How to fit a 7'4" high egg into 6'11" garage

[lloyd cicetti]

Any suggestions about getting a 7'4" Trillium into a 6'!!" garage. I wouldn't think the tires could be deflated 5" to squeeze it in. Does it look like I need to alter the garage? Help!

Lloyd

[Donna D.]

A couple of topics to read:
Garage storage

Boler in a garage

[lloyd cicetti]

Donna, thanks so much.....looks like I don't have to alter the garage...awesome. Lloyd

[Tom Trostel]

Or pick a shorter trailer......

http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm41/to...sonphotos17.jpg

Tom Trostel

[Dave Baston]

Hi,
I bought my Trillium 4500 Deluxe just over 6 years ago, and had that same problem. I bought 2 1/2" Aluminum wheel adapters and 8" tires to put on after. This gave me about 1" to spare to make it work. So my baby can be warm, dry, and cozy all winter long. If you need exact details and photos let me know. I owned 3 Trillium's last year.

Dave
"The Trillium King"

[lloyd cicetti]

Tom, is this a Compact Trailer?

[lloyd cicetti]

Hi,
I bought my Trillium 4500 Deluxe just over 6 years ago, and had that same problem. I bought 2 1/2" Aluminum wheel adapters and 8" tires to put on after. This gave me about 1" to spare to make it work. So my baby can be warm, dry, and cozy all winter long. If you need exact details and photos let me know. I owned 3 Trillium's last year.

Dave
"The Trillium King"

Dear Trillium King, I should be directing all my questions your way from now on since we are destined to own one (The new Trill 1300 created by Tom Young of Trill USA and made by Escape Trailers Inc.) By using your method do you believe it is easier and cheaper than buying vehicle trolleys? Does the rig drop at least 6" lower? Also, the new Trill has a vehicle height of 7'4".....does that take into account the AC on the roof...probably not. Then your method would have to drop even more. Will it work with an AC on top.....I guess not but help me out with this....thanks for your tips...

Lloyd "The Wannbe Prince"

[Dave Baston]

Dear Trillium King, I should be directing all my questions your way from now on since we are destined to own one (The new Trill 1300 created by Tom Young of Trill USA and made by Escape Trailers Inc.) By using your method do you believe it is easier and cheaper than buying vehicle trolleys? Does the rig drop at least 6" lower? Also, the new Trill has a vehicle height of 7'4".....does that take into account the AC on the roof...probably not. Then your method would have to drop even more. Will it work with an AC on top.....I guess not but help me out with this....thanks for your tips...

Lloyd "The Wannbe Prince"

Hi Lloyd,
I had a "Fantastic-Fan" installed slightly higher than "Original" roof vent. So with that said it actually gave me that 1" or so to sneak into my standard 7' garage. A/C on roof no way....sorry
My number is (517) 552-7203 if you would like to call and ask anymore details. I am not far from you, up here in Michigan.

Dave
"The Trillium King"

[Pete Dumbleton]

I have my 7'4" Scamp 13 in my 7'0" garage -- What I did was get a set of 12" trailer rims (no tires) and swap them for the stock 13" rims/tires. Pain in the butt to jack up and swap in the tight space of my condo, but it can be done.

I believe there's at least an inch more room; I don't think it would work with one of the post-fire Scamps.

I took off the hatch of my fantastical fan because I wasn't sure, but I didn't have to remove the fan itself (only a few screws for the hatch and a few more for the fan).

[Doug Mager]

Well, here's MY delli-lamma, LOL!!
We are plannin a move into a 'townhouse' (hopefully with a two vehicle garage and hopeing we can squeeze our Trillium into one side).
Today, I leveled the trailer and measured from the top of the vent to the ground (using a 4' long level to keep that level issue going on...) and came up with a height of 7' 5"!! I have 14" wheels on and I believe Trilliums came with 13's??? So, if I replace the wheels with 'stock' height wheels, this will only reduce my height by 1/2 inch. I also looked at using a pair of car dollies (spoken about in another related thread) but I cannot figure out how to use them without ruining something. The most logic way to place them under my trailer for usage would cause the small diameter rod that conneects the two outter edges of the dolly to collapse because one of them would be right under the torsion bar and the rim NEEDS to fit in the trough in the middle of the dolly. If I turn the dolly sideways under the trailer (making the two connecting rods parallel with the axle) and lower the trailer onto the dollys that way would cause the axle itself to be craddled on the very top of the dolly....(safe/good for the axle??) .....another issue is to put two dollys to use, I NEED to raise the trailer from a centeral point, making sure it does not rock, sway or lean too far in either side to side direction.

The other way to store the trailer in the garage might be to deflate the tires (and with 6 plys, that might not cause much of a height reduction either) or, get a pair of 'sacrafice' wheels and mount them without tires and use them to move the trailer in and out of the garage, necessitating a wheel swap whenever we decide to use the trailer!!!
This height clearance issue is important to us, as we don't want to store the trailer outside and most storage places around here do NOT have the needed door opening clearance for ANY trailer(s).

When we have gone looking at various townhouses, the agent(s) are most perplexed that I/we are so fixated on garage door opening height. Anyone got any 'other ' ideas for storage???

[Daniel V.]

I have a similar problem and have been thinking about this one for a while.

My question is this: for those just backing up the trailer into a garage, would there be any serious consequences if one was to simply take off the wheels and roll the trailer directly on the hubs? After all, it's the same weight, and we're talking about a few feet here - we're not exactly driving around the block with it, and jacks can be used once the trailer gets to its final position. Any expert opinions? With a piece of carpet, maybe?

[Alf S.]

Hi: All... Looks like Princess auto has their vehicle dollies on sale for $44.44ea. The trailer hubs might sit down low enough in them to help a trailer clear a standard garage door. Worth a look... I duh no
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[lloyd cicetti]

Hi: All... Looks like Princess auto has their vehicle dollies on sale for $44.44ea. The trailer hubs might sit down low enough in them to help a trailer clear a standard garage door. Worth a look... I duh no
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

I'd be tempted to do what you say here if it made that much of a difference compared to using dollies but my problem now is the AC on the top of the Trillium. I imagine that's at least 10" of height. Now I need to redo the garage door opening and open it up higher to get an 8'2" rig in a 6'11" door. I don't think I have any options left. I more than likely will hire someone to reconstruct the opening and make it higher.

Lloyd

[Donna D.]

Lloyd, will you run into a rafter problem if you try to just create a larger opening? My garage is finished inside.... I don't think even if I got the door opening tall enough, I could get a tall trailer inside.

[lloyd cicetti]

Lloyd, will you run into a rafter problem if you try to just create a larger opening? My garage is finished inside.... I don't think even if I got the door opening tall enough, I could get a tall trailer inside.

Donna, once I get the figure on the height of a Trillium with an AC, I can ask a remodeler to come by and look the job over to see if it is possible. If I ruins the intergrity of the house, I wouldn't do it. I just hate having to pay to store it somewhere. Before I buy one, I better get this part figured out. Thanks for the heads up on the rafters.

Lloyd

[Doug Mager]

I have a similar problem and have been thinking about this one for a while.

My question is this: for those just backing up the trailer into a garage, would there be any serious consequences if one was to simply take off the wheels and roll the trailer directly on the hubs? After all, it's the same weight, and we're talking about a few feet here - we're not exactly driving around the block with it, and jacks can be used once the trailer gets to its final position. Any expert opinions? With a piece of carpet, maybe?

Daniel, on our Trillium the square mounting bracket which is fastened to the backing plate of our wheels hangs down BELOW the bare wheel hub, so one could NOT roll (ours at least) a Trillium anywhere because of this dragging part issue.

I think on Wednesday I will venture down off the mountain here and head into the big city to visit my favorite tire shop.
I'll be L King for either a 14 or (preferably 13") sacraficial pair of wheels to mount to the hubs. This 'should' effectively lower the height by the size of the (now mounted) six ply tires.
I'm hoping this TRICK will reduce the trailers overall height by at least 4 or maybe 4 1/2"s.... so down from 7'5" to maybe 7'1 1/2" ???

The rolling distance out (and in) of whatever garage we have when we move shouldn't be more than 20' or sooo. This seems thus far the easiest way to solve our storage (height) problem(s).

[Pete Dumbleton]

Doug, if you had brakes, I believe the brake drum would be bigger than the brake flange plate, so the drum would hit the ground first.


The drawback to rolling on the brake drums is getting a jack under the frame with the frame so low. That may or may not be a problem with different trailer brands. This is becoming a large problem because I think the trend is towards lower garages.

[Alf S.]

Hi: Doug...How bout a trip to the junkyard for a pair of donut spares of the correct bolt pattern and size??? Mucho savings for that short trip into the garage!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Doug Mager]

....ahhh yes, donut spares!!!
MOST auto dismantelers (wreckers) are more than willing to GIVE these things away. Good tip, our 'yard' is on the way to the 'tyre shope' .....no need to make two trips on a retirees pension.

Most of the townhouses we've looked into lately (with double garages) have very tiny areas, many with 7' high openings and 19 1/2' deep. My pick-up is 19' bumper to bumper.

I would imagine that having brakes (in this case) might be a detrement if you were looking to roll a trailer around on the hubs only. I don't think I'd be doing this for fear of damaging the hub or the brake lining.

[Mr. Phil]

....ahhh yes, donut spares!!!
MOST auto dismantelers (wreckers) are more than willing to GIVE these things away. Good tip, our 'yard' is on the way to the 'tyre shope' .....no need to make two trips on a retirees pension.

Most of the townhouses we've looked into lately (with double garages) have very tiny areas, many with 7' high openings and 19 1/2' deep. My pick-up is 19' bumper to bumper.

I would imagine that having brakes (in this case) might be a detrement if you were looking to roll a trailer around on the hubs only. I don't think I'd be doing this for fear of damaging the hub or the brake lining.

My 13ft. Scamp fits in a 7" foot garage. I removed a piece of trim from the garage opening and let enough air out of the tires to sneek it in.