Room in the garage……but can't get through the door?

kathyinca

Planning on bringing home our T@B in March but thus far planning on storing it off site because although we have plenty of room in our garage to store it (both width and height), the door height won't accommodate the 89" that we need to get her in the door :{ Had a contractor out today to look at increasing door height and appears to be a challenging job. He was pretty honest with us…….We could store her outside in our driveway -- just don't know that I want to do that either. Inside would be perfect and easy. Oh well…….other than taking the tires off everytime we bring her home and take her out, I just don't see this working out. We knew that when we bought her, I had just hoped we'd find another way. Too bad…….Would have been nice to be able to leave certain things inside the T@B instead of emptying her out in order to leave her at off site storage. Let's just say that I trust my own garage that I see every day more than an outdoor off site storage facility.

kathyinca

I should add that at this point we are 7" off……I don't even think taking the tires off would get her in and out the door…...

jbug10

I have always had to store my T@b at outdoor storage places.  All you can do is pick a well secured facility, use a hitch lock, a wheel lock, lock both door locks and cover it with a  T@b cover.  I have not had any trouble yet except chocks being ripped off, so I switched to a couple of sticks of firewood.  I've never emptied anything out except dirty clothes and leftover food; everything else stays. 

LARK

Kathyinca
  I had the same problem. I measured the drums and frame clearance on the tab an came up with 11". I went to Northern tool and purchased trailer rims that were 12" and had the same bolt pattern. I use a floor jack/power driver (to remove lugs) and wood supports to change out the tires to the smaller rims. My tab went from 89" in height to 82". I also have to remove the A/C vent from the top to clear the opening. It is a hassle that takes me about 45 minutes to do the change over but I know it is safe/warm/and dry. I plug it into the house current and keep the battery topped off. Also saves me money not to store it elsewhere. Hope this helps.

Sgtjohn

Lark, that is basically what I did.  It may be a pain but it's out of the weather and safe.

jbug10

Oh my I can't imagine you newbies wanting to go to all that hassle for very long.   :

kathyinca

Nice idea......thanks for posting that! 

kathyinca

The money saved is not trivial......over $1200 per year......and if I remove the trim on our garage I can get our opening to 83.5".....it would take 45 minutes to drive it to storage and back anyway. So, this could be a possibility.

LARK

jbug10,
   This is a temporary fix until I retire to my lake home and build a garage with large enough openings. This works out anyway. While the wife loads the TV I get the trailer squared away.

LARK

That's right Sandra, that's why I had to put it in the garage! We do what we must!

jkjenn

My community does allow it, which was a big surprise, since it is a snobbish community.

I like having it in the backyard.

Wanderoo

I have my T@B stored in a very secure outdoor facility with an onsite manager for $37.50/mo.  I have gotten into a routine of what I need to do the night before I take her out, how long it takes me to load & hitch her up, and yes, we do what we must do to enjoy this little trailer.  When I move to Tucson in a year or two, I will make sure I buy a property where I can keep T@B.

JimG

LARK, you say you got 12” rims do they have tires on them or do you just roll it in on the rim? Sorry if this is stupid question.

Sgtjohn

I had my rims cut down removing the flanges and the top vent cap scrapes on the rubber seal on the top of the garage opening.  I am thinking of notching about a 6"
piece out of the top seal so it won"t rub the seal when I push it in or out.

kathyinca

Lark, if you ever come across a part number for your tires, let me know.....it appears you have a more recent version t@b. Ours should arrive in March and we will need them soon thereafter.  I'm hoping something that fits will be relatively easy to find.

What we would do for $37 storage! The downside of Southern California for sure.....the cheapest storage we've found is $105 per month for a 20 foot spot. Unfortunately.....none of those are available! Oh well.....we will see if we can make the tire thing work. And our community does not allow us to store a trailer in a driveway .

thanks for the great ideas!

Rad

Storage, been there , done that.  I'm really glad we are in a house now with a big enough driveway for the tab to sit. I really grew to hate the hassle each time we wanted to take our other rig out. Go get it, clean it, pack it, etc.  I sure like walking out the back door to pack up or just tinker with the tab.  

 Inside? I'm in California on the coast so inside is not something I need. I do have a cover for it.  

Montalaskan

Just move out of the house and live in the T@B full time.

You need 7 inches? I was going to say flatten the tires, but that won't get you that much. 

TaBFan

There was a teardrop trailer manufactured in the 60's that came with steel disks just larger than the hubs, the owner could install to get it in their garage. Yep, it's a psin as mentioned, but the convenience of having stored in your garage, and saving money at the same time would be worth it. My door opening is 88".

Mike_in_Atlanta

I can appreciate the value of having the trailer inside your garage at home versus some faraway storage facility.  I wonder if instead of using a smaller wheel or even a wheel with no tire if removing the wheel and letting the hubs sit on two wheel dollies like these would work  - http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200578635_200578635?cm_mmc=Google-pla-_-Automotive-_-Wheel Dollies-_-27918&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=27918&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=27918&gclid=Cj0KEQiAl7KmBRDW6s-Xi_uT9OgBEiQAZdbbSXgeLbE9iLLDFHdVIsMNzGzJRfLebMyaQRo6IJ4WcAUaAnTD8P8HAQ

Mike

kathyinca

Thanks Mike. Those look great. Looks like it adds flexibility while in the garage as well if we need to move things around in there. I'll post and let you know how it works.

Sgtjohn

I bought some similar to these at Harbor Freight and took them back for a refund.  The wheels refused to rotate, some di and some didn't and it was a real struggle pushing and pulling to finally get the T@B in the garage.  I believe it took around 4 hours to take off both tires, lower the trailer on the dollies and all the shoving.  That is why I went to cut-down rims.  It's still a pain to take off the tires and put the rims on but it's a lot easier to push.

LARK

JimG and Kathyinca.....I bought 12" rims...no tires. I do not have a part # . Bought them at Northern tool.

Mike_in_Atlanta.....That also would work. SgtJohn is right though. I tried the dollies first and it was much more difficult to roll into the garage. If you have a water lip at entrance of garage, I would think the dollies would be much harder to get over it. My garage surface is flat at the entrance.

Sgtjohn

I put a 1/4" piece of plywood at the lip of my garage to aid me in getting the thing in the garage.  Then I take the dolly whee off the front and put a cheap floor jack under the tongue and puuuuush it in.

LARK

Sgtjohn...I modified my front dolly wheel shaft by shortening it. Now I can crank it real low. Pipe cutter and a hack saw. You could never tell I modified it. I still have control and smooth rolling while pushing it into the garage.

clkeller

I live in Calgary Alberta Canada and I have no choice but to put mine in secure storage.It's against the law to keep a rv on your property for more than 72 hours.I store it out side even at-40 Celsius. I have a wheel lock and a coupler lock and have never had a problem 

Sgtjohn

LARK said:

Sgtjohn...I modified my front dolly wheel shaft by shortening it. Now I can crank it real low. Pipe cutter and a hack saw. You could never tell I modified it. I still have control and smooth rolling while pushing it into the garage.

LARK, how much did you cut off of the shaft?  Did you have to drill a new how for the pin retainer?
i bring the T@B in the garage and find that the shaft hits the floor sometimes because of the garage storm shelter beneath.  I push the trailer back if there is a storm warning so we can get in the fraidy hole.

LARK

Sgtjohn.. Let me get back to you with pictures.

Michigan_Mike

I cut mine off too and believe I took off about 4" from the shaft.  And yes, you will have to re-drill a new hole for the retainer pin.  According to the factory they were going to install a new trailer jack that will eliminate this issue and provide the necessary clearance and height needed to attach and remove the trailer from the TV.  

RZRBUG

Sgtjohn said:  I push the trailer back if there is a storm warning so we can get in the fraidy hole.

Thanks for the chuckle and the memory.  I had not heard that expression in years.

Sgtjohn

RZRBUG said:

Sgtjohn said:  I push the trailer back if there is a storm warning so we can get in the fraidy hole.

Thanks for the chuckle and the memory.  I had not heard that expression in years


You know, I first heard that expression in Arkansas, Jacksonville-1983 to be exact and I thought it was funny also.  folks don't use the term here in Oklahoma, they just call it the storm shelter or cellar.

LARK

Sgtjohn- Here is what I did. Yes you will have to drill new holes. And you will need to remove jack from trailer.