Spyder and Toyhaulers

[DR Buck]

This past weekend we took our new toyhauler on it's maiden trip. Issues associated with getting to and from the campground are covered in another post. This post is to share what I learned about hauling the Spyder. I don't remember where I read it, but I remember someone saying that you couldn't load a Spyder read end in first. Since my toyhauler only has a 10' garage space is valuable and it looked like it would be easier to make use of if I backed the Spyder in. Spinning the read tire is the first thing I noticed while backing up the ramp. Despite the spinning I was able to back it in and get it strapped down OK. I wonder what others use for tie-down point on the Spyder? I went around the read tire and hooked on to the ends of the lower A frames and the pivot point of the swing arms. Everything stayed in place and the Spyder arrived at the campground safely. hyea:

The came the unloading incident. :gaah: Did you know that the Spyder Pops bump-skid doubles as a landscaping or excavation shovel/plow? :yikes: Yep! I came down the ramp front first and the bump-skid dug a nice ditch in the campground parking spot. The top of the bump-skid was covered with dirt and gravel which was also packed into the gap between it and the bottom of the front of the Spyder. :gaah: No serious damage though. The Spyder itself is OK but it looks like I put some scratches in the bump-skid and took some of the shine off of it.

So the big lesson learned here is Spyders can be loaded either way into a toyhauler, but only come out unharmed rear first. So drive in front end first from now on. :trike:

 

[SPYD1]

It sounds like the bump skid may have saved the front spoiler too.

 

[rabtech]

Put parking brakes on truck. Then put a block under trailer jack to get more height. Then jack up the front and watch your truck bed come up. This will make the angle of the ramp much less steep. I pull a enclosed trailer with a Ford Raptor truck. I jack up the trailer till it looks like Im going to pick the rear truck tires off the ground. then i ride off. Its much better.... hope that helps....

 

[NancysToy]

Please don't tie down to the a-arms! They damage quicker than those on a formula-one car. The only safe place to tie down a Spyder is through the wheels. Chocks make things easier, but are not essential. Tie the front wheels forward and the rear back, if you have room. Another alternative is to cross the front ties and tie the right tire to the left side and the left tire to the right side. The crossed straps take up much less room. The most space-saving arrangement is to tie the front tires toward the rear, and the rear tire forward... often with two ties. (I like two in the rear anyway.) Some padding between the ties and the wheel will help prevent scuffs. I use soft ties threaded through sleeves made from microfiber towels as pads. The soft-ties make it easy to hook up the tie straps. Be careful not to tie through the sprocket, it is easily damaged.

 

[joet82]

If there's room, come down at an angle allowing just 1 tire to come off at a time.

 

[rnet]

Please don't tie down to the a-arms! They damage quicker than those on a formula-one car. The only safe place to tie down a Spyder is through the wheels. Chocks make things easier, but are not essential. Tie the front wheels forward and the rear back, if you have room. Another alternative is to cross the front ties and tie the right tire to the left side and the left tire to the right side. The crossed straps take up much less room. The most space-saving arrangement is to tie the front tires toward the rear, and the rear tire forward... often with two ties. (I like two in the rear anyway.) Some padding between the ties and the wheel will help prevent scuffs. I use soft ties threaded through sleeves made from microfiber towels as pads. The soft-ties make it easy to hook up the tie straps. Be careful not to tie through the sprocket, it is easily damaged.

I agree with all, but cross tying the front tires. It is a good way to knock your alignment off. I don't tie to the front tires at all, but I have the frame of ISCI floorboards that I tie to that most do not. My other tie point is the rear tire/wheel.

 

[NancysToy]

I agree with all, but cross tying the front tires. It is a good way to knock your alignment off. I don't tie to the front tires at all, but I have the frame of ISCI floorboards that I tie to that most do not. My other tie point is the rear tire/wheel.

You probably could throw the alignment off, or even damage the suspension/steering, if you used strong enough ratchet ties, and tightened them until your eyes bulged...but even straight ties could do that if the tie-down points weren't directly in front of the tires. With chocks you don't need to do more than snug up the ties. I have towed many times, many miles, with several different Spyders, with no alignment issues.

 

[fisherdude]

Loading Toy Hauler

I made 2- 3 1/2 foot long 4'' high x 10'' wide ramps that lifts the front of the :spyder2: up before it reaches tailgate so the nose of the :spyder2: will clears the tailgate. It also helps on the RT if you let air out of the rear shock.

 

[Boots]

TOY HAULER

This past weekend we took our new toyhauler on it's maiden trip. Issues associated with getting to and from the campground are covered in another post. This post is to share what I learned about hauling the Spyder. I don't remember where I read it, but I remember someone saying that you couldn't load a Spyder read end in first. Since my toyhauler only has a 10' garage space is valuable and it looked like it would be easier to make use of if I backed the Spyder in. Spinning the read tire is the first thing I noticed while backing up the ramp. Despite the spinning I was able to back it in and get it strapped down OK. I wonder what others use for tie-down point on the Spyder? I went around the read tire and hooked on to the ends of the lower A frames and the pivot point of the swing arms. Everything stayed in place and the Spyder arrived at the campground safely. hyea:

The came the unloading incident. :gaah: Did you know that the Spyder Pops bump-skid doubles as a landscaping or excavation shovel/plow? :yikes: Yep! I came down the ramp front first and the bump-skid dug a nice ditch in the campground parking spot. The top of the bump-skid was covered with dirt and gravel which was also packed into the gap between it and the bottom of the front of the Spyder. :gaah: No serious damage though. The Spyder itself is OK but it looks like I put some scratches in the bump-skid and took some of the shine off of it.

So the big lesson learned here is Spyders can be loaded either way into a toyhauler, but only come out unharmed rear first. So drive in front end first from now on. :trike:

We also have a toy hauler with a 12' foot garage.I also tried backing my Spyder in backwards did not work so well.I load my spyder first then my hubby loads his Harley they both just fitt side by side.Our son bought me this jack that is on wheels.We put the rear tire in between the jack and jack it up enough to get the rear tire off the floor.We then can swing the back end closer to the wall so hubby has more room to get his Harley in.

 

[SpyderDen]

Please don't tie down to the a-arms! They damage quicker than those on a formula-one car. The only safe place to tie down a Spyder is through the wheels. Chocks make things easier, but are not essential. Tie the front wheels forward and the rear back, if you have room. Another alternative is to cross the front ties and tie the right tire to the left side and the left tire to the right side. The crossed straps take up much less room. The most space-saving arrangement is to tie the front tires toward the rear, and the rear tire forward... often with two ties. (I like two in the rear anyway.) Some padding between the ties and the wheel will help prevent scuffs. I use soft ties threaded through sleeves made from microfiber towels as pads. The soft-ties make it easy to hook up the tie straps. Be careful not to tie through the sprocket, it is easily damaged.

That is exactly how I tie mine down in toy hauler. ( front wheels to the back and back wheel to the front. Have hauled thousands of miles this way. I have backed my RT in but always pick my spots for good angle inclines. Lifting the tongue on my 20,000lb 5th wheel isn't so easy. Just sayin.

 

[Spyderific]

Why would you tie to the wheels and not the A arms? If the straps are wrapped around the lower A arms out between the shock mount and ball joint you have a very secure attachment point with no strain on the steering components. Then cross tie if possible and snug the ratchet straps down. I don't think using the front wheels as an attachment point in a good idea especially when cross tying. The strain put on steering components in the initial tie down and then compounded when the trailer encounters bumps and such should be avoided. IMO.

We haul our RT in our toy hauler as well as an RT622 decked above the RT in a 10 foot toy room. All fits and rides great.

 

[NancysToy]

Why would you tie to the wheels and not the A arms? If the straps are wrapped around the lower A arms out between the shock mount and ball joint you have a very secure attachment point with no strain on the steering components. Then cross tie if possible and snug the ratchet straps down. I don't think using the front wheels as an attachment point in a good idea especially when cross tying. The strain put on steering components in the initial tie down and then compounded when the trailer encounters bumps and such should be avoided. IMO.

We haul our RT in our toy hauler as well as an RT622 decked above the RT in a 10 foot toy room. All fits and rides great.

You can bend the a-arms. They are relatively fragile. Read your manual! It specifies the accepted way to tie down the Spyder. The a-arms, grab bars, and footpeg brackets are no-no's.

 

[joet82]

This is how I load my Spyder, with my quad in the garage of my rv.



I use SuperClamps for my Spyder and regular straps for my quad. Have to offset the rear tire of the Spyder so the quad doesn't rub against the exhaust.

 

[Questions]

Tie Downs

The Spyder manual has good drawings that show proper way to tie Spyder down. They say utilize the wheels so that is what I do. As for the ram issues the place I bought my trailer installed these nifty plates at the bottom of my ramp. They make loading and unloading very easy. They are on a hindge so I just fold them back when not in use and fold up the gate. Works great and looks very finished.