Acropora

Should I drive up onto the ramp engine first or front wheels first? Better to have the engine over the tongue or at the back? I searched.. think its engine up front but not sure. Thanks!

DocTock993

Flatbed truck only!

Mike in Chi

Depends on the size of your trailer and balance point. You want 10% of the weight on the tongue.

the problem with backing on is your wing will catch lots of air in the wrong direction, unless it's enclosed.

Slow Guy

I've only towed a 911 less than 100 mi. but most auto haul trailers are long enough to hold bigger cars than ours, so when you have the car all the way forward on the trailer there is more than enough weight on the tongue for the 10% rule. I would definately drive on nose first.

X2Board

A flatbed is the only way I would go.

Acropora

Ok, front first. Thanks!

Greg Fishman

Tonque weight is important but to hell with tongue weight if you have too much weight on the back end. BTDT, and it is no fun. Too much tonque weight won't cause a serious sway condition that can cause a serious wreck.
Correct answer is that it depends on your trailer set up.

Terry Adams

Be sure to run the engine when you back it off. Helps to have brakes.

Slow Guy

I think most of us are assuming you're talking about a full length trailer and NOT one of U-Haul 2 wheels up/2 wheels rolling things. Correct?

A flatbed truck is a little overkill, IMHO.

Geoffrey

With my open trailer I had to tow my 911 Turbo with it backed on the trailer. My trailer was originally built for a BMW. If it was driven on there was not enough tongue weight and it was dangerous to tow. I didn't have any issues towing with in on backwards and I towed it a lot and long distances. With my new lighter RSR I can drive the car on the trailer, especially with the nitrogen tank now up in the front.

So, the answer is that it won't make a difference to the car whether or not it is driven on or backed on. Which you do will depend on the tongue weight as mentioned above.

Monique

I beg to differ... I had mine on a nice lowbed twin axle trailer with nose forward. The Dodge Caravan was nearly uncontrollable.

Back the car onto the trailer!

Bull

I have been towing for 30 years, and have always towed 911s nose first IF the trailer is properly set-up. Most recently my towing has been a 993 on a Trailex trailer. Whether is is a car, boat or horse, it is simple, but very important, to set up the trailer balance. First, you want to have 10-12% of the total towed weight (including tire racks, etc.) on the tongue. Less than that causes trailer sway when towing, ore than that will cause the trailer to attempt to steer the toe vehicle under braking, pushing left and/or right. Second, the trailer should be level with the car on it and hooked to your tow vehicle with that 10-12% of the total weight on the tongue. If it isn't, you need a different drop/rise on your hitch, which is much easier to change than the tow vehicle.

If you do those two things correctly, the trailer will tow easily. Use a tongue weight scale, which many in our PCA Region have at the track with them, or any Trailer Sales/Service Center will have. This is another reason that I like Trailex Trailers for open trailer towing. Everything, from the stops for the wheels to the location of the axles, is adjustable so you can set them up perfectly. If you tell them you have a 911 when ordering a trailer, they will deliver it set-up so you just drive on nose first.

The only reason to back on a trailer with a rear engined car is because the trailer can't be set up properly for a rear engined car.

Acropora

Ack, ok, I got this trailer from uhaul. Dunno how to get the tongue weight so maybe will just back it on.

Rick

First, nose first or butt first really isn't the real important issue...it's tongue weight. I prefer nose first because I don't like the idea of the wing getting wind resistance (from the rear) in a way that it wasn't intended.

The U-Haul trailer weighs approx 2000 pounds...your car is approx 3064 pounds...so you should target 500-760 pounds of tongue weight. If you happen to have a scale that will weigh that much...just let the tongue sit down on the scale and determine the tongue weight. If you're too light...bring the car forward a bit. If you're too heavy...move the car back on the trailer a bit. You'll probably be surprised how much a few inches will change the tongue weight.

Now, I didn't have a scale in my house that could weigh up to 5-700 pounds so I used the "backyard" method. If you put something together like the diagram below, you'll be able to use your home bathroom scale. If you set this up so you have 4 feet between the pipes (one of which is on the scale, one of which is on the other end on a brick or clock of wood), you'll weigh your scale weight by 4 to yield your tongue weight.

In my case, I did this when I bought my current trailer...based on the info I had, I estimated my loaded weight to be around 7800 pounds. I ended up with about 274 pounds on the scale which meant a tongue weight of around 1096 pounds. I then took the trailer over to a local trailer place where they had a scale...it turned out my loaded weight was 7593 and my tongue weight was 1022 pounds. My trailer pulls like a dream.

It works!!

mcholar911

I towed my 95 from Springfield, IL to Denver, Co with a Uhaul drive on trailer.It was a little over 800 miles total. Towed it behind a 24 ft Uhaul truck, with the nose pointed forward. Had absolutely no problems. Towed with no wiggles or sway at all. It was a bit tight getting it on, as the trailer fenders come a little close to the body, use a spotter to center the car when you drive on. Also, make sure the trailer has the option of laying the left fender down, otherwise you can't get out of the car! The 993's too low to let the door swing past other wise. Also, I put a bra on it for the tow, just in case something got kicked up by the truck. Hope this helps,
Mike