Lamonster
SpyderLovers Founder
As most of you know I don't trailer much unless I have to and this is the reason why it has taken me so long to do an review on this product. I've had these ramps in my shop for over a year now and I'm just now getting around to installing them.
Let me first say that if you're going to trailer your Spyder the last thing you want is surprises when you drop the tailgate. I've been the victim of bad roads shaking my tie downs loose and most of the damage I've gotten has been worn paint. That's a drag and one of the reasons I don't like to trailer.
The RT and the ST are 3.75" different wheel to wheel with the ST being the shorter one. I used ATV wheel chocks before because they were wide enough to fit both size Spyders. The problem is I still had to do some welding on them to get the wheel to stop where I wanted it and then I had to strap the wheel to the chock and I hate doing that because it will dull the finish on the rims over time. It worked but I was never real happy with it.
Old way
I had to drop off my loaner ST and pick up my new ST and because it had been raining on and off and was still pretty cold I decided to go ahead and take the time to mount these bad boys.
Your layout points for the wheels are from the inside of the tires. You use a square on each tire to mark the inside and then roll the Spyder back and measure your lines. In my case I measured the ST because it was the narrower of the two (RT vs ST). My inside to inside was 44.5"
Then it was just a matter of taking those measurements and the front to back measurement and laying out the mounting plate in the trailer. They tell you to have at least one set of bolts going through a cross member and I think that's a good idea. I had to get some longer bolts because my trailer was made out of 2" tubing so I needed 3.5" long bolts. It made for a very solid mount.
Once you get the plates mounted it just a matter of sliding the ramps in place and turning the orange locking knob to lock it in. It's nice to be able to quickly remove the ramps without tool if you need the trailer for something else.
They give you some through bolts to tie the foot pegs down to but I have floor boards on the new ST so I decided to just use what I already had in place. It worked great and it makes loading and securing your Spyder a breeze. They are wide enough that it will still fit the RT too where they are mounted. If you're going to trailer your Spyder this is a good investment to protect your ride. :doorag:
