And I know what you’re thinking. “Just let some air out of the tires!”
There is an offending protuberance on the roof that causes the trailer to exceed the 7’ published height specification, thwarting my carefully laid plans.
It’s a crank vent hood or cover. Not too tough to remove, and then there is juuust enough clearance.
What I think makes more sense (since this operation is not suited to practicing my now atrophied precision skills at backing into confined spaces) is buy a small diameter cheap pair of wheels and tires and installing these temporarily.
Then, grab some random people and impress them into service. 4 or 5 people should be able to move a 1600 pound camper easily.
So what am I looking for realistically? Golf cart wheels? Wheelbarrow?
Very likely i will get bettter tires over the winter, use one for a spare. Be convenient time to do it.
Depending how involved you want to get, you could purchase a couple (or maybe four) of those mechanics’ creepers, put your car Jack under one side of trailer, remove the wheels, lower trailer onto creepers, repeat for other side, then push into garage.
Yes, but that just gets it really close. Height clearance wise. That works with horseshoes, as they say. The AC fairing is super close, I could remove that too, maybe lay down new proseal. The vent cover would have to come off.
I really only need to drop one side, realistically. It weighs 1660 dry, as it is right now. 2 or maybe 3 people who have eaten their Wheaties could maneuver it on the level ground. But it would be awkward that way.
I thought about something with casters and a board, just set one side down about 10” and get it installed in the garage. The problem is I either need an expert backer-upper (which I am not) or several people. Installing low profile wheels, I could probably back it in without too much drama, eventually.
Not sure what sort of rims (wheels) you’re starting with, but I’d figure out the lug pattern, and then take a look at a website like eTrailer.com or a store like Tractor Supply.
You’ll probably find a pair of 8" trailer wheels/tires that will fit, allowing you to just have “parked” and “driving” wheel/tire sets.
Assuming you’re starting out with something like 13+" rims, this could make all the difference you need.
Just don’t forget to change them as appropriate.
Futzing around with the stuff up on the roof, to me, seems like begging to get a leak
The garage door opening is 7” attached residential garage with concrete floor. Has Electricle and everythang! Jacking up the garage is not an option however.
The harbor freight dolly deal looks promising. There’s a couple different ways to accomplish this.
The vent hood is remarkably easy to remove, since everything on these is kind of cheap, that isn’t surprising. Cheaply made anyway. Looks like it would be $40 to $70 for a replacement, glad I didn’t prang it. One screw on the handle, some screen removal, then bend a tab up top and the cover slides right off. Wasn’t too sure at the time.
The fellow who delivered it would have been able to back the trailer into the stall had the vent cover been removed and some air let out of the tires. Backing though, my skills are still rusty. And need a spotter.
Shorter trailers are trickier than longer trailers, I’m getting better. I got into the driveway more or less where I wanted it. There’s a vacant parking lot I need to hone my backing skills some.
(not a serious suggestion)
If you cut 2" deep grooves in the concrete a little wider that the trailer tires, that would give you room and would have the bonus of helping with alignment…
What kind of garage door is it, and is the door itself the constraint? If it’s on rollers (the door), I think you can pull the door back some and that will pull the bottom edge up higher onto the rails, maybe enough to give you some space, temporarily, without having to MacGyver it.
We used to have a small pop-up trailer, maybe 1,000 lb, and I would back it into our garage, then maneuver it single-handedly into place on the flat concrete.
Just don’t leave the vent hood open when you park it on the street!
[pointless story]
Ages ago there was one particular summer when someone in my neighborhood began parking a gigantic RV on the side street alongside my house (I’m on a corner). I grumbled at it from time to time and did my best to ignore it.
In those days I had a pool in the back yard, and as all pool owners know, you get occasional dead critters in the pool, ranging from mice to squirrels to skunks to rabbits.
Squirrels and mice were the most common, so whenever I saw a squirrel bobbing on the waves I would call my teenage kids and declare “so-and-so… you are on Squirrel Detail”, accompanied by their groans of disapproval–they would then have to use the skimmer net to scoop up the animal and then double-bag it and deposit it in the garbage outside.
Mice were simpler: I would simply toss them into the street and let nature take its course.
One fine summer afternoon I spotted a mouse floating on the chlorinated waters and I grabbed the skimmer pole, scooped up the rodent, and then proceeded to use the pole/net to flip the creature in the air, over my fence and out into the street.
Imagine my shock and horror as I watched the tiny cold mouse body flipping end over end in a graceful arc that led directly to the vent hood on top of the motor home! The mouse slipped in the vent like a “nothing but net” basketball!
I quickly stowed the skimmer pole and disappeared, lest someone come out of the thing looking for the source of the mouse.
Never did find out what happened after that. Hopefully it just landed on the floor and caused minor distress. Worse would be if it ended up lodged inside some inaccessible ductwork only to liquify over the next weeks.
Both the RV and the pool are long gone, just distant memories. I wonder if the owners remember the mouse incident.
[/pointless story]
Do you have a jack with a flat footplate on the tongue and talking about having to lift the tongue by hand and then pushing the trailer into place? That’s the only reason I can think of that would require that much effort.
My FIL had a camper that I think was heavier than your 1600 lbs (my 16’ jon boat with motor and gear weighed over 900 lbs and his camper was easily twice that). We installed a wheeled tongue jack and it was trivially easy to move on concrete. My 10 or 12 year old nephew rolled it by himself. And I have seen many very large boats and campers with wheeled jacks, though not in use at the times.
Now ours was on nearly level ground, so if your driveway has a significant slope up to the garage it would be more difficult.
We only had a single wheel, but a dual-wheel jack makes maneuverability much easier, especially if you run into a crack or a pebble while pushing. Just make sure you get one with the correct height range and a clamp that fits the beam on your trailer.
If you can solve the height problem by removing/replacing the vent cover, that should solve the problem. Having to replace the actual trailer wheels every time you move it seems like an awful lot of extra work.
Of course if you already have a wheeled jack just ignore me
