Hi Bruce,

Randy Hoyum recently asked me similar questions about the Smart lift.

First off, I think this thread needs a new name. My device eliminates TOWING so the Smart Car would not be called a TOAD. Rather, the bus carries the Smart, so I think the thread should be renamed "Smart Car as PARASITE!"

From my recent response to Randy after he asked me how to get one on the back of his bus:

OK, so I wish my lift was all done, and had a few thousand trouble free road miles behind it, and maybe I had a company here somewhere you could go and buy one, they would install it on your bus and you would drive away happy after leaving them a check.

Alas, that is not the world we live in. My lift is nearly done. I think a day or two to finish a few minor things, then a day or two to disassemble it and paint everything, then install lights and I am done. Sounds easy. And since I am basically retired, it should be.

So how do we get a lift on the back of your bus?

To answer your direct question, I do not have engineering drawings. I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, but spent my career in sales, letting others build and design stuff I sold. But this was a do it myself project. I designed it as I built it as I went along. Rebuilt a few parts a few times until it worked. If you took this one to a fab shop and said "copy it", they could probably do that, but it would not be cheap, and it would be hard to incorporate improvements I would make if I were to do it again.

I did hire a friend to help me build it originally. It just goes much more efficiently when you have two people to measure, cut, weld, and kick ideas around as you invent this thing. I estimate we have 200 man hours labor in it, and about $1500 in materials. Mostly steel, a winch, and LED lights.

My design was inspired by seeing the lawn turf delivery trucks carrying their forklifts on the back of the sod trailers. I studied liftgates also, but most have a lot of hardware mounted under the frame where we have the engine in the bus, or they have a huge vertical steel angle alongside the trailer door frames, where we have our taillights. Neither design was light weight either.

Review of my design goals:
1. Quick and easy to operate. Needs to be almost as easy to use as a tow bar hookup.
2. Preserve bus, so when lift is removed the bus looks original
3. Can open bus engine doors with lift installed .
4. Entire lift can be removed in 30-45 minutes in case of major engine work
5. Strong and dependable enough to not cause any problems on a trip
6. Light enough to be practical. The entire thing weighs under 500 pounds, and the lifted part is less than 200. The car is 1625. The grand total is easily managed by the Prevost.
7. Outer part folds up when the car is off, to reduce overall length in a campground.
8. Will not scrape the ground when driving through a dip.
9. No loose parts while loading, and no tools needed.


So, to answer your specific questions:
1. There is no welding on the bus.
2. There are NO loose parts, no separate ramps. The ramps are attached and fold up to become wheel chocks. Can car drive on or off either side depending on where and how the bus is situated.
3. I do not want or need a swiveling wheel under there. The whole thing is quite stable. Any wheel there would need a huge suspension travel to be able to deal with dips in the road and driveways. There is simply no need for it.
4. While driving the bus you do not even know the car is back there except you can see the roof of it in the rear view camera. Running lights on the sides at the extreme rear corners so you can see it at night.


OK, here are a couple of serious issues that need your attention:

1. The new Smart cars sold here are a bit longer than mine. Mine is a Euro version , 2002, and is less than 100 inches long . The bus is 102 without the side mirrors and awnings. The new Smarts selling here are a little longer.

2. On a 45 foot coach, hang the car back there and you will be 50 feet long overall. What will the police say about that? Nothing I hope. My approach is to just do it. If you were towing the length would be legal right? Truck trailers are commonly 53 feet.

What happens next?
I hope to finish mine up soon. It needs paint and lights and a few other minor adjustments. Maybe I will make it to POG in SD. We will see.