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RV-12 Trailer Mods.

R

redbaron

Well Known Member
I'm purchasing a 8.5x34' Trailer to store and transport my RV-12. The door opening is 7'8" wide and the inside height is 6 1/2 ft. With a/c tail width at 8' I will need to trim the entry. Has anyone made these mods. and have photos?




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Speaking of trailers, has anyone rented a box truck to move or protect an RV-12? If so, what have you found that works? As always, thanks!
 
n74846 said:
Speaking of trailers, has anyone rented a box truck to move or protect an RV-12? If so, what have you found that works? As always, thanks!
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I used the large (24'?) truck to transport my -12 from home to the airport. The fuselage was completely assembled, on the gear, engine & prop mounted. Horiz & vert tail not mounted. Secured the fuse in the truck first and padded & stacked the wings under the fuse. Worked well but I only had to move it 25 miles. One of my helpers transported the horiz & vert tail in his pickup truck. There are some pictures on my site at the 2015_04 point, link in my signature. If I'd had to transport it farther I think I would have done it differently, with some sort of wing rack.
 
In my experience (albeit with a flatbed car trailer) moving my RV-12 to the airport, one of the critical dimensions was the distance between the inner portions of the trailer's fenders and the outer width of the RV-12's main landing gear. After I removed the main wheel pants and the outer wheel pant support brackets, the outer portions of the tires just barely cleared the trailer's fenders. The rest of the move was a piece of cake!
 
tilt-bed wrecker option

When I initially moved from garage to airport, I hired a tilt-bed wrecker to haul everything but the wings, which I hauled one-at-a-time hanging the end of my Ranger-sized pickup (with wing spar going through the rear window into the cab.

When it came to hauling things back to my garage-based paint booth, to avoid the $125+ for each wrecker ride, I borrowed a flat-bed trailer. The problem with just about all of said trailers is that the wheel wells are just a few inches too close to let the main gears slip through. I removed the wheels and invested about $50 in Harbor Freight Aerospace 10" wheels, bolts, and angle that allowed be to replace the main gears with the narrower-track wheels, and had a net savings of about $200 in the process. If you are planning on hauling the -12 all over the place, I guess a dedicated trailer is in order, but if just hauling it to the airport, the tilt-bed wrecker is a reasonable option.

Nice to hear that the flatbed worked for David--my measurements seemed to always come up and inch or two too large.
 
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Storing a/c in. Trailer at the airport

Storing a/c. In trailer at the airport or net to my home with a 30 min drive to the airport
 
Trailering RV12

I have two trailers, one is car trailer and one is Backhoe trailer..car traler has tamps and Backhoe has tilt bed...we tried car trailer with no success because it was to narrow..backhoe trailer let us get on but did not fit between fenders...so had to angle it and lots left hanging over back of trailer..o.k. because we live on Island and no police or traffic...but I have to say not the best method...only my experience...did get it to hanger but not fun..
 
Here is another trailer method, I wanted to be able to transfer from home to airport, a gentle 6 mile or so trip. A $159 Harbor Freight trailer (my third one, I love em) with one leaf removed from the springs to soften the ride a bit, and if you look closely, I put an 8 ft 2 by 12 where I wanted the mains to be. I use a set of garden tractor ramps for the mains. This is an early photo before the tail, but I think you can see what I did. Works perfectly, my plans are to enhance it with fold down sides to hold the wings someday. (Hit CTL and the plus sign a few times to enlarge the photo)
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I was fortunate. After removing the main wheel pants, the tires barely fit between the fenders. Highway patrol passed me and never gave a second look. Actually had someone (woman, not blonde) that thought, while I was building,the blue plastic on the skins was matching paint with my truck. Also was fortunate that I was able to complete the plane and AW cert at home before moving to airport

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