New Driveway - Good News Bad News

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

<<snip>>
About changing the hitch - I did see your comment - are you familiar with the propride hitch? That is not easy to simply remove and put back on - - not an option

Btw - the WD bars now didn’t hit at all with the lumber so once we regrade - it should prove all good
<<snip>>

Yep, forgot about the crank up tensioners. Mine are chain/snap up.
Sometimes my mouth (fingers in this case) work faster that my brain.

Glad you have worked out a solution to the slope problem!

[PharmGeek]

" Are you intentionally trying to test everyone's patience?"

LOL...no sir...I am not...I picked up some wood for like 12 bucks on the fly at lunch yesterday in my commute car...a small car that has no room for big boards, but I still wanted to try SOMETHING yesterday, because I myself am impatient - so cutting it up some allowed me to fit the boards in to try at least the slight elevation of the gutter area as a fix...which did give me clearance (barely)...proof of concept in one respect...

My contractor is bringing a bunch of wood (including longer pieces) tomorrow morning to look it all over and develop what we hope is a best strategy...

Yeah, every other driveway in the neighborhood has concrete in their gutters with a channel created...I doubt that is up to a code, but its clear that as far as enforcement goes, it is a non issue....although its easy to imagine the annoying situation where suddenly I would have an issue....

I have made no decision...I am not qualified in any of this (clearly)...I will wait to see what my contractor thinks is the best option and consider that....I have not discussed the lift kit route...but that is clearly another strong possibility...I forgot to measure how much more elevation the boards gave me...it looks to be about 2 inches...it may indeed be the lift kit route would solve this....but likely barely...ill measure that height when I get home (or ask my wife to do it this morning)...for sure though its very close so its not entirely clear that ALONE 2 and 7/8 inches would do it...although I think it would.

I need to do my own research on here today about the lift...I know some of you said its a no brainer but call me crazy, I just want to do my own reading on it a bit more before I pulled that trigger.

Keep in mind you all, I am juggling fiddling with this with full time parenting, I get home, I am not just fiddling with this driveway, I am making dinner for my 2 small kids, bathing them, reading books, etc etc...and THEN find a moment to think about this....doing the best I can, your patience is appreciated

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by pteck

Just thinking out side the box... But I assume you have a pickup?

There are vehicles (usually SUVs) with on board height adjustment like I have that can dynamically raise or lower the vehicle to get a wee bit more clearance at the other end of the trailer. Like a see-saw. I use to play these tricks pre-trailer lift, but no longer. Now I just use it as a cheat when hitching or leveling at a campsite.

Right..I hear ya...but go back and look at photos of my hitch setup...have no clearance...actually I have not emphasized much that on a couple approaches, as my truck tires dipped into the rain gutter, the hitch can and has contacted the new concrete..lowering the hitch at all just does not seem possibly without changing my propride hitch, which I have no plans to do....

[crispyboy]

You will probably need at least 10' of board on each side. You may want to fill your water tank to account for future loads in the trailer when testing this out with the contractor.
If the boards work then spray some paint for future reference points on the ground. This will allow you to quickly just throw the boards down when you leave/arrive.

[Ray Eklund]

Otra15... Post #78. 100% on point. Great advice.

PharmGeek does not listen or read well. Try the simple before getting into more expensive mistakes later.

If the 2" lift of the board is not working... double it. Once you get the tow vehicle closer to the curb... solved. Write it down so you do not forget when done. Leveling blocks might work, cheap... seems to be your current choices. You can step up from one, two to three inches within minutes. Common sense trumps engineering this into a big headache.

You would have to purchase two packs of leveling blocks at Walmart.

There is no mystery here to be solved. The driveway is not the best for a very long trailer with no clearance. Even if this trailer was pulled UP the driveway, the bumper would, then, drag in the street.

This will be going from bad to worse soon... The video will sell well.

[J. Morgan]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

Right..I hear ya...but go back and look at photos of my hitch setup...have no clearance...actually I have not emphasized much that on a couple approaches, as my truck tires dipped into the rain gutter, the hitch can and has contacted the new concrete..lowering the hitch at all just does not seem possibly without changing my propride hitch, which I have no plans to do....

Here is what I think will be my last comment here, ‘you would be amazed at how much difference a 3” lift can make because of geometry’. Not only will that give you another three inches of clearance at the back of the trailer under normal hitching an towing, it will allow you to drop the front of the trailer another three inches in a pinch giving you another six inches in the back should you need it.

[OTRA15]

Thanks Ray.

Peter



PS -- OP/PG:

Haste Makes Waste!

[Ray Eklund]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Thanks Ray.

Peter

*******
A lift kit on the trailer would be the second option... to try. All you need is the bumper to clear by a fraction of an inch.

You can lift the shell off the axles 3", or use 3" of lumber. It may take several feet, four feet... try that first. A 12" wide board is easier to keep the tires of the trailer on track. Ten inches is going cheap again. You will then have to purchase 12" wide lumber. (Which may not be 12" wide if you measure.)

The plastic leveling blocks would do the same thing, but they tend to break in this kind of situation.

There are several owners that are trying to help. Do not have in your mind one cure to your problem. If the lumber does not work... build something with it.

[Hittenstiehl]

He'll get there, he's listening just multitasking. All brains are wired differently and we don't all take information in the same way. Even though the good advice came early in the thread he's got to sort it out and process it in his own way while beating himself up inside for being gone while the project was poured.

Remember he's the guy who had 3000 Posts before he even bought his first trailer and then gave us all the great reviews on what chairs to buy.

So pull out one of those chairs and sit by, it's almost solved and in the meantime we all get to hear more great ideas.

[Bill M.]

Beautiful driveway. Sounds like the contractor will come up with a fix. Looks like you are on a cul de sac and near the top? Drainage might be okay with a slot. Never had a lift kit but I would consider it also for that trailer. I have an older 30 and the back is low. Mine is parked year round so not a problem but was when I did pull it. A couple long boards with a cleat under them that fits in the gutter would probably work but concrete in the right place would be nice. Not sure it would have been better if you had been there. When they pour they go at it hard and there does not seem to be a way to try it ahead of time.

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by Ray Eklund

Otra15... Post #78. 100% on point. Great advice.

PharmGeek does not listen or read well. Try the simple before getting into more expensive mistakes later.

This will be going from bad to worse soon... The video will sell well.

Wow this is why I don't post any problems I have with a trailer. Too many people that know everything and it must be done their way or it's wrong!

[PharmGeek]

Drainage is a non issue...actually on my side of the culdesac there is no sewer opening...its on the opposite side...water actually pools on my side of the culdesac as it is, and simply spills over the street to the other side and into the rain drain....so from a practical standpoint, the rain gutters are aesthetic....from a legal standpoint, its always an issue although, every other driveway in the neighborhood are violating the rules although they often include a small channel to allow water to flow...through.
Lumber as a permanent solution seems entirely unattractive to me...I would only pursue that as a last ditch effort...which appears to not at all likely be required...

J. Morgan...if you do a lift kit, then pitch the front down some...wont it look weird or tow weird? I guess 3 inches higher from the lift then 3 inches from that unlevel pitch may not be noticeable for towing or aesthetically...that's a damn good point if that were to be true...kinda hard for me though without pulling the trigger on the lift first and only then to see precisely how much lift I get....

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by Shacksman

Wow this is why I don't post any problems I have with a trailer. Too many people that know everything and it must be done their way or it's wrong!

no worries...I like to think of myself in this forum as a budding dumb teenager reaching out to get help from my parents...in this metaphor, my prefrontal cortex is not yet fully developed, so comprehension skills are always a factor that must be considered if objectivity is to be a thing.

[MWBishop]

Hang in there Geek!
As you know, everything involving an AS trailer should be take your time and go slow.

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

He'll get there, he's listening just multitasking. All brains are wired differently and we don't all take information in the same way. Even though the good advice came early in the thread he's got to sort it out and process it in his own way while beating himself up inside for being gone while the project was poured.

Remember he's the guy who had 3000 Posts before he even bought his first trailer and then gave us all the great reviews on what chairs to buy.

So pull out one of those chairs and sit by, it's almost solved and in the meantime we all get to hear more great ideas.

BTW, to hijack my own thread...our lafuma zero gravity chairs are continuing now almost 5 years of use to be ROCK SOLID and very enjoyable...I receive no funds from the company mind you - my "chair repetoir" now includes a portable hammock stand that a woman out of California made more or less especially for me, its called the "tensahedron hammock stand"....I need to do a post on just that for engineering nerds to chew on, as it is interesting.

[Hittenstiehl]

Parm,

Loving it! You got this!

[mojo]

You need that tilt apparatus on your hitch!

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

Parm,

Loving it! You got this!Attachment 314718

Appreciate all the AS family here. Hittenstiehl you can be the supportive “cool” uncle in the metaphor if you like after Pappa Ray uses the switch on me after spilling paint in the garage.

“Hang in there baby Geek, growing up is hard, let’s take a ride in my corvette convertible and get some ice cream.”

[pteck]

Love the banter on this thread. If only all the tow vehicle threads were this fun.

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

J. Morgan...if you do a lift kit, then pitch the front down some...wont it look weird or tow weird? I guess 3 inches higher from the lift then 3 inches from that unlevel pitch may not be noticeable for towing or aesthetically...that's a damn good point if that were to be true...kinda hard for me though without pulling the trigger on the lift first and only then to see precisely how much lift I get....

I don't think he or anyone would suggest running a trailer at anything but level under tow. Just that you have the option, likely by relaxing the WD, to lift the other end for situations like this.

Like I mentioned earlier, prior to my lift, I use to have to do something similar. My vehicle allows me to lower the suspension 2", or raise 3", from the neutral position at the push of a button. So I would lower her down, to lift the rear of the trailer, when entering a steeper transition gas station in order to avoid dragging the rear.

No more with lift! No more dragging hitch. No more dragging rear. It's all gravy.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, boards, spacers, lift kits, hitches, and on and on and on. Yes, these will work.

But, He just spent $6,000.00 for a new driveway so he wouldn't have to do all of this.