Has anyone ever modified thier 5er garage?

[jackpunx]

Hi,

I have a 40' cyclone 3 pop outs.. absolutely love it.. BUT.. I have a 12' garage.. I got my sandrail becuase it fits in it.. but Its time for a new car.. So

Im thinking of welding a frame to the metal frame that my ramp/door is mounted to. I want to add either 2 or 3' of lenth to the garage.. My buddy who is a welder said it would be no problem structuraly (sp?) and my buddy who ownes Prowlers here in Santa Clarta said he's seen one..

The metal should only add about 200lbs tops of material, the 5er is rated to hold 2500lbs in the garage area.. so I should total out at about 2200lbs with the new car and material..

anyone have any ideas, seen this done or am I crazy?

I just really need to think this through and Im hoping you guys can throw in some ideas...

I dont want to buy another trailer..

I was thinking of towing doubles.. I have a CDL.. but Im already at 56'.. the law only allows you to go 65' total.

thanks in advance

Mark

[wingnut]

Mark, I'm a little confused....so are you saying that you are going to build a support frame the size of the ramp door and use that as a deck. Then tow with the door down?

[EY3BA11]

sell it and buy wingnuts

[jackpunx]

Mark, I'm a little confused....so are you saying that you are going to build a support frame the size of the ramp door and use that as a deck. Then tow with the door down?

LOL.. No

The back is a steel frame.. Im going to extend that frame out and re attach the door to it.. It will be framed every 12" then I'll insalate it and seal it with sheet metal

[EY3BA11]

building an extension... I honestly dont know how CLEAN it will look but it should certanly work fine as long as its engineered right..

[jackpunx]

building an extension... I honestly dont know how CLEAN it will look but it should certanly work fine as long as its engineered right..

Thats where Im at.. I would have to build a little mock up before I start doing somthing permanent on that thing.. I think we can get it to look pretty clean.. but at that point.. Its a commitment.. LOL

My wife loves the trailer.. we looked at a lot of them .. and all very functional.. but this one is really comfortable and usable.

[wingnut]

Ok, I understand. I'm sure you could do it.................but.............. I think you will be stuck with the trailer forever!!!!

[Noozeyeguy]

The one that Prowlers has seen, used to be in our Glamis group. He added 6 or 8 feet to a 40' 5'er. It looked a little funky because the body lines didn't match but it worked. Basically welded an extension to the framerails, took the ramp door and frame and moved it to the back, then enclosed the whole shebang. If you've ever seen one of those ramp-door tent setups it kinda looked like that, but made out of corrugated aluminum.

IIRC he took it off when he sold the trailer. I think he was having issues with the frame extensions not going back far enough along the existing frame, and the extension was drooping. But it came off pretty cleanly.

Edit: I thought you could go 75' with doubles?

Edited December 18, 2007 by Noozeyeguy

[jackpunx]

The one that Prowlers has seen, used to be in our Glamis group. He added 6 or 8 feet to a 40' 5'er. It looked a little funky because the body lines didn't match but it worked. Basically welded an extension to the framerails, took the ramp door and frame and moved it to the back, then enclosed the whole shebang. If you've ever seen one of those ramp-door tent setups it kinda looked like that, but made out of corrugated aluminum.

IIRC he took it off when he sold the trailer. I think he was having issues with the frame extensions not going back far enough along the existing frame, and the extension was drooping. But it came off pretty cleanly.

Edit: I thought you could go 75' with doubles?

You can go the length.. but the middle trailer has to be 28' 6" or 29' or less and the rear trailer has to be on a 5th wheel plate, both trailers having brakes.

Thats sounds kinda like what I want to do when the time comes.... I want to be able to take it off with out changing the structure.. My buddy said I can just weld onto the existing frame and maybe add some support bars at the bottom.. If/when I want to get rid of the traielr.. I just take it off and re mount the door and brake lights.. it will be like new.

[Kens Colors]

Yep when you are all done you will only need to buff and glue and you'd be all set. That'll do it!!

[jackpunx]

Yep when you are all done you will only need to buff and glue and you'd be all set. That'll do it!!

Nice

I thought it through..its not going to happen.. If I cant afford a full trade out with my trailer.. then I cant afford the car..

I'll have to wait on this one..

but ..

I can get a small car:)

[Randy]

Nice

I thought it through..its not going to happen.. If I cant afford a full trade out with my trailer.. then I cant afford the car..

I'll have to wait on this one..

but ..

I can get a small car:)

I have a 12 ft garage and a 14 ft car all it took was custom built ramps in side and a hole in the ramp for my motor to hang out 20". By removing the wood on the inside of my ramp adding some reinforcement and dimond plate alum. flore and it fit . From the outside it looks like i have a alum. tool box on my ramp door.I you what i can send pics .

[White Rhino]

I have a 12 ft garage and a 14 ft car all it took was custom built ramps in side and a hole in the ramp for my motor to hang out 20". By removing the wood on the inside of my ramp adding some reinforcement and dimond plate alum. flore and it fit . From the outside it looks like i have a alum. tool box on my ramp door.I you what i can send pics .

Damn now that is inventive. I would like to see pics just because!

[Randy]

Damn now that is inventive. I would like to see pics just because!

I tryed to put some on here but didnt work ive got them on myspace

[timothyleavitt]

Check this out!

Sorry for the Rant, but I am OCD and sometimes obsess over these things!

I Figured the Diagonal of 7' x 12.

7' is the Height you need to lift the front of your Rail.

12' is the Length of your Garage.

If you Lift your Rail 7' in the air, then you technically have 13.89' of Length to work with!

Then if you add the Box to your Garage Ramp, you can fit just about any length Rail in a 12' Garage.

Just Remember that when you add the Box to your Door, if it is not removable, then you will have to make sure you can

open your Door and let it down without the Box hitting the Ground.

Now, how to deal with lifting the Front of your Rail?

I figure you can get the Electric Bed Lift. Add Ramps for your Front Wheels, Strap them down, and then

let the Electric Lifts do the Rest.

You then will have area under your Rail to Haul your Supplies to Dumont.

You can go to http://www.analyzemath.com/Geometry_calcul..._rectangle.html to check out your different Diagonals depending on how high you want to lift the front of your rail.

Edited December 28, 2007 by timothyleavitt

[Sandpirates2]

Dont know what state your in, but I have a WW 35ft with the 12ft garage as well. I have two quads and a rail. Although I'm only 51' in total length, with my Nevada CDL, I was alble to get a permit that allows to tow a second behind the 5th wheel, up to 70ft. My second had to have brakes, which are surge, as I didnt what to run through the issue of electric on two trailers. But I didnt have to use a second 5th wheel. I dont know how california looks at it if your from there, but we see this kind of setup here in Nevada all the time. My neighbor has a 40ft Raptor toy hauler and he also tows his 18ft bass boat all over the country with a CDL and again this permit. Hope this helps... :beer_bang: