Making ramps...4 inch channel main supports (3) @ 55 inches long... spaced 20 inches apart, total 40". Angle cut @ 40" 2 1/2" .25 wall angle crossmembers (9) spaced 5" apart (crest to crest) I used 3" channel for legs straight down from channel and miter cut foot ends to match feet squared on floor. (almost) By that I mean I took wooden shims and raised the front of one front channel foot and raised the rear of the other front channel foot. I'm no engineer, but it seems to me the feet shouldn't be identical in how they contact the ground, I believe they're more stable this way. Whenever I run into a situation where I don't know how to do something, I think of a guy smarter than me, then I think, what would he do...Heh! Obviously the front feet/foot of each ramp needs to be out further, (in front of) ramp surface to prevent ramps kicking up with weight on them, (actually at the weight transfer point from ramp to dove) and this brings into focus the issue of just how will the ramp feet clear the ground when raising or lowering... The ramps need to match the bed height when in travel position and they must be off the ground in lowered position, only coming into contact with ground when weight added to them such as when loading something... You can readily observe in my images that I put smaller legs and another foot behind the front legs/feet for additional support. Ramps are very heavy. In an attempt to save weight as much as possible without sacrificing strength, I'm adding diamond plate to bottom of ramps (flipped over on dove this will be the travel loading surface) and welding the angle cut ends of channel main supports to diamond plate to prevent twisting forces that would naturally occur during loading heavy equipment. (this is as opposed to adding more weight with structural crossmembers)
I need two sheets of 1/8" (nothing will be driving on ramps in travel position therefore 1/8" is sufficient) diamond plate for this because each surface is now 57"X 40". As well, I'm considering the difficulty in finding a shop with a large metal brake and braking the small end over the angle cut mainframe channel 3 or 4 inches for a nice starting surface for ramps... I may have the two sheets sheared at 57X40 and weld it for simplification and add a smaller piece of angle to top to finish starting surface, either way will look good... Of course I could brake the opposite end over the hinge side of the ramps far enough to add two additional tail lights. This would actually make more sense because with my current set up about 40% of my bumper lights will be covered by the 1 1/2 inch solid steel hinge rod... Who knew the ramps would be the most complicated part of the trailer? So there you have it, there are some variables, but anybody can get the general idea of how I did this and you can adjust yours to your own ideas or use mine... I'm including detailed images of my ramp side hinges, 3/4 X 2 1/2 inch, cut, mitered, welded, drilled 1 9/16" holes, cut off corners, rounded with grinder... First image is pattern for hinges required. I'll fabricate bumper side hinges today. Last two are ramps in progress. Have a nice day!
