I Did a Maybe Dumb Thing (Ramp Truck Content)

In reply to PunchyWrench - Ed Higginbotham :

I had one ( older but same concept.  The "sleeper" was T shaped one bed over the cab one bed over the ramp with a kitchen and table in the middle. 
     I think it was about a 1965?   Chevy's   50 series.  Decent fuel mileage. Hauling 1 pulling the second.   Very reliable, not much time devoted to working on it. 

I have a perfect set of 10' aluminum ramps I need to sell but I'm a few states away....

What an amazing machine you've found, and with that 6bt it should go forever. 

Wow.  If you have a place to keep it that is an amazing rig for track weekends.   Well done 

jfryjfry said:

I have a perfect set of 10' aluminum ramps I need to sell but I'm a few states away....

How many states away exactly?  Been shopping for aluminum ramps that won't fold right over and boy they are pricey. I also like the idea of driving the front of the truck up on ramps. Wonder how much that will get me. 

Here's some super redneck measuring I did. If I were to extend the angle of the dovetail all the way to the ground I would need 13-foot long ramps.

9-foot ramps would result in this kind of angle. I think that's as steep as I'd want to go and it would definitely need some wood at the bottom to roll the E36 on. 

Also I'm getting closer to finding this oil leak. Someone tried to fix it with gobs of RTV underneath the compressor. 

I sprayed down the back side of the timing cover with Brakleen and then ran it for a while till it started dripping again. Looks like it's coming from just above the RTV fix. Going to remove the front cover and compressor to search farther. I'm curious to see if the dreaded "Killer Dowel Pin"  went and cracked the case somewhere. But from everything I've read that usually cracks the case at the top. At any rate I'm waiting until my front end gasket kit arrives before I start removing this stuff. 

oh i'll be following this!

what transmission?

It's an Eaton FS5106A 6-speed manual. Not sure if that's a particularly great transmission but it sure is chunky!

Ok GRM Hive, I have ramp questions that I think at least someone here will be able to answer. According to the measuring above I need 9-13 foot ramps. I was scouring Marketplace for some long aluminum ramps and the newer ones that the indie transporters all seem to have are still pretty darned expensive used and the long ones are very few and far between. However, I see quite a few people selling these old style ramps at decent prices. They look less sturdy but obviously they were used to load cars in the past so they should probably work?

I think the the GRM ramp truck uses this kind of ramp but I personally never considered their weight rating. I'm not worried about the race car but the truck will probably also periodically haul an old Rolls Royce, which is.... Heavy. Does anybody have an idea of what kind of load these old ramps can take? Is it possible it's stamped somewhere on it?

In reply to PunchyWrench - Ed Higginbotham :

I think it's worth the risk.  If you load the racecar and have doubts about holding a heavier vehicle, a 12-pack, $50 and a local welder could stitch a piece or two of 1/8 Angle to the edges and you'd be golden either way...