I'm planning to bring home a miata purchase tomorrow on a rental car hauler trailer. Even with a stock suspension, these cars are pretty low, and I'm concerned about damage while loading.
I've got some scrap lumber, which I've seen used for loading low clearance cars. Don't have any personal experience, so any suggestions on getting it on and off safely?
With the trailer still hooked to the tow vehicle crank up the tongue with either the trailer jack or a floor jack.
I've loaded a few times and didn't have issues on standard trailers. The closest thing I've seen to hitting was the lower middle part of the radiator opening on the back of the trailer at the top of the ramps.
APEowner said:With the trailer still hooked to the tow vehicle crank up the tongue with either the trailer jack or a floor jack.
That makes sense. How about pulling the back wheels of the truck part way up a set of ramps?
You can also use the ground to your advantage. I've had good luck parking the trailer in a dip. The end of a driveway often has a slight ramp, park the trailer over a parking lot storm drain.
Floating Doc said:APEowner said:With the trailer still hooked to the tow vehicle crank up the tongue with either the trailer jack or a floor jack.
That makes sense. How about pulling the back wheels of the truck part way up a set of ramps?
Ramps under the rear truck wheels work great, I did this for years with my open trailer.
codrus said:Floating Doc said:APEowner said:With the trailer still hooked to the tow vehicle crank up the tongue with either the trailer jack or a floor jack.
That makes sense. How about pulling the back wheels of the truck part way up a set of ramps?
Ramps under the rear truck wheels work great, I did this for years with my open trailer.
Ramps under the truck wheels work as well. If you use that technique chock either the trailer wheels or the front wheels of the truck (good practice anyway) so the truck doesn't slide down the ramps when the weight of the car on the back of the trailer lifts on the back of the truck. I don't use the ramp method because I don't want another thing to carry and if you need to adjust the hight with the car partly loaded you have unload and start again as opposed to just changing the jack hight.
Actually, I suspect this whole conversation is academic. The nose on a Miata is pretty short so even lowered ones load pretty easily. Spec. Miatas go on most car trailers without extra tricks.
If you plan on loading the Miata on a regular basis---- it's hard to beat RaceRamps.
They are durable and exceptionally light. It always blows my mind when I'm at the track and I see someone unloading with two by fours, or other cobbled together ramps. If you value your car (and yourself), these are worth every penny.
I've had mine for over 10 years, and I use them all the time. Actually my elderly dog has been using them lately. I've lined them up at the foot of my bed, as he can't jump up there anymore. Now he has a nice gradual climb to comfort! See they are versatile too!
And yes.....RaceRamps has been a GRM supporter for years, and recently sponsored our Show us Your Shop contest.
Race Ramps are awesome. You'll cringe at the price the first time, but you'll never regret them afterwards. The only regret I have is that I didn't get the longer ones, but then again my Miata needs to be mostly disassembled to even get close to a trailer...
I have an older set of Rhino Ramps that I used with the truck, which worked very well. I'm not impressed with the ones they sell now, the plastic is much harder and more brittle. Yes, they're a couple more things to bring with you, but this is one area where a pickup shines for towing because you can just toss them in the bed.
The Race Ramps are nice, but spendy. I'd buy them if I wanted ramp extensions for my enclosed trailer or one of the other specialized applications that they sell, but as basic car service ramps the Rhinos are just as good and much cheaper. Or, at least, they were. I dunno if you can still get the old style.
I loaded my SpecMiata and Challenge Miata on my car hauler trailer without issue. Both were lowered cars and I use ramps that are shorter than the ones that came with the trailer. Not sure there's a reason to be concerned.
At stock height, a Miata should load pretty easily, especially if it doesn't have some sort of front lip.
Question for you guys using Race Ramps with an enclosed trailer: what do you do with the flip out ramp extension on the edge of the door...? Just leave it in the 'folded' position and drive over it? Or did you take it off?
Thanks for the replies. Mission accomplished.
Rodan said:At stock height, a Miata should load pretty easily, especially if it doesn't have some sort of front lip.
Question for you guys using Race Ramps with an enclosed trailer: what do you do with the flip out ramp extension on the edge of the door...? Just leave it in the 'folded' position and drive over it? Or did you take it off?
They make special ramps with cut-outs for the door extension.
Jacking up the trailer tongue should be more than enough. My 914 is lower than most Miatas.
I dare you guys to get my Miata on to a trailer just by lifting the front of the trailer. I have to pull the splitter and lift the front by 10 turns of the coilovers to make it clear the Race Ramps...
But on a stock car? No worries, motor on up.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Ok! It's amazing what you can do when it's not your car and you don't have to worry about fixing the damage...
Keith Tanner said:I dare you guys to get my Miata on to a trailer just by lifting the front of the trailer. I have to pull the splitter and lift the front by 10 turns of the coilovers to make it clear the Race Ramps...
It's got a lot of torque, right? Can't you just pop a wheelie to get it over the approach angle? :)
Actually, the closest to scraping the trailer was the underside between the wheels.
Pretty! 2005 Lava Mazdaspeed with a matching hardtop?
Nice find!
Am I the only one drooling over that truck? They don't make 'em like that up here 
.
I love it, the truck is getting some attention too! 88 Silverado, came from the family of the original owner. No rust, other than the bare metal on the springs. The hood, roof, and right front fender have been repainted, but everything you can see in the photo is original paint (took me a week to buff it out last year).
Got it eight years ago with a broken odometer, reading 243k miles. The odometer had been broken for years,. When I got it I was told a reasonable estimate of the mileage at that time would be about 350k. I've taken it on road trips, it alternates as my daily, and I had to be careful to keep the speed below 65 while pulling this trailer, total weight of about 4500 lbs. Original engine, burns about a half quart between changes.
So, back to our regularly scheduled programming: the miata. Kieth, you've got a good eye, but it's really a 2002 LS with the sport package. Owner bought the MSM parts (even has the sill plates), and had it painted. However, I didn't pick it for the looks.
I had posted recently about a 95 ME with antilock brakes that I was interested in. The advice I got was to get a car that was already prepped. Made sense, do I grabbed this when it came up. It has a roll bar, hard top, racing seat and harness, aftermarket steering wheel, light weight wheels, plus a six speed.
I think it will still be eligible for stock class when I autocross it. Stock suspension, no engine mods. Seller said stock exhaust, but I don't think so. It's pretty loud. Can't wait to get it registered!
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