Stepdeck Ramps

[terrylamar]

Who has them? Who has used them? Who has an opinion on what brand and the different options available.

Ramps will be my next major purchase. I am in the market right now. I have some ideas of what I need, but I have never used a ramp. I have talked to a few drivers and opinions are like... you know the rest. Below I will list what I am thinking about buying. If I am headed in the wrong direction, hopefully one of you can steer me in the right direction.

I want my ramps to be versitile. I am not loading one particular type of vehicle. It could be tracks or wheel, wide or narrow.

I am looking at Landsport's Load Leveler Ramps. These can be used as ramps and as bridges. Both can be very useful and I have had to turn down loads because I had neither. These ramps come in two eight foot sections, one section is also a bridge. There is an option to have the other section made into a leveler, also. I am inclined to get this option, giving me a total of four bridges. I have never used a bridge and I do not know how many may be needed. I have never seen more than two used, but maybe I wasn't observant.

As a ramp 30,000 lbs. As a bridge 20,000 each.

I would get the wider 20" ramps.

I would get the full width hook seats, allowing me to adjust for wide or narrow wheels or tracks.

I would have the hook seats on the back of the lower deck and on the step.

I would get the stub toe vs. the knife toe. My thinking is that a blunter toe would be stronger. I don't think it would make much difference driving up on the ramp. The knife toe would be an easier transition, but I don't think a stub toe would prevent much of anything driving up on it.

Storage. Who knows. The manufacturer could make suggestions based on my trailer. There are several options. Mounts could be installed behind the rear axle. That could be adding as much as 400 lbs. hanging off the rear, but I have 40,000 lbs. I can load over the rear axles. I could put them on the sides, easy to get to, but I could damage them more easily, plus I have support beams that might get in the way and I may not be able to put storage boxes there at a later date. There is a space that could be used under the trailer where the step drops to the lower deck. This is right behind my drives, so whatever I store there might get real dirty and I may have to unhook the trailer to access whatever is stored there.

I looking to do this soon, maybe right after the New Year. Any constructive suggestions and/or advice is appreciated.

 

[bigyellowpete]

Because they can be used as levelers, they will be able to ride right behind your upper deck, basically extending that deck area. If you have to remove them because you need the entire lower deck, they will mount on your upper deck at the front, kind of making a stunted height, double thick, bulk head. If you need your entire deck, you can whip them on top of the load, or as you said, unhook and shove them under the lower deck.

I have never needed more than two bridges either, so I am with you on that end as well.

There are likely people here that have more experience than I do with these things, so I will shut up now.

 

[Racer X 69]

There are likely people here that have more experience than I do with these things, so I will shut up now.

Probably more experience than I have.

When I drove the Winston West race hauler back in '91~'92, the trailer was a converted Bed Bugger box. It wasn't like the cool ramp/door setups that they have now. The ramps were fabricated from steel, 3 sections per side. The ends had round tubing on them that interlocked between the sections, and interlocked with tubing welded to the rear deck, and were connected with cold rolled round stock that fit neatly inside the tubing. The round stock was bent 90° at one end and had a hole in the other and were secured with hairpins. The joints between the sections were supported by a fabricated jack stand affair with an adjustable screw post to account for uneven ground.

Fully assembled the ramps were about 30 feet long, because the race cars have such low ground clearance.

Loading and unloading the cars was a major pain.

The SCCA hauler a guy I road race with had a similar setup, but his trailer was a stepdeck dry box with a side door near the step on the right side in addition to the rear door.