I believe it was Four Wheeler Magazine that came up with the concept of the Ramp Travel Index a few years ago. The standard ramp they chose is sloped at 20deg. The Ramp Travel Index is based upon how far you can progress up the ramp with one tire before lifting any other tire off the ground. The index is obtained by dividing that distance up the ramp by the vehicle's wheelbase and finally multiply that ratio by 1000. For example, if you can drive up the ramp until the trailing wheel touches the bottom, you score a perfect 1000. Some super-twisty suspensions can go beyond 1000, so you have to have the trailing wheel beside the ramp. In these cases, a steeper ramp (23-30deg.) is used to increase the slope. The RTI can be measured forwards and backwards, with wider tires, lowered tire pressures, different loads in the vehicle and will probably result in a different number every time.

I did a little research on the web; printed out a few pictures and away I went on my ramp building project. I decided to make it bolt together in sections with the thought of possibly making it adjustable to 23 or 30 degrees in the future. I also had to make it mobile, so I decided to incorporate a trailer axle into the design as well.

I first built the base section; this was going to be 15ft long and 24in wide with 6 strategically placed cross braces. Next was the ramp, It was made out of three sections of 2x3x.120 rectangular tubing, cross braced by 2x2 tubing and later would be covered with expanded metal. Once I was able to get the base and the ramp to hinge at one end, I calculated the 20-degree angle and temporarily braced it.

On to the uprights. The idea of making it bolt together in sections turned out to be harder than it sounded since the diagonal braces would need to bolt on also. After finishing the uprights, it was time to make it into a towable trailer. I found an old trailer axle in my dad?s back yard that came off of a horse trailer. It was in good condition and it had a 6? drop to it. It was perfect; so I brought it home, cleaned it up, and welded it on.

On the other end I came up with a hitch that could be removed when set up so you wouldn't run it over. I wanted this ramp to be ?user friendly?, so I sat down and made a list of things that would make it easy for one person to set up and use without any outside help.

I mounted a swing mount jack with receivers on the front for hooking and unhooking from the tow vehicle, and on the rear for lifting it up to remove the tires during set up. I also mounted a spare tire and a lug wrench for convenience along with a toolbox to hold things like pen, paper, calculator, spare parts etc.

After a fresh coat of ?smooth white? Hammerite paint and a little advertisement, it was ready for a test drive. It towed kinda like a tow dolly (no suspension) but it was straight and true. After I returned from the test drive I timed myself and I was able to set the whole thing up in less than 10 minutes with no extra tools or help. It?s kinda cool having a ramp at my house for testing suspension and shock lengths, my friends and neighbors think it looks like a motorcycle jump.