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#1
04-29-2007, 11:17 AM
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How to build trailer ramps
I have been welding and fabricating for a couple of years as a hobby. I have a 20 ft car trailer and I need some ramps for it. I have made ramps in the past but they either bend or they are so heavy that they become unwieldy to use. What suggestions are there? I can weld aluminum but i need some help with design. Would tubing be a better option? Maybe a small truss under the ramp to prevent bending? I am towing a 2006 Pathfinder and other assorted cars (projects) so I need each ramp to hold about 3000 lbs. I am also considering making 1 ramp the full width of the trailer but I am worried that it will be too heavy to swing up easily. Thanks for the great forum and I look forward to contributing when I can. Sean Lincoln Squarewave 350 Hypertherm 600 Miller Vintage 
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#2
04-29-2007, 11:38 AM
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Welcome aboard, Sean and thank you for posting that location so we don't have to rag you about it.
 I will leave the advice to someone who has built some ramps. 
__________________
cutter Housekeeping Staff Director of Policy, Syntax and Grammar (by appointment) Let them eat hope. "Dr. Chandran, will I dream?" Janet Reno killed more children at Waco with Bill Clinton's permission than Adam Lanza killed at Sandy Hook.
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#3
04-29-2007, 11:42 AM
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Glad to have you on board Sean. I''ll defer to the more experienced here. Never made any ramps. Guess you could take a look at some commercial ramps and copy what you like.
I have seen car haulers that had hinged ramps that were supported at the hinge area. Everything folded up and looked fairly light weight.
__________________
Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you... John Steinbeck "If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under". ~Ronald Reagan We should have picked our own cotton... I love my women hot and my beer ice cold..
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#4
04-29-2007, 11:47 AM
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Making them light and strong is always a compromise.
For car ramps, I suggest some 1/4" plate, if you have a fab shop or access to a press brake. something like this will work.... You can tack weld some expanded metal on the tops for traction. They will handle a car or truck. heavier equipment like a bobcat or fork lift they will not handle.
__________________
Shade, Keeper of the Insane Asylum. "Live Free or Die" -- the official motto of New Hampshire A Liberal lives life fearing the evil a man might do. A Conservative lives life celebrating the good a man does. -- JonM@FTF Patriots are not revolutionaries trying to overthrow the government of the United States. Patriots are Counter-Revolutionaries trying to prevent the government from overthrowing the Constitution. -- Unknown When The People fear their government, there is Tyranny. When The Government fears The People, there is Liberty. -- Thomas Jefferson An Armed man is a Citizen, An Unarmed man is a Subject. -- Unknown To those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know. -- Scrawled on a bunker outside Khe Sahn, RVN Last edited by Shade Tree Welder; 04-29-2007 at 12:01 PM.
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#5
04-29-2007, 01:12 PM
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car ramps can be fun, they have to be light enough to carry and throw around. i bought a cheap a*s car trailer and the ramps were cheap, they moved around and tipped up when loading. gave me the willes when loading.
take your time and check things out. would not want to be loading and have the ramp move, LOL thansk
__________________
King of Obsolete Cat Train Tours Cat Trains forever or until the snow melts card carrying member of the Writer's Guild
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#6
04-29-2007, 01:16 PM
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Quote:
Making them out of Aluminum will also have them tend to disappear if not permanently affixed to the trailer.
__________________
Can we talk of integration until there is integration of hearts and minds? Unless you have this, you only have a physical presence, and the walls between us are as high as the mountain range. Chief Dan George Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading T.J.
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#7
04-29-2007, 01:20 PM
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Quote:
 Too much iron with engines and much too cold.
__________________
Can we talk of integration until there is integration of hearts and minds? Unless you have this, you only have a physical presence, and the walls between us are as high as the mountain range. Chief Dan George Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading T.J.
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#8
04-29-2007, 01:30 PM
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Can't offer much on the actual construction, but here are some pics of the ramp on my Father-in-law's hauler.
__________________
--------- Terry
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#9
04-29-2007, 01:32 PM
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The ones I have made have always been made from angle iron frame with angle cleats. 1/4x2x2 seems to work ok. I have put full size trucks on them
here are some generic pics of the style I used http://www.gandmtrailers.com/ramps.jpg If you want to make a full ramp thats permantly attached but its too heavy you can look into these ramp assists http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...6067_200316067
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#10
04-29-2007, 02:37 PM
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Mine work great--now. The following thread shows a few pics of them, but details more a modification I made to the ones that came with my trailer. I have plans later in the week to show another modification to my ramp system, but it'll be in the same thread.
Thread Here. They are approximately 41" inches long, 15" wide, and about 50lbs. They are made from 3/16"x2x2 angle, and then decked over with 14ga. sheet. Their original structure was similar to the "generic" ones Cavalry posted in the above post. My problem with them was that smaller car tires would trap themselves between the rungs, making it a major PITA when dragging up an unpowered car by winch. My trailer does have a pretty good drop, but I think they'd be alright for a standard dove tail trailer. You'd want to lengthen them for sure if you didn't have any drop on your deck.
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