Deckover Thoughts?

[MarkEagleUSA]

I'm still moving ahead even though turning that around in my driveway is going to be tight unless someone can share some tricks before hand.

Make the driveway bigger?

 

[Timd32]

Found some Boat sites got some good tips.

Damn boats can be huge and watching folks back into these tiny driveways. This thing is tiny compared to all that stuff.

Like anything else would be easier if I had it and just had to deal with it then sit and wait for it.

 

[Timd32]

Well got the call today its arrived at the place and is ready for pickup, might be able to grab it tomorrow would be better if I get it Thursday so I dont have to figure out where to keep it tomorrow PM not getting home till pretty late. What's another day at this point.

Today I had time in the AM if I knew it was coming, they called around 11AM and was already busy all day after that, thanks to all this new fangled on-line training we provide our clients. I have to put the class on so they go fast just take up alot of time in the middle of the day.

 

[Timd32]

Well its a tad bigger then what I originally ordered since they could not build the one I picked out. Not a power tilt, but climbing under it looks pretty well built overall.

The tounge is really close to my lift gate so I need to extend it back a bit with a different ball mount. Which I picked up, can't get the damn locking pin off again, hate those things, I was doing really well taking off my ball mount but guess I waited too long again.

We did not have enough tools of destruction to remove it, so I just dropped it low for now just running empty.



Had to try it out even though I knew its already 2-3 low with nothing on it. Really makes a difference where you put the load on the 2500 anyway.

Worse case I upgrade to a 3500, don't want to loose the lift gate but understand can't have it all in one with a gasser 2500. I fully get my limitations. And maybe I should have went back to the drawing board before stepping up a bit on the overall size. No real buyers remorse, just that stupid pin really annoys me second one, I left on too long.

Friend asked how did you get the last one off? Said I traded it in left it on the truck, was not a high dollar ball mount and where the pin was it was shrouded most likely needed a touch to pop it off which I dont have. This one I think I can use the cut off wheel. The lift gate gets in the way.

 

[JR]

Is this the Cam brand trailer? Looks good Tim. Very comparable to my old Branson I posted above except mine was built with channel on the outer frame rail - yours looks like I beam. I think I beam would be stouter.

 

[Timd32]

Yep its a CAM who is owned by Novae Corp. They have a few brands they build.

Yeah they all seem to have their advantages.

Will figure it all out and put it to work and see where we wind up.

If its too much trailer then figure there will be a breakeven point vs renting one for a few months get done the jobs I know I need it for and see what happens.

Have to work out the DOT stuff and registration is the next step, have till Dec 31 which is one good thing, so I technically can delay that part if I need to for a little bit. Tax is paid thats all they care about.

 

[seafish]

Is there some reason they wouldn't build you the shorter trailer??

SORRY if I missed it !!

 

[Timd32]

Is there some reason they wouldn't build you the shorter trailer??

SORRY if I missed it !!

Started out as a powered 20' tilt, then changed powered 22' tilt since it had to be built, final was 4' fixed deck with standard hydraulic 20' tilt.

I never talked to the MFG directly, but as I think Nick pointed out the shorter distance from the wheels to the tounge could become problematic with load distribution. I really have zero experience with these and loading them up so it was something I had in the back of my mind.

I took a bunch of measurements of what I planed on loading and the 20' was going to be tight if distribution was an issue, the 22' gave me some room to move around a little.

So the sales place called me one day about the powered 22', their comment to me was they got a call from the MFG and they cant build the 20 or 22, were having loading issues with the 20-22' straight tilt. And they wanted to do a 4' straight and 20' tilt.

I asked about the overall distance to the wheels and where would they land with this new one, for all I knew they could be in the original spot. But it is shifted back 4', he then brought up the same issue Nick said that he thought someone or more then one might have loaded up improperly and the shorter ones could be a little shifty.

When I had that minivan on the deck, I would say +/- 2' made drastic differences on the 2500. It squatted the rear, we had it still on the 20' deck but ahead of the axle, we centered it kinda maybe a little forward of the axles and the rear popped right back up, I know I started off tounge heavy my ball mount needs to be swapped for sure.

It did fit as designed next to the garage in front of my enclosed so the wife is happy its not sticking out past the garage, you can barley see the tounge from the house. (Pics from the opposite side)

 

[seafish]

Thanks for the details!!!

 

[Wayne M.]

Very nice. Congrats! When you get a chance, more pics like inside the hydraulics box, please. If it’s no big deal.

 

[NIsaacs]

Very nice. Congrats! When you get a chance, more pics like inside the hydraulics box, please. If it’s no big deal.

No power tilt, so no hydraulic box.

Nice trailer, I like it. The longer they are the better they pull. Weight placement is key on a bumper pull, always make sure you have sufficient hitch weight. If the 2500 sags too much you might need a weight distribution hitch.

Trailer brake setting is also key on a bumper pull. Too light on the trailer and the truck has to make up for it, when that happens the rear of the truck comes up and sway starts.

 

[Timd32]

like inside the hydraulics box

Yeah that was funny because I was on the passenger side and they went to show me the tool box and they open it up and it's empty, and said something like it has a nice size.... I said yeah its supposed to be filled with stuff. The model number on the data plate still references the old 22' with power tilt, that was one of the bigger selling features and since I'm 99.5% solo I thought it would be a nice feature.

It has like a split valve that controls the deck, we messed around with it and you have pretty good control with the manual valve. Did not get it 100% figured out.

Yeah I took a bunch of pics of the hydraulics just because I know I need to do rust prevention to this thing.

 

[Wayne M.]

I’m confused. The pics above show cylinders and lines. Is this your trailer?

 

[BigPapa]

I’m confused. The pics above show cylinders and lines. Is this your trailer?

Me, too. Is your new trailer hydraulic or non-powered?

A good friend has a similar non-power tilt trailer, I don't know the exact length, that I’ve used several times hauling different vehicles. It has worked great with a couple of S10's, a Lexus ES350, a Ford 3000 tractor, and my son's Mustang. I've found that you get good balance and tongue weight if you pull the vehicle on to the point the bed goes down and then @ 6" more.

The only problem I've had loading and unloading was with a '92 Extended Cab Longbed. The front wheels were past the deck pivot point before the rear wheels were on the deck. I didn't realize this was going to happen, so the deck came up and caught the muffler and pulled it off the front pipe. I backed it up until the deck tilted back up and put a couple of 6' long 2x6's down with one end on the deck and the other end on the ground. They were just long enough to get the back wheels on the deck before it went down again but both of them broke in the middle. Once I got the truck on the deck with it down, the front wheels went onto the fixed front deck and off the tilt deck causing the deck to tilt back up behind the front tires. I had to use jacks to lift the back of the deck up enough to back the truck up until the front wheels were back on the tilt deck enough to hold it down. Balance and tongue weight were ok and there was no need to pull that far forward. Just a word of warning. Here's a pic of the front wheel issue. I didn't take a pick of the other.

 

[Wayne M.]

OH HANG ON!
I think I’m getting it.
those cylinders are dampers, and that valve connects the ends of the cylinders, and you can control the deck tilt rate?

 

[JR]

You got it Wayne.

 

[Timd32]

OH HANG ON!
I think I’m getting it.
those cylinders are dampers, and that valve connects the ends of the cylinders, and you can control the deck tilt rate?

Yep thats mine, its hydraulic but controlled by a manual valve not a pump.. the rate you have the valve at can dampen the tilt slows it down we did get it to hold the minivan.. i think if you set it up just right as you get to that tilt point it slowly rides down. Or back if off loading. Then it does not slam back down either.

The tilt portion is balanced really well when empty you can get a feel for the controls.

We just had a kid drive the minivan up the tilt and it worked pretty well, he had never loaded a trailer ever so was amusing just to have help, not that any of us had done it with this kind of trailer, but if something was to go wrong at least I had some help, the front valance drug just a little bit, very minor not even like if you hit a parking curb, so anything super low you need to maybe make some arrangements.

Agree BigPappa, on that you could have issue if the bed tilts before the load is all the way on the tilt and that starts to move. I did think of that, thanks for the advice on the 6" deal will try that.

Being a deckover it has a little bit more of an angle then a lower car carrier tilt. This thing is a beast compared to what I was expecting with the standard 20'.

I have some use for pallets to be loaded with a forklift from the side, which is why I went deckover. I think a car carrier drive over fender might have worked with maybe a knife edge where I could use a pallet jack, if the angle was similar on those to my enclosed trailer, pallet jack works great with my enclosed that has a built in knife edge and has a flip down deal to cover the gap at the door.

Has a 12k drop leg, which I had never used one before, it said pinch point on the release lever so I was cautious, once I had it on the truck and no weight on the leg, pulled the pin and the spring return slammed that leg back up, that will take a finger off. Learned real quick to just put a little pressure with your foot then release. Takes a while to crank it up and down with those. So getting it close to a pin will help.

 

[BigPapa]

those cylinders are dampers, and that valve connects the ends of the cylinders, and you can control the deck tilt rate?

Hmmm....

In my experience with the trailer I mentioned above, the "Damper System" would be totally unnecessary and maybe even undesirable. As long as you move the vehicle your loading or unloading slowly, the deck tilt is slow and predictable, no slamming involved unless you move too quickly.

The only other thing I thought the trailer needed is a winch for loading a vehicle that doesn't run. I think it would have to be mounted to the tilt deck. Maybe some sort of removable mount where you could take it off when not needed.

 

[Wayne M.]

Further thought on this.
All you need is a electro hydraulic power unit- like for a log splitter or plow, and you can do your own power tilt. Everything is right there.

 

[Timd32]

Hmmm....

In my experience with the trailer I mentioned above, the "Damper System" would be totally unnecessary and maybe even undesirable. As long as you move the vehicle your loading or unloading slowly, the deck tilt is slow and predictable, no slamming involved unless you move too quickly.

The only other thing I thought the trailer needed is a winch for loading a vehicle that doesn't run. I think it would have to be mounted to the tilt deck. Maybe some sort of removable mount where you could take it off when not needed.

Yeah I had a tilt deck for a while with my little race car was not worth the winch could drive right up but it would go pretty quick up or down. And make sure its hooked to the truck, made that mistake one time, had the leg down and and did something where it was unhooked, that gets interesting in a hurry, it was only about 1350lb I think. But it was not slow. At the same time there was no slow way to load that thing, clutch was pretty agressive.

Not being a dedicated car hauler deal for my use, I liked the idea of the power tilt at time of purchase, never used one so not sure.

I did not see the option for not having the cylinders in this configuration looked at a few brands. Went with the CAM since the local dealer been a customer for about 18yr have purchased a few trailers, family owned, has a good service shop if ever needed, thats what they carry. They all had cylinder systems from what I saw. The car carriers had cylinders and no cylinder, don't see the need for a powered tilt car carrier, they sit pretty low.

We discussed DIY the power tilt. Probably save some $. Will see how this works.



For sure could be drawbacks on this set up loading and unloading.

I know unhooking and rehooking is a bit longer then my enclosed I arrived with the deckover then unhooked. had to move the enclosed, rehook, then park the deck over, unhooked, noticed I was right on top of my enclosed trailer front leg, so rehooked just enough to drag it 2".