Our transition to full time RVing is complete! The last step was getting the Smart Car into our Weekend Warrior 4250W and being able to transport it wherever we went. With only 2 inches to spare in front and 2 behind, we shot that baby up the ramp!
We had our Weekend Warrior Toy Hauler built with a Moryde ramp because it’s really easy to get it up and down. They call it their zero-g ramp door and it’s easy to see why. Their perfectly balanced cable system lets you move the ramp with 1 finger. And it stays wherever you let it go so no worries about it slamming to the ground.
Our space was so tight because inside the Moryde door are the folded deck railings. And inside those are the sliding veranda screen doors. The 2016 Smart Car is 8′ 10″ long and with all that hardware inside the ramp door, we ended up with 9′ 2″ to work with.
I was scared to death…
I had read about someone else doing this with a WW 4120. They said it didn’t matter if you load the car with the jacks down or just hooked up to the truck, but I thought it would be better to have the rig as low as possible. Also, we didn’t want to mess up the jacks – Lippert had just finished re-welding one of the front ones to fix its angle.
We unhooked the deck cable and pushed the ramp to the ground. It looked too steep to me. I looked at the front of the car and the body there is not solid – it’s like a pliable stiff rubber. So I figured it would be ok if that hit the ramp.
With the mirrors tucked in (which only saves you about 2 inches total) I had around 1.5″ clearance on each side. The railings and veranda doors open outward, but not so far as to allow you the entire width of the trailer to get in. It was a surgical procedure!
Getting it up the ramp the first time and stopping without creaming the 1/2 bath wall was a challenge the first time. I had the car in economy mode, which we’re pretty much always in. The second time I used sport mode and I got much better control over the initial forward motion while the back wheels were still on the ramp.
In fact, even when you’ve reached the perfect parking spot, the back wheels are still on the dovetail at the rear of the garage so moving just a little bit forward is a delicate operation!
We eventually did get it in and positioned where we wanted it. From there it was just a matter of strapping it in good. We strapped all four tires, the rear wheels to the front D-rings and the front wheels to the rear D-rings.
We also put wheel chocks at the front and put tape down to mark the position so next time, we can have a little protection at the front of the garage. With the weight of the car at 2000lbs plus gas, we’re a hair below the max capacity of the truck and trailer. 30k lbs total. We had to do a purge of many things we really didn’t need but were hanging on to for no good reason. Think pots and pans, clothes, tools, and other stuff. We got it legal, but we can’t carry the car if we have anything in our holding tanks. We left just enough room that we can take 10 gals of fresh water for the bathroom during the trip. Just in case. There’s nothing worse than having a bathroom when you need it but not being able to use it without water!
After our first full trip with the Smart Car aboard, we feel confident it will work well. Happy trails everyone!
Tags: 4250W, Smart Car, Weekend Warrior 4250W
Wow, pretty impressive! We looked at toy haulers but ended up going with a 38ft motorhome and I tow my 2015 Jeep Cherokee. Although now with kid #3 arriving recently, that Cherokee is getting mighty tight!
What I really want to see pictures of is you getting out of the car once you get that smart car up that ramp!