Thinking about a Kwiklift/trailer type thing

[Danglerb]

Kwiklift is a ramp you drive up on, then raise the rear with a jack and legs drop down to make the car level. I was just thinking a Kwiklift isn't that far away from a basic trailer, maybe the idea could be combined?

Could be a 3 am idea.

 

[bgarrett]

A lift is something you put a car on.
A trailer is something towed by a car.
Where are any simularities?

 

[PAToyota]

The issues that come to mind:

• Undercarriage of the trailer would get in the way of getting under the vehicle to work on it.
• If you wanted this in your garage, you'd want to be able to drive onto it - which would mean that you'd have the trailer tongue at the front wall of the garage. Sort of a problem if you don't have an extra deep garage.

 

[Sledgehammer]

Something like this?

Or an open deck like this?

 

[trovato]

Actually I was informed by someone on another list recently that an open trailer like the lower picture Sledgehammer posted is often used as a sort of a poor man's emergency lift at the track.

Personally, I don't really get the advantage of the whole Kwiklift thing. When I want the whole car up sitting on its wheels, I jack up one end and slide in a pair of ramps. Then I jack up the other end and slide in another pair of ramps. OK, I jacked the car twice and with the Kwiklift it's only once. Is that worth it for you?

 

[trovato]

The issues that come to mind:

• Undercarriage of the trailer would get in the way of getting under the vehicle to work on it.
• If you wanted this in your garage, you'd want to be able to drive onto it - which would mean that you'd have the trailer tongue at the front wall of the garage. Sort of a problem if you don't have an extra deep garage.

Some boat trailers have tongues that are either removable or swing around to address the problem of fitting in storage space.

 

[PAToyota]

Some boat trailers have tongues that are either removable or swing around to address the problem of fitting in storage space.

Yes, but you still have to get the trailer into the garage stall backwards somehow...

 

[flesburg]

Generally when I want the car in the air, I want to be able to remove the wheels. Jackstands or a lift. A rotary lift in your garage is like, wonderful.

About all you can do with a tilt bed open trailer is to look under the car. Maybe you could change oil, but maybe one of the trailer cross members is also in the way.

Next, I had an open trailer and did not like it, because I could not haul anything other than a car..(ie: lawn mowers, garden supplies, mulch, plywood, sheetrock, paving stones, lawn fertilizer etc) so I made it into a solid floor trailer and really like it. Has been much more useful to have, and I don't get my suburban filthy all of the time.

 

[Danglerb]

Its one of those urban space challenged type things. I don't have room for a two post, or a trailer. From time to time a trailer would be handy, and I do have a sort of back burner notion of a track car.

Something open deck like Sledgehammer posted is what got me thinking, and yes I have seen a trailer used for track side repairs.

Working heights;
78" raises the car over my head and is the best for most bottom side work.
36" to 48", working under on a stool, or working from the side.
24" Tires and brakes, quick jobs.
18" and less, creeper down to sliding on cardboard.

18" to 24" is a sweet spot for on your back work, plenty of room to drop stuff down, and you don't rub your nose in grease so often. Room to move quickly out of the way when stuff starts to pour down. A trailer with a way to move the wheels out of the way, and raise it up maybe a foot, sounds interesting.

Chances are good its back to looking at scissor lifts.

 

[strnge]

Make sure you can open the doors while they are on it and while the car sits on its own wheels. My friend bought one and forgot to see if he could open his doors when his car was on it.

 

[boarderline]

HI guys just a thought, what about a trailer on hydraulics or air so you can raise and lower it like a low rider car i have seen one over here in new zealand
it was just like the pic of the tilt race car trailer but he had also installed air jacks on the trailer deck so he could lift the car off the trailer so he could remove wheels etc,so he could raise the trailer up high enough to work under it comfortably then if he had to he could raise the car off the trailer to remove wheels say for a brake change i think it was all operated off a small generator
cheers dave

 

[Danglerb]

Two problems, Even lift up, Even smooth lowering. Race cars have a built in 4 post air lift sometimes, but its for inches. With several feet of lift, even 2 or 3 feet, its critical that the car isn't allowed to become unbalanced. Front to back height could be off maybe a foot, side to side maybe a bit less, corners get messy quick because the car might appear level until the moment it tips.

The basic design of all commercial lifts is related to what can go wrong and how it relates to keeping the car level and safe. Something I thought might work with a trailer is a rack, kind of like the thing weight lifters use on a bench press, where the ends could be jacked up maybe a foot and dropped into some kind of big sturdy stand.

Short answer I think, is that modest height might be reasonable with moderate effort and complexity As soon as you start needing a lift more than a trailer, then you most likely should get a lift and vice versa.