Peter Carroll/Toronto

I need to start trailering my tires to the track. I can't take the stress of any more 500 mile trips on bald R-Compound tires. Are there any off the shelf hitch solutions for a 911/930? Please share your experience.

Thanks
Peter

sjanes

Peter,

There are no off the shelf solutions for the 911/930, but I put a hitch on my 87 911. I'll see if I can dig up a few pictures, but basically, I bolted it to the bumper. I put a plate with 4 captive nuts behind the bumper, and bolted an 'L" shaped bracket through the bumper to the plate. My licence plate just screws to the hitch when I'm towing the trailer, and I remove the hitch when I'm not towing the trailer. Are you doing any of the RSR events at Tremblant? If so, a few of us are towing trailers with 911's, and you can take a look.

ZLP

Maybe a roof rack would be more practical than a trailer. I have seen people with an extra set of tires on the roof.

sjanes

Peter,

Here are a couple of pics with the hitch on and off. The nice thing about the trailer is that you can throw any tools, etc in it, and not have to try and stuff everything in the car (not that easy with a rollcage).

SGOGT4

I thought someone had told me that you don't really want to tow anything with a 930 given the incremental load on the motor/turbo... does that arguement hold any water with you guys?

jimculp

If you are only towing a few hundred pounds, I can't imagine it being too harmful- it's like having a couple of fatasses in the backseat.

sand_man

Some roof mounted ideas. Not mine:




Yakima and Thule both make racks that mount to the roof gutters. However, I think the Yakima stuff might be a tad more versitile in that the rack bars are round. Be forwarned that cooling and air-flow to the tail might be affected by having the roof lines disturbed.

I've got a few more pictures that i'll post later.

911rudy

Think of the moment arm of any weight that far back on a rear biased car and it could be some kinda fun driving it. I would think without elec. brakes it could be a real expensive trip.

nathanUK '81 930 G50

You got that info from the handbook IIRC.

SGOGT4

Thats what I thought... I seem to remember someone posting a scan of the owners manual and while it shows some meager level of towing capability for the NA cars it explicitly states that the turbos are not intended to pull anything (other than tail )

strudel

We use to tow a Southsport trailer with our '73 targa w/3.2. The trailer would carry 4 tires and had an aluminum box about 2'x2'x4', where we put a bunch of stuff, tools, tent, chairs, etc. We did this for about 3 yrs. We would cruise along between 70-80 mph and never had any issues. A couple of our friends also had the same setup. Southsport also had a trailer hitch bolt on system for the post '74 cars. Don't know if they are in business any longer. I occasionally see the trailers for sale.

Coyote99

Check out this link form an old PCA post regarding trailers...

http://www.porschenet.com/ross20.html

"On the subject of tire trailers, I have been seeing more and more track and autocross drivers utilizing those neat little trailers to haul around their DE/autox tires along with a good collection of tools and other assorted stuff. A couple of observations and hints; first off word is that the company that manufacturers one of them has suspend production (believe the name is Southsport made in Florida by interestingly enough a boat trailer outfit). I have one of them and I can tell you it is a great invention. It tows beautifully at most any speed and with a retractable third wheel in the front is a snap to maneuver around in the paddock plus it has an enormous storage locker. I used it for my trip to Canada and it was a joy. Another plus with the trailer is that I had a dry place for all my gear when it rained briefly at the track.

Harbor Freight also makes a unit and I have seen some others listed in Panorama. As far as hitches go, the water coolers (944,968) are easy as most trailer places make simple hitches that go under the spare tire well and utilize the rear bumper area for support. The rear engined cars can be sourced from D’Alan hitches right here in Shirley Massachusetts. They make a hitch for 993s and 996’s although their literature only lists it as fitting a ‘95 993. It’s the same unit and works with the bolt hole for the rear tow hook, which is about as strong as you can get.

Boxsters are another matter. I have seen a real nice hitch made by a company called Evo on the Racing Boxster site (check out their archives using the keyword Hitches) and my personal one was made by the member I bought the trailer from, and consists of a simple iron bar that fits into the grooves of the rear bumper overrider brackets. However whenever using these brackets to support a hitch it is best to bolt them to the main bumper bar behind it. They are only held by 3 small pop rivets. I have not heard of one letting go but it does not look like a good setup for the long-term. Removal of the rear bumper on a Boxster in incredibly easy and will be the subject of my column next month along with the usual other tech tidbits and maybe some more reminiscing from the old days. "

Coyote99

This link has detailed photos and write up info. These are cool.

http://www.bombaydigital.com/arenared/1999/11/12/1

The quote below is from a 2004 post on babblers.com

http://www.babblers.org/forums/archi...hp?t-6165.html

"The SouthSport hitch is available from Suncoast Porsche. Call 877-923-1700 and ask for Ric Knab"

SGOGT4

Thanks guys... it seems that there is quite a bit of reference to trailering with 3.2s and Boxsters but I haven't come across anything related to a 930. I guess I am trying to see if my recollection of the reference to 930s 'not intended to tow anything' is correct or if others have practical experience in the matter.

Coyote99

I don't understand why this is any more of an issue with trubo cars to non-turbo cars. Just keep it off boost while trailering. Also as pointed out by jimculp, how is this any different than having a really fat guy as a driving isntructor at the DE? I would think there is ver little resistance from one of these.