Garage floor mounted trailer hitch?

[Roadrunner]

So bear with me here **Crazy thought process underway**

I have a single axle Tilta Trailer which I love. Its also open floor which makes working on the car very easy.
However I store the trailer in a shed, so to load the car just to look under it/work on it, I have to hitch up the tow car, pull the trailer out of the shed, drive the MX5 into the shed, load the MX5 on the trailer, then reverse the loaded trailer back into shed (through a rather narrow garage door).

What I would like to do (but haven't seen anything like this), is turn the unloaded trailer around in the shed and mount the hitch to the far wall/floor so I can simply drive the MX5 into the shed and straight up onto the trailer. This can also double as storage of the MX5 on the trailer when I need the room, plus I can load the trailer, drop dolly wheel and turn the loaded trailer around to connect to the tow car.

Googling, I can't find anything relating to a towball on a post that bolts to the floor, but I guess I could get one made up easily enough.

What I am most concerned about is the downward momentum when the trailer "tilts".
Hitched to the car when the tilt comes crashing down the tow car springs take the compression and its all sweet. If the trailer was mounted to a solid post, the trailer itself will have to absorb this impact and I'd be worried the hitch or A-arms would simply snap, bend or break under the force.

Has anyone seen any floor mount trailer hitch like this?
I'd think the post the ball is mounted to would need to have a spring in it? I've seen tow bar weight scales, but they don't actually have a ball on the top and I don't think they'd stand up to the repeated compression of the tilt trailer dropping on it.
http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Produc ... ale/378838

Thoughts and ideas?

[StillIC]

I'd be inclined to get a jack stand with a good load spreading base, bolt a tow ball to the top, then dynabolt the stand to the concrete. This needs to be strong enough that your trailer doesn't tip it over and roll away out your garage door, into your flammables cupboard or whatever.

To absorb the tilting impact I would modify the trailer. Those tilting trailers without a damper scare the crap out of me. I reckon they all need a damper and a bump stop. Some do have them, e.g.
http://www.my105.com/ListingDetails/id/4591

[zorak]

I have the exact same issue in my garage and have often thought of doing the same thing.

If you use a winch to pull the car up onto the trailer it gets to the point where all you have to do is push on the front or lift at the back (not very hard) to get it to tilt. This way its not a violent tilt at all and I would imagine there would be far less force on the tow ball mount.


I like your idea StillIC of dynabolting a tow ball to the garage floor

[beavis]

Doesn't the trailers jockey wheel have the beef to hold up to the loads?

[RS2000]

Doesn't the trailers jockey wheel have the beef to hold up to the loads?

I'm sure it does, but how do you drive a car onto a trailer that's not 'tied down' ??

[manga_blue]

If you think about it there's about 500Kg of down force on the back of the trailer when you first get an MX5's front wheels off the ramps and onto the trailer. That will be when maximum up force is generated at the front of the hitch. Depending on the trailer size and length of the hitch that translates to less than 500Kg of up force there. To my mind a well built timber stud wall, solid brick wall or concrete block wall would have no problem handling 500Kg of up force, so long as a tow ball is well mounted to it. If the wall looks pretty flimsy then I'd be thinking about dynabolting something to the floor instead. If the floor is dodgy too then I would cast a solid foundation-style concrete block into the floor.

In any case if you're not sure about it I'd take the advice of a building inspector or a civil engineer about what the wall or floor could take.

[Roadrunner]

With the trailer in tilted mode the wheel brakes are disabled so would definitely need the hitch mounted to something to stop it rolling away.

The front of the trailer lifting when driving onto it isn't a concern if the front is hitched to something, its when the car gets past the mid point and the tilting section drops/free falls down with the weight of the car on it onto the front of the trailer that worries me.

Next time I load the trailer I'll take a video of it. I reckon there'd be a few hundred KG of downward force and without the towcar springs to absorb it, the trailer and or whatever its mounted to will have to take that impact.

[The American]

I have the same issue and had the same idea. I'd probably drive my car more often if it wasn't for the pain of getting it out of the shed and off the trailer. 4 months and counting since the last spin at this point!

[The Zork]

I needed the exact same thing for my race car and trailer in the car port.

My solution was to fit rear adjustable stays (swivel jacks from memory) to each side of the trailer. Stays are options from trailer manufacturers and are not very expensive. They can be bolted or welded onto the trailer frame. They are on a swivel either horizontal (when towing) or vertical in the garage. In the vertical position, they lock and are adjustable so as to take some of the load off the trailer wheels. The front is held up by the jockey wheel and a car stand ( no need to tie it down as the load is taken on the stays).

In this way I would drive the car onto or off the trailer with the ramps in place. Good solution to store both trailer and car in the same spot, take load off the trailer tires and stop the trailer from rolling when at the track. Also great at getting access to the bottom of the car for servicing.

[rascal]

I needed the exact same thing for my race car and trailer in the car port.

My solution was to fit rear adjustable stays (swivel jacks from memory) to each side of the trailer. Stays are options from trailer manufacturers and are not very expensive. They can be bolted or welded onto the trailer frame. They are on a swivel either horizontal (when towing) or vertical in the garage. In the vertical position, they lock and are adjustable so as to take some of the load off the trailer wheels. The front is held up by the jockey wheel and a car stand ( no need to tie it down as the load is taken on the stays).

In this way I would drive the car onto or off the trailer with the ramps in place. Good solution to store both trailer and car in the same spot, take load off the trailer tires and stop the trailer from rolling when at the track. Also great at getting access to the bottom of the car for servicing.

Do you have any pics of the setup?

[The Zork]

No picks as I have sold the trailer but this may help.
Go to Ebay, and type 2000LBS Extendable Height Trailer Jack with Footplate Boat Camper Caravan 422119

[Roadrunner]

Rightio, so this is still a thought bubble in my head at the moment but still something I want to do.

Here's 2 videos of the Tilta Trailer being loaded and unloaded.
As you can see the unloading is fine. Its the loading that is my cause for concern with a solid hitch bolted to the floor.

It actually doesn't look too bad in the video (compression on the cars shockies) but I'd hate to cause damage to the trailer from the constant crashing down of the car on the A-arm and trailer brake sliding moving thingy dowhatsit

Unloading:




Loading:

[The Zork]

With practice you will find that as you drive on to the ramp, you will feel the tipping point and land a lot gentler than the video. You should get to the point where the ramp gently lowers.

[Mr Morlock]

If in doubt find a better engineered solution - if you dont feel comfortable then dont do it. I would not do it in my garage.

[greenMachine]

There are two potential trouble spots - the garage floor, and the arms. Tilta could tell you if a solidly mounted hitch will lead to bending or other problems in the trailer itself, and possibly what strengthening might be required.

The hitch mount might damage a garage floor, I don't really know but I think the risk is there. To minimise it I would mount the mount (!) to the floor using something like thick ply elevated to allow it to flex and absorb the impact that way. Properly done, this would also ameliorate the potential for damage to the trailer frame too.