dropping the trailer??? Doesn't fit

[hawaiianstiln]

I know someone else posted a thread, but I didn't want to hijack their thread.

I had a VERY hard time fitting my 07 X2 in the garage today for the first time. I had a 3" drop on the hitch so I switched it to raise it 3" (flipped it) to get the front trailer high and the backend a little lower. still didn't work. I needed about an inch. So tried to stick the tower inside the engine (released the gas spring shocks on the engine cover) and it still wouldn't clear. I still needed a half inch but didn't want to let air out of the tires just yet. So I took the swivel racks and put them at a 45degree angel and it barely worked.

This is a pain. Can't I adjust the torsion axles on my trailer and not have to worry anymore. The racks are the only thing that hits my garage. I need about 2 inches. Will the torsion adjustment do it??? If so, how much do I or can I adjust without causing problems?

I also realized I have 75 series tires (tandem axle) on there and in the future might buy lower profile to help.

Any suggestions??? It's in there for now, but so much of a pain I don't want to take it out of there. :( :(

[bigmac]

This problem comes up fairly often since many/most garage doors are 7 foot. It appears, around here at least, that new home construction is going with 8 foot doors pretty routinely.

The commonly mentioned solutions have been

change hitch drop (usually MORE drop is recommended)
air out of tires
lower profile tires
8 foot garage door



I didn't know you could adjust the torsion axles. I guess that's a solution too, if it is possible. Usually, the axle end /axle arm are square, meaning the only way to adjust is to pull the arm off the axle and back on in a different location, but that would mean a 90 degree change. They do make the torsion arms in different angles, so maybe you could find a replacement arm that is something less than the 45 degree down angle (arm relative to axle) that the current trailer comes with. I'd go to the company that makes the axle for your trailer and see if they have torsion axle arms that have a different drop but typically the axles are supplied for trailer manufacturers and are part of the design, rather than supplied so that the end user can do fine adjustments. Typically, the next down angle that axle mfgrs provide is 22.5 degrees. I think your tires would hit the fenders. Otherwise, I can't see how you would adjust the ride height of the trailer.

Some companies do make adjustable torsion axles. I don't know how they adjust, however, nor do I know whether or not your 2007 trailer might have come with such an axle. My 2004 didn't.

[hawaiianstiln]

I'm going to pull them off now and look, but I think the torsion axle end piece is actually like a gear. Which would mean I should be able to take the torsion arm off and move it one or two notches (move it up, to lower, right?) to the next tooth on the gear like torsion bar.

Bigmac, do you know what profile tires I could go to?? They are 75 series and maybe I could go to 60 series. I wonder how much of a difference that would make? Does that mean it would be 1.5 inches lower if I go to 60 series

heading out to work on the axle now. I will post back in a few hours or so

[hawaiianstiln]

oh and I had a 3 inch drop on my hitch already which didn't work. So when I flipped it to make it a 3 inch raise, was I not suppose to do that? Am I suppose to get even a lower drop than 3 inches on the hitch?

[FamilyX2]

I have a 2008 X-2:
7' door
single axle trailer (sits higher)
no tower speakers (tower lowers a little more onto sunpad)

I also use a drop-hitch in "reverse" to raise front/lower back of boat for clearance. I use an adjustable hitch, but guessing i raise tongue 5-6 inches.

Sometimes i also remove one board rack finger on each side for additional clearance.

[bigmac]

I'm going to pull them off now and look, but I think the torsion axle end piece is actually like a gear. Which would mean I should be able to take the torsion arm off and move it one or two notches (move it up, to lower, right?) to the next tooth on the gear like torsion bar.

Bigmac, do you know what profile tires I could go to?? They are 75 series and maybe I could go to 60 series. I wonder how much of a difference that would make? Does that mean it would be 1.5 inches lower if I go to 60 series

heading out to work on the axle now. I will post back in a few hours or soI'll be interested to hear what you find out. It certainly makes sense that some axle mfgrs might make the axle-ends splined instead of square. IIRC, the torsion bars on my truck's front suspension are like that, so it must be workable

A 225/75 designation means that the tire is 225 mm wide, and it's height (section height) is 75% of that, or 168.75 mm (6.64 inches). If you go to a 60-series tire profile on the same width tire, it would be 135 mm section height or 5.31 inches, meaning it would get you 1.33 inches in trailer height reduction if you switched to a 60-series trailer tire with the same width tread (section width). Usually, however, 60-series tires are wider than 225 mm, so you might get even more reduction than that, assuming that there even any such thing as a 60-series trailer tire.

edit:

Note that permanently lowering the whole trailer that much, whether you do it by tire size or by axle-adjusting, may cause unworkable problems with ground clearance of your prop guard. That would be solvable, I suppose with a hacksaw, welder, and some paint, but......

[Sodar]

Hawiianstiln,

If that is your boat in the picture, it is NOT on a MasterCraft trailer, so our answers might be a little skewed. Your boat sits on a SportBoat Trailer. Sounds like you are taking the right steps though, by checking out the axles yourself. I have definitely seen axles that have a spined shaft and torsion arm... just not sure if SBT uses that type or not. If they do, I would definitely lower it a spline or two and get some lower pro tires to avoid them rubbing the fenders. If you do this, watch out for the driveways and gas station entrances... you will definitely be dragging your prop guard more often. Might want to check to make sure you have prop guard rollers or have them installed.

[hawaiianstiln]

Okay, it is splined on the torsion axle. There's a C-clamp that goes around the axle-ends/torsion spline (whatever you call it). I don't have an impact wrench and couldn't torque those baby's off, so I decided to stop for now until I can take the trailer somewhere or get a buddy's impact wrench.

Sodar, good call!!! I looked underneath the fender and it is says sportboat. :)


FamilyX2, how do you take of the rack fingers like you say ("Sometimes i also remove one board rack finger on each side for additional clearance."). This is the only thing in my way right now. Al I really need to do is find a way to buy .5-1.0 inches and I wouldn't have to worry about all this anymore.

The only reason I got the boat in last night, was because I reversed my 3" drop hitch to make it a 3" raise and tilted the swivel racks at a 45 degree angle. They still kind of nudged the garage, but didn't damage anything.

I do have prop guard rollers.

[hawaiianstiln]

okay, lemme try and attach some pics here.

[dummy]

Dude, forget the impact. You'll have better luck with a long breaker bar. Go buy a Craftsman one at Sears or hit Lowes for a Kobalt or Home Depot for a Husky.

Spray the nut down with some penetrating oil first (PB Blaster, JB-80, Free-All - just something better than WD-40). Let it soak while you're getting your breaker bar.

Put a wrench on the bolt head wedged against the trailer frame rail and then heave-ho. They shouldn't be so tight you need to add a length of pipe to the breaker bar for extra leverage.

I've got a gnarly IR impact that does about 650-700lb-ft in reverse and even with that I've had to bust out the breaker bar on certain suspension bolts. With leverage you can do more than 700lb-ft with the breaker bar.

[bigmac]

Cool! Get out the PB Blaster and get to work. I'd probably reassemble with some NevRseeze. Watch the fender and prop guard clearance.

[woftam]

Dude, forget the impact. You'll have better luck with a long breaker bar. Go buy a Craftsman one at Sears or hit Lowes for a Kobalt or Home Depot for a Husky.

Spray the nut down with some penetrating oil first (PB Blaster, JB-80, Free-All - just something better than WD-40). Let it soak while you're getting your breaker bar.

Put a wrench on the bolt head wedged against the trailer frame rail and then heave-ho. They shouldn't be so tight you need to add a length of pipe to the breaker bar for extra leverage.

I've got a gnarly IR impact that does about 650-700lb-ft in reverse and even with that I've had to bust out the breaker bar on certain suspension bolts. With leverage you can do more than 700lb-ft with the breaker bar.

Nah, a set of vise grips, a three pound hammer, and some duct tape should take care of it.

[hawaiianstiln]

I found a hitch that raises up and down by using a socket. Got it from Checkers. I'm going to raise the hitch up further then 3 inches and see if that does the trick.

I removed one side of the forks on the racks and I know that will do the trick, but it would be nice to not have to remove one fork on each rack everytime. that would be a PITA!

[spanielman50]

Can You Adjust Your Garage Door, Somyimes You Can Get An Inch Or Two

[hawaiianstiln]

I wish, but it actually scrapes the stucco a tiny bit. I have a fork off each rack and then I turn the racks at a 45 degree angle in and it clears pretty nicely. But taking a fork off (4 allen heads per finger on each rack) sucks everytime. Eventually I would think that the threads would start having problems if I'm taking those forks off a bunch. I think I'm just going to have someone lower the torsion axles and not have to worry about it anymore. I'll just make sure it's not to low that it will cause problems.

[Chief]

I feel your pain.

1. I have to disconnect the rear legs on the tower while it's resting on the sun pad.
2. Connect a strap to the ski pylon to the board rack (keeps tower from sliding too far).
3. Turn the right board rack facing inboard.
4. Remove the seat behind the driver.
5. Slide tower to where the port leg hangs over the port side of the boat and the starboard leg is inside the boat in the pocket under the seat behind the driver.
6. Clears Garage!

I put towels on on the side of the boat where the board rack will sit on the boat (exactly over the gas cap) and a towel over the right seat where the speaker will be sitting.

I will take pics the next time I do it, but it works and it's cheaper than rasing the header in the garage and a new door.

[FamilyX2]

But taking a fork off (4 allen heads per finger on each rack) sucks everytime.

We must be talking about different things:
I take one fork off each board rack (2 forks per board rack)
one bolt to remove each fork.

[hawaiianstiln]

Chief, dude, that is some pain man! That sucks! With all your time spent, it may be worth spending $$ on low profile trailer tires and drop the trailer a bit. Or have you done that already? My previous boat (malibu VLX) had the low profile package (tires and torsion axle drop) fit in my garage with ease.


FamilyX2, I just realized I took it off wrong. I took the 4 little allen heads off and not the big one that you take off. I could do that everytime no problem if it's just one bolt on each rack (one fork per side). That beats paying $500+ on a low profile trailer adjustment.

Thanks for the info!
Keith

[JohnnyB]

I feel your pain.

1. I have to disconnect the rear legs on the tower while it's resting on the sun pad.
2. Connect a strap to the ski pylon to the board rack (keeps tower from sliding too far).
3. Turn the right board rack facing inboard.
4. Remove the seat behind the driver.
5. Slide tower to where the port leg hangs over the port side of the boat and the starboard leg is inside the boat in the pocket under the seat behind the driver.
6. Clears Garage!

I put towels on on the side of the boat where the board rack will sit on the boat (exactly over the gas cap) and a towel over the right seat where the speaker will be sitting.

I will take pics the next time I do it, but it works and it's cheaper than rasing the header in the garage and a new door.

I think I'd give up wakeboarding :D

I have a tower on my boat for footin'......at my last house, I had to use a drop hitch (3" on my suburban, 6" on my tahoe with hill billy tires) to get the tower clearance under my 7ft garage. The house I'm building has 8ft garage doors....I looked at going to 10ft but it didn't work with the lines of the house.

[FamilyX2]

Thanks for the info!
Keith

No problem.

FYI...There's another fellow on here (Duramaxer), that is having a friend machine some aluminum knobs (to replace allen bolts for those doing this frequently) that will match the others on the tower.