RGN ramps

Frame ramps are like women, they're all the same & they're all different. (can I say that here?)

 

I think frame ramps are easier to figure out though (this coming from a guy that has been married for 36 glorious years).

 

That looks like a perfect job. Just the right slope. That makes all the difference in the world.

 

I agree with you there and I got 6 years on you.

 

Yea I only pick up trailers when my fifth wheels all the way back. But when I have to jump my jeep that's when I drop the neck, undo the dog bones, leave the pin that holds the neck in place, back under the neck so just the neck is moving up when hooking up, trailer stays on the ground. Then it's super easy for my to slide my fifth wheel to jump my jeep or un jump it. Someday ill take some photos, like a step by step. Right now I'm hooked to a hydraulic neck for the first time in a couple months lol.

 

A friend of mine just bought an 05 379 heavy spec truck, and it came with RGN ramps that are a bit different than others that I have seen. A portion of the ramps are attached to the fifth wheel plate, which allows one to have the fifth wheel slid forward prior to picking up the neck. The only thing that I see as a problem is that there looks to be rather an abrupt bump getting onto the final ramp from the rail.

I don't know if that makes sense, but you can probably see from the picture.

 

@Oxbow, those look like Murrays ramps. Maybe COPIES as the transition from the rail to the sliding ramp is like you say. The other reason they look like Murrays is how steep the end of frame ramps are. Murray made them like this because with a wide gooseneck you had to get the neck 2" higher than the frame rail to keep it from dragging on the tires & at the same time keep them short enough to slide the 5th wheel far enough to load the front axle with 18-20K. (note the section laying on top of the rail) Now, If your pulling a Murray all the time, everything goes over the back except pavers, compactors & little forklifts, grape harvesters, etc. These ramps are not friendly when picking up the trailer with a heavy load on it such as 825s.

 

After looking at it, it appears that it should be slid back about 4" in order to make the transition better between the ramps and the fifth wheel ramps.
It seems like we are loading things with snow and ice about 4 or 5 months a year here. I don't want to have to load anything over the back in those conditions anymore. I had enough of a thrill loading excavators, dozers, and scrapers like that in the 70's and 80's. I hauled an 825 one time, and loaded it over the back because it was an old Freuhauf, non-detachable. Loaded it at the dealer from their ramps, and built a dirt ramp at the job site with the dozer. Those dudes are hard on tires and trailers!

 

What kind of trailer is he pulling?

 

Those are exactly what we use, just a little difference. My truck happens to have the worst made ones out of all of them. They did not make the upper ramps drop far enough so the rail on top of the frame is too high. In certain situations, if I am not careful, I can hang up the neck on the frame of the truck. Hence my upper ramps break from the 5th wheel more often.

How they normally work is you drop the trailer and when you pick up the neck to remove it you slide the 5th wheel forward as far as you can and the neck will rest on the lower ramps when you pull away. Then when you go to hook the neck back up you will move the 5th wheel back to the ride position before dropping the neck to hook up the dog bones. If you do not have the upper ramps then your rollers on the neck will be rolling over the teeth on the 5th wheel slide. Hope that explains it.

Those are 3-4" rollers so that little bump is less than getting it picked up off the ground initially.

Here is the only and best photo I have at the moment. I will have to get a photo and post it up here but you can kind of see where the slider portion is under the first three holes on the neck. And it gives you an idea of what I mean about the frame hanging on the neck.

They are supposed to rebuild the ramp on this down time but I highly doubt it will get done.

Oh and @Oxbow, there is my air operated sign on the headache rack. Love it until the dang thing freezes.. LOL