How to install restraints/stands in trailer?

Whether you use the TRS, Strapless Stands, or whatever it's a giant pain to get under the trailer, cut through insulation, and have someone in the trailer/hauler garage holding the bolts while the nuts are tightened.

Did you do it that way or did you figure out a way to securely install the base plate without crawling under the trailer for the nuts and washers?

 

Thru bolt is the correct answer

 

Swodi (I know you), I didn't want to drill through the floor either, so I bought a piece of 3/4" thick plywood and cut it the width of the garage area, and about 38" from front to back. I use the Baxley wheel chocks, so from under the plywood, I drilled holes that I put carriage bolts into (from the bottom) and they stick up through the plywood like a stud. The Baxleys sit on the plywood with the carriage bolts through the mounting holes in the Baxleys. I then cut three round holes in the plywood that match up perfectly with the tie down anchors in the garage floor. I removed the original trim plates for the tie downs and moved them to the top of the plywood and used longer wood screws (3/4" longer to make up for the 3/4" plywood thickness) and screwed the plywood down to the original holes where the tie down trim plates were. Of course everything was painted and I also used some 3/4" x 3/4" aluminum angle along the edge of the plywood on the side where you come into the garage area from the doorway. If you want a pic or two, I'd be glad to take a couple and send them to you.

 

I installed my own TRS in my new trailer by myself (yes, I really did ).

It might sound funny, but what I did was once I had the holes drilled and bolts through the holes, I put an Allen wrench on the bolt head (inside the trailer), then went upstairs and got one of the 75lb dumbells from the gym, took it outside and placed it on top.

The handle of the wrench fit under the handle for the dumbbell, then as it rotated a little it would hit the large weighted part on the end of the dumbbell and stop.

Then I crawled underneath and installed the washer/nut with a ratchet.

Granted, I had to repeat that 16 times (4 TRS's in the trailer), but it worked great. And as an added bonus, I got a head start on my workout from handling the dumbbell.

 

^^^^^ Now that's determination for sure! If there's a will, there's a way, and I have to admit, I've done stuff like that before because there was no one around to help me. I once engineered a small hoisting device and a sheet lifter to be able to put 1/2" thick, 4' x 8' sheets of OSB on a garage I was building.....10' high walls and absolutely no help around. The garage was 18' x 30' x 10' and I sheeted it without any help.

 

You guys sure know how to make things complicated. I think it took all of three minutes to install mine. Pick a spot, drill holes, yell at wife to come here, explain to her which bolt is 1, 2, 3, and 4, then crawl under the trailer and hit them with the cordless impact.

It's taken longer to read this thread.

 

That is pretty much what I did except I just used my tool box as the stop instead of a dumbbell because the tool box was right there in the trailer with me. I also lowered the nose of my trailer all the way down on the jack to make more room under the back end while I installed the TRS in the rear of the trailer.

 

That ^^^^ is the easy way for sure.......if you don't have a Toy hauler with not only insulation under the floor...PLUS the underbelly cover, PLUS the onboard 30 or so gallon fuel tank that has to be removed before you can reach the area where the nuts/washers go onto the bolts that are down through the floor. Just so you know, when I had my 7' x 16' enclosed trailer, I did the same thing.....drill the holes, slide under the trailer, have the wife hold the bolts inside the trailer and tighten from the bottom.....easy peasy. Toy Hauler.........not so much

 

Well, I had a slightly different situation. I use my race trailer for my car and not just the bikes. The studs that stick up from the floor (with the bolts going through them) on the two rear TRS mounts can catch the header flanges when loading the car. So, I made solid steel brackets that are tapped that I mounted underneath the trailer. The TRS bolts with studs go down through the floor, and thread into the brackets. The brackets have extra holes that keep them mounted on the underneath side of the trailer floor even when the TRS is removed. So I only needed help with somebody under the trailer for the initial install. Now I can just grab a ratchet and remove the mounts inside the trailer without crawling underneath - and put them back in the same way.

Bottom line though is that the only safe way to mount a TRS is to have the bolts secured from underneath the floor. A Baxley, etc - you can get away without it because you're strapping the bike down in addition to the wheel chock.

 

Sadly I'm getting the impression there is just no way to do this without getting under the hauler and removing the gas tank, taking off the plastic liner, fishing bolts through the insulation, etc.

I don't have a 75lb dumbbell, but I figure my daily allotment of donuts should hold a wrench in place.

 

I'm telling you, the plywood in the trailer will work.....and it certainly beats having to fight the insulation, underbelly, and removing the tank for access under the T.H.

 

• 1st ya gotta have a wife
• 2nd they are very expensive and cut into the racing budget. LOLOLOL

 

I have a friend that did this for his Toyhauler, but not as elaborately as you did. His has 2 stands and a notch where it fits against the inside wheel wells. He has been using it for at least 10 years without issue. His has the old school front wheel chocks, when he gets to the track, he can pickup the plywood and have a completely flat floor.

 

I'm pretty sure I had a clause for that in my vows.

 

If you're using wheel chocks and NOT the TRS, then absolutely this can work. Wheel chocks like the Baxley only use the chock to stabilize the front wheel. They use traditional tie downs to actually secure the bike.

With the TRS, IMHO there is zero basis to think it's remotely acceptable to not secure the TRS mount through the floor material itself. With the TRS there are no tie towns OTHER than the TRS bolts. Let me give you an example of why this is important.

In my last trailer, setup for 4 bikes (24' enclosed) the TRS were mounted through the 3/4" plywood floor - just like they're supposed to be. The trailer is a bit older (a '93 model) and there was a bit of rust in the rear of the frame. Also, while it certainly wasn't "rotted" in any way, the plywood does get a little soft or "pliable" over time. I noticed at the end of last year that there is so much torque applied to the TRS mounts, that it had actually somewhat raised the 3/4" plywood floor. When I crawled under the trailer I discovered that the crossmember right behind where the TRS mounts were bolted through the floor had "twisted" a bit due to that torque of the TRS. Those 4 bolts (IIRC they're 3/8") going through the floor are pulling up through the floor every time the trailer bumps or anything happens.

Even if you try and secure a sheet of plywood with TRS mounts on it laying in the trailer, it still isn't as strong, and doesn't meet the design specifications of PitBull. For example, take a 4x8 sheet of plywood, somehow mount the TRS with the bolts sticking through the bottom - with washers and nuts, and then lay that on the trailer floor? Well, you'd have to have standoffs to let it sit flat otherwise it's sitting on the nuts and bolts - and you can't countersink because it'll reduce the mounting material too much. Then, how are you securing the plywood "mount"? If you just use tie downs to regular mounting points in the trailer, it's not safe. The plywood mount can flex.

It is not what the TRS is intended for. Bottom line - save yourself a potentially very bad situation. If you're using TRS, make SURE you mount all the way through the actual solid floor and have washers or another stress dispersal method to prevent the bolts from coming through the floor.

 

You make a good point about the TRS mounting and bolted through a floor. And I can see why the Baxleys would be OK with the method that I used, and maybe not so much with the TRS system

 

This. The thing that sold me on the TRS was the photo of the trailer rolled upside down with the bikes still strapped into the TRS and undamaged. That would not happen if it's just bolted to a sheet of plywood on the floor.

 

Let me explain my setup just a little more thoroughly. The plywood up front has the Baxley wheel chocks bolted to it, the plywood is somewhat secured to the floor of the trailer, as the original tie down point (5K lbs each), trim ring was removed from the floor and placed on top of the plywood, naturally using longer and slightly larger screws. Also, the floor of the Keystone T.H. is made using 1" thick plywood, not 3/4". So the bike(s) are rolled into the Baxley chocks, then I use a ratchet strap on both sides of the bike to tie the rear end down and angled forward into the chock....via the 5K lb factory tie off points. Those are actually welded to the frame of the trailer. So it's not just a piece of plywood sitting on a garage floor and not anchored.

 

I think everybody got that what you were doing was more or less OK. You're still strapping the stuff down to the floor. The comments were I think all about somebody maybe thinking about trying the same idea with a TRS. That would not be OK.