Toy hauler rear door

[Peggy and Dwayne R]

We have a 2015 Vengeance The rear ramp door is very heavy. We have to lower it several times a day to let our older dog out. Any ideas to lighten the load?

[Cabinfever97]

You could check with a garage door place and see if they can put a different spring on it. My work trailer had a great spring when I bought it. Door floated down and was very easy to lift. That spring broke. Had one installed at a RV/trailer place. The spring was too weak. Door came down heavy and went up heavy. Went to a garage door install/repair company. They put a better spring. Door still isnt as easy as the original spring but much better than the first replacement.

[Peggy and Dwayne R]

Thanks for that info. Ours doesn’t have springs at all, gust cables to hold it at patio level

[Cabinfever97]

Originally Posted by Peggy and Dwayne R

Thanks for that info. Ours doesn’t have springs at all, gust cables to hold it at patio level

I would think a ramp door of that size has to have a spring, maybe it has a cover. The cables should be attached to the spring assembly.

[Thomas ho]

springs at bottom of door hinge. broken or sprung. never seen cables hooked to springs. cable ends near top of door.

[Bongo Bambi]

We had springs on the door of our toy hauler when we had it, there are two styles that I know of, one that uses the cables to to manage the load and the others are mounted on the exterior at the bottom of the door. Either would be easy to add but I would be surprised that it didn’t come with something, perhaps someone took the load off and they need to be adjusted?

[atkbike]

There should be a rod at the bottom of the door on the outside with springs on the rod to help with the door. You may have some broken or wore out springs. I took off my party porch railings and gate and had to remove 2 springs because the door would not go all the way down and stay due to to much spring tension.

[rracer5]

I agree! One of two spring assist systems must be on that door. Either a coil spring assembly mounted horizontally above the door that the cables should be attached to or the older bottom hinge spring system. I have never seen an RV ramp door without either of the 2 above assist systems.

[JJaxon]

All full size toy hauler rear doors have a spring assist, might be internal on yours. I suggest you get a dog ramp from a pet supply store, so your aging dog can use the side door and you can handle that ramp with ease. I used one training puppies to come off the truck tailgate protecting their undevjoints from ground impact. Less than $200.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by rracer5

I agree! One of two spring assist systems must be on that door. Either a coil spring assembly mounted horizontally above the door that the cables should be attached to or the older bottom hinge spring system. I have never seen an RV ramp door without either of the 2 above assist systems.

I have no experience with toy haulers, but wonder why they don't simply attach weights to the cables.

[Qwkynuf]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

I have no experience with toy haulers, but wonder why they don't simply attach weights to the cables.

I don't either, but if I had to guess, it would be because the weights would bang around inside the walls during transit, and any movement of the trailer while parked. And if they put them on tracks to eliminate movement, they would have to account for the friction of those tracks and make the weights heavier, or add rollers to minimize the friction.... I think it would become a "chase problem" that can be solved with other solutions.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Qwkynuf

I don't either, but if I had to guess, it would be because the weights would bang around inside the walls during transit, and any movement of the trailer while parked. And if they put them on tracks to eliminate movement, they would have to account for the friction of those tracks and make the weights heavier, or add rollers to minimize the friction.... I think it would become a "chase problem" that can be solved with other solutions.

I was thinking of a cylinder inside a piece of PVC pipe. I haven't thought about the required weight and volume of required steel. Remember old-fashioned cast iron sash weights on double-hung windows?

[BehindBars]

I’m surprised there is no counterweight/counterpoise system to balance the weight of the ramp door. I own a 12 foot motorcycle hauler cargo trailer that was built in Indiana that has cables supporting the ramp door tied to basically a standard garage door torsion spring system. Seems like a good solution would be to buy garage door spring/pulley/cable hardware, select the right spring for the door weight, and you’re set.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

I’m surprised there is no counterweight/counterpoise system to balance the weight of the ramp door. I own a 12 foot motorcycle hauler cargo trailer that was built in Indiana that has cables supporting the ramp door tied to basically a standard garage door torsion spring system. Seems like a good solution would be to buy garage door spring/pulley/cable hardware, select the right spring for the door weight, and you’re set.

If the weight were e.g., a set of linked steel balls (think of a bead chain of steel balls), and the track were vertical at the top but curving to near horizontal at the bottom, the gravity force applied to the cable would correspond to the amount of door weight to support.

The reason that springs have been used is that their force is roughly linear to their extension or torsion. This scheme makes weights behave the same way.

[Bongo Bambi]

Many toy haulers have a bed lift in the back and the torsion spring and cable system would take up too much room, the exterior springs are a very good and simple solution, not need to reinvent the system as the doors tend to work very well, ours would lift slightly if there was no weight on it but carried a small weight to place on the end. I know Etrailer have the springs and a quick search should show what would work on your door.
We had a older lab at the time and tried the ramp on the rear stairs and many times it did not work as well since the back always seemed it was higher than the front stairs.

[REL]

The assist springs are on the bottom of the door. You can see them with the door in the closed position from the outside. There should be four of them. The cables are used to support the door in the patio position only. Not sure if stronger springs are available or if adding more would help you.

[The Evil Twin]

The ramp door of our 8.5' wide TH is 1 person manageable with the factory hinge springs. That said, we are >40. None the less, our doggo has a ramp for the truck. And can be used for the TH also when needed. Never rust aluminum and extendable. An easy fit to the side doors and sturdy enough to handle 300 lbs.

[Greg2019]

I added a 3ft. wide aluminum ramp extension across my door bottom entry so my motorcycle trike would not bottom out at the top edge when entering the trailer. The door was now very heavy and 2 people were needed to raise the door from the ground. I mounted a Harbor Freight ATV. winch ($50 cheap one) to the floor on the left side of the trailer and ran the winch cable through a pulley attached at the top inside door frame where the left door support cable is attached. Than I ran the winch cable down to where the door cable attaches. I had to run 12 volt from my battery to the winch. Now I just press the remote button to raise & lower the door. With the winch cable attached only on the left side of the door, I would not try to raise the door with any load, just the door. This works really great and my total cost was about $100 for everything.