I am moving in a month or so and trying to figure out my options. I could pay more and have movers come, then drive the Z to my new city, or I could pay less, load a UHaul and also rent one of their flatbed trailers.

I have a concern though, I am lowered on Eibach Pro Kit springs and just from looking at the angle of ramp onto the trailer, I think my car may not make it over the ramp/floor "joint". Looks like I'd probably end up stuck.

Has anyone tried this? I think I could likely back the trailer up to a curb (with the trailer on the street and the ramp on a driveway) to lessen the angle, but I live downtown and literally dont know anyone with a driveway. Not only that, but its a big assumption, and if I could find a driveway and it didnt work, I'd be screwed.

Anyone have this issue? Or have suggestions?

 

My roadster was on Eibach Pro springs and had a slightly lower aftermarket bumper. I had to remove the front bumper or use several pieces of 2x12 treat lumber to drive up because the ramp incline was too steep without doing one of the two. Either option is pretty easy. If you choose removing the front bumper, I'll be surprised if you have any problems at all.

 

use planks

 

Sparkle, Do you think it would matter at all if I backed up onto the trailer? The rear bumper would have more clearance. Not sure if that eases my concern though about the middle of the car getting stuck on the incline/joint of where the ramp meets the bed.

I guess this question is for both of you- where do you position the wood?

Thanks guys

 

I believe you'll find the clearance angle issues the same either way. Drive up forward and bumper scrapes on ramps, or drive up backwards and bumper scrapes on ground. Planks are easy to do, so is removing the front bumper.

Especially since you won't know the situation you'll be dealing with when taking it back off the trailer, I'd plan for one of those two options rather than get stuck in a bad spot.

 

I'm prolly in the minority on this....But,for the life of me,why lower your car so you
cannot drive and enjoy it without doing mods to get over road hazards?
A Z was designed to be a driver's car.My Z is at stock height(has Nismo sways to tighten things up).With my body mods,lip/skirts etc,it lowers the clearance about a inch
in some areas.Care has to be taken to drive at angles over steep drives&speed bumps.
All& all ,not any big problem as stated with may of the guys with spring mods.
Taking off bumpers,using 2x4's to get over things.I just don't get it?
In essence,really no different than chicks walkin on 6" heels,being careful where they step cause they'll fall on their a-s.
The price on vanity,I guess.
Not for me.

 

I love chicks in heels

even better if they on their ****

 

I know what you mean, and with my car I can drive perfectly fine, navigate the city, the country etc without worry about clearance issues. Sure, sometimes I have to take curbs at an angle, but thats about it. For me, this is also the reason I went with springs- 1" is all I would ever want to deal with- anything else may create hassles in everyday life. This particular issue with loading it on the trailer is likely a once in a lifetime (of me owning the car) problem.

 

Good point... Where do you put the planks? Under the ramp?

 

The hell with the cars.Bring on the heels!

 

I like others have had to navigate on&off lifts and steep ramps.I've never had a problem if I drive the car and someone that knows what they are doing is
positioning planks as you go up or go down a ramp.You just have to take it slow until you get clearance.

 

You stack the planks so you can reduce the angle of the ramps. The longer the planks are, the more you're going to reduce the angle:

Trailer
------Ramp
-----------Board1
----------------Board2
---------------------Board 3 <----Drive car up here

 

Gotcha, makes perfect sense. Thank you

 

I'll give you my personal experience with this. Several months ago I planned to do this when I was relocating from Virginia to Florida. I reserved the truck and trailer online with no problems. I went to pick up the truck and was told that the trailer was at another location 30 miles away. I didn't have time to argue or wait for the to get it so I went to the other location. The trailer that they had there looked really sketchy. It had a lot of spots that you could tell had been recently welded...poorly and even had a large piece of diamond plate welded onto one side of the ramp. I still took it, because again, I was on a time crunch. I got the truck and trailer to my place and went to put it on the trailer. My car is stock height with a Aerosync front bumper and even parked on a steep hill It wouldn't clear the ramp. I decided to try backing the car onto the trailer because it was higher than the front bumper. I was able to clear the ramp but about half-way onto the trailer it popped off of the ball hitch and sent the trailer smashing into my undercarriage. At that point I had no intention of using their trailer. I contacted their customer service and was told that their was nothing they could do. They claimed that I was at fault because I didn't attach the trailer correctly. I have towed hundreds of trailers and never had one come loose. I spoke to a manager and they told me the same thing. They also told me that I was at fault because I was not suppose to back it onto the trailer. I told them that I wanted to return it and they said that they couldn't do anything since it was the weekend. They suggested that I start driving to my destination with the trailer empty and stopmat every uhaul on the way to ask if they would be willing to take it. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? I finally spoke to their road-side assistance manager and he told me that my car was not compatible with that trailer and that they never should have rented it to me. He also stated that the trailer was most likely defective since it came off of the hitch. He actually sent out someone to pick up the damaged trailer. This was actually a good experience compared to the terrible experience with their customer service.

So long story short....I would suggest against it! Just my $.02

 

Its simple really, stock height looks crappy. Well not crappy, just not nearly as good as a lowered Z. And let me make it clear that I'm not using the term "lowered" to include slammed Z's.

 

I believe you'll find the clearance angle issues the same either way

 

Ive always just back my car up onto a driveway with a steep incline. Backed the trailer up to the edge so the ramps lie on the slope where its greatest at the beginning. So its a fairly smooth transition to the ramps. A lot of variables though, has to be in a culdesac for one. Or a wide neighborhood street with minimal traffic.

 

Ouch. Maybe its worth it to pay more for movers and just drive the car. I'm going from Charlotte to Tampa, so its not a terrible drive.

Sounds like everything needs to go right, and if anything goes wrong its some seriously bad ju-ju.

 

Yeah luckily there wasn't any damage done. Just a really bad experience and time lost. I ended up leaving it and flying back up to get it a few days later.

 

I'll never use UHaul again after what I went through with them several years ago, their trucks/trailers and customer service are sketch at best. I've used Penske several time since and have been very pleased with how things went, not to mention their equipment is way newer and better. They rent car carriers too so give them a look. http://www.pensketruckrental.com/