramps to/from the track, I've installed some storage racks in the rear of the trailer (one on each side) as shown here. (I put them at the rear of the trailer as I wanted to keep as much load off the tow-ball as possible for when I am towing the VW Golf R (very "front axle heavy")

  Overall its a good solution... and I hope it helps others who are looking at options.  As I said - happy to share what I have in terms of drawings....

Rod

Those ramps look great Rod. Tanks for sharing.

Charley

Rod, that trailer setup is great.  Enclosed trailer is the way to go if you travel far to the track.  Great for securing your stuff and gives you a place to sit in the shade between sessions.  I just sold the one I used for my race bike this week.