ltc

Just wondering if anyone ties down their race car straight back or cross straps?

M&R shows the tie backs as straight from the car back to the D rings, but there is a note regarding crossing the tie downs if desired.

http://www.mrproducts.com/tips.html

Can't see why there would be a difference.

jgerken

On their web site they show kicking the straps out to the side for lateral restraint, crossing over one or both does the same thing with a little bit greater mechanical advantage. I cross the fronts on my car and run the rears straight back. No problems.

Stuttgart

Cross both front and rear straps. If they are not crossed, the first hard side hit will knock your car into the side of the trailer, and if you roll it you'll really be screwed.

RedlineMan

There are different methods for sure;

Many cross them both front and rear. Then there are those concerned with maximum forward retention so they cross the front and run the rear straight. Crossed does not manage longitudinal travel as well as straight strap paths, and vice-versa.

In most cases folks do whatever works best for their setup. If you want to cover all eventualities, the best is doing BOTH at BOTH ends.

CarreraCup03

Lewis,

I read an article a while back written by a mechanical engineer ... about how to properly strap down a race car. At all four wheels tie down straight AND crossed. It requires 8 straps ... but well worth it. According to the article .. the forces in an accident far exceed the max strength of any strap. Imagine going 65 mph ... and getting into an accident ... 3000 lbs of car on the trailer still going 65 mph .... lots of force.

Dan in Florida

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ltc
[B]Just wondering if anyone ties down their race car straight back or cross straps?

QUOTE]

On a 911, cross the front tie down straps using the tie down eyes. But the rear tie down is not as simple. Bear in mind that the rear trailing arms are not designed to take the load of crossing the rear straps. I go straight back on the rear straps, but my trailer setup [Trailex 7541] provides for very short straps to the rear trailer eyes.
Dan

DJF1

Autometrics Motorsports makes some very nifty trailer tie down hooks for the 911. I have installed them on my race car and it makes the job very easy and secure.

http://www.autometricsmotorsports.co...s/Mvc-002f.jpg

ltc

DJF1,
Thanks. I have the Autometrics F/R tie down kit on the car. Very nice stuff.

Just trying to figure out how many and what length straps to order.

8 straps seems like a bit much, but then again, I'm an electrical engineer, not a mechanical one.
Add enough tie down straps to the D rings and you will probably end up ripping the D rings out of the floor with the application of any longitudinal acceleration, if they're rated at 6000# with a 3000# car.

TMH

I believe that whatever way you end up securing the car to the trailer will be acceptable for normal trailering. Yes, having redundant tie-downs will always be safer, but in the event of a collision, etc., even this may not be enough. I know that it is the law in California (and elsewhere?) that vehicles towing trailers travel at a max. speed of 55. Keep the speeds down and the following distance appropriately long, and you should not need to worry about the difference between crossing or straight back. I don't cross either the front or rear straps, and I am using the Rennline tow/tie-down eyes. Load (car) has always seemed stable, but my trailer tie-down hooks are on the outboard sides of the trailer and that probably gives me some additional lateral stability.

Bottom line: Drive EXTRA safe when trailering and that will always be your best insurance against load shifting or loss.

Tom

Bill L Seifert

Wow, I only use one strap in front and one in the rear on a Pace enclosed 22 footer. I always figured that if you crash the car is screwed anyway, and with the car in an enclosed trailer, I doubt it will come out.

Of course, I have never crashed. So---stay tuned, and if I ever crash, I will come on Rennlist and publicly eat those words.

Bill Seifert

1983 944 Race Car

Stuttgart

If you tie down the car well, you can roll a 20ft Pace (or similar) trailer and not damage the car. Then take the trailer down to southern georgia get it reskinned for ~$1500 and its good as new. Pace builds a VERY strong trailer. The main weak point is the trailer tiedowns, make sure you get the highest strength possible.

Bill:
With all due respect, one strap for the front and rear is just plain crazy. Even in the slightest accident you will break a tiedown with that much weight distibuted to only two straps.

Mike in Chi

"and if you roll it you'll really be screwed."



I always figured if i rolled the trailer, which would probably roll the tow vehicle as well, no matter how the car was tie'd down, I was really screwed

APKhaos

Mike,
Bill's car is reeeeaaaalllllyyy light [not].

Bill,
I'm sending you two additional tie downs if you don't promise to get 'em yourself before your next event. Hate to see carefully prepared track cars trashed in public highway accidents.

FWIW, one of the guys heading back to NJ after RRII rolled his trailer onto its side outside of Richmond, VA. Made a nasty mess of a sweet car.

If you really enjoy the suffering of others, read this:

Just outside the track, as I navigate the stoplights in Charles Town, I feel the trailer lose traction and catch. "Must be really slippery out there." I think. We travel through Harpers Ferry and Hagerstown, heading for the Baltimore beltway.

As I continue driving, I'm starting to get concerned. Whenever I slow down and speed up, I feel a slide and then a bang through the drive train. It feels exactly like when the transmission on my F150 started to go. It would slip and then suddenly catch, sending a jolt through the drive train. About 10 miles from the beltway, traffic slows to a stop. For the next 90 minutes it’s stop and go for the next 30 miles. And the truck's tranny keeps slipping and grabbing, sometimes with large amount of force.

In the cab I'm cursing my luck. I'm going have to take the truck in for service. Who knows how long that's going to take. This is why I bought a new truck, so I wouldn't have to deal with "truck issues". The club race is in 3 weeks. With my luck so far this summer, I'm already imagining the conversation with the service manager:

"Sorry, but it seems that the cause is a impacted transdermal sonic shift regulator which is only manufactured by a religious cult on Easter Island during their full moon eclipse purification rites. Unfortunately, there's a worldwide backorder on this part. We expect to receive one by June 2006. Meanwhile we would be happy to rent you this Pinto. Make sure you rate us Excellent on the Customer Satisfaction survey! Have a nice day."

Some idiot cuts me off in the left hand lane of I-695 forcing me to slam on my brakes. BANG! "Damn, that almost gave me whiplash. I'll be lucky to make it home like this. That felt just like a car hit me in the rear. I'll have to take the truck right to the dealer."

A dim bulb flicked on in my brain, that rapidly became the faintest stirrings of panic. "Did I tie down the rear of the 911?" I remember doing the front, but hard as I could remember, no images of the rear come to the surface. By now there's a cold knot in my stomach.

I force my way across 4 lanes to the shoulder of the highway. I jump out of the truck into the rain and head to the back of the trailer. The top of rear door/ramp was open at least a foot. The camlock bars are all twisted but still holding. I open the side door and can't believe my eyes.

Normally the 911 sits with the front wheel facing the door and the rest of the car extending to the front of the trailer. But now... there was nothing, no car at all. I turn to the right and all my shelving with the plastic crates are all busted and lying in pieces. Looking to the left, the 911 is all the way in the back, up against the rear door. I stand there in the rain stunned.

Cris Brady wrote that just after if happened. His most excellent web site if packed with similarly honest recountings of the tribulations of racing. Check out Cris' stories for more

APKhaos

I can see how you earned your HWFM title, Kim!

I trailered a series of racing sailplanes for years, and had more 'moments' that I care to count. Swore I'd never do anything involving trailers again, but took a reverse full plunger with 2 1/2 twists into this race thing. Its the addictive phychology [heh, heh]

RedlineMan

Gents;

I don't mean to be rude, insulting, or imperious, but some of you guys are just clueless here.

Let me tell you a true and horrific story the best that I am able, having gotten most of the info through the gossip grapevine. To those that really know the situation, I apologize for any inconsistencies.

There is a fellow named Rick Bye, Canadian shoe of no little repute from what I know. Some 5+/- years ago he was enclosed-trailering his race car to Florida (Sebring I believe?). Somewhere in the deep south (S. Carolina or Georgia?) on 95 he crested a hill at the usual speeds (70-ish I would guess) only to see traffic in both lanes at an utter standstill ahead.

He of course jumped on the brakes to get whoa'ed up. His car broke loose, came through the front of the trailer, over the bed of his pickup, and smashed into the cab. Rick Bye is a dead man walking. I have heard from very credible sources that the brain injuries he suffered should have killed him, or at best rendered him a vegetable for life. He has since recovered to drive and be responsible for the Canadian Porsche press fleet.

Those of you scratching your heads in vague recollection may now remember the recent thread notifying us that he has yet again been seriously injured in a crash, and now understand why some of use were so dismayed to hear this! https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=139111

Anyway, need I say more about the danger here?????

More straps, 3" minimum standard, hooks mounted into the steel trailer frame at multiple points, one strap per hook... Anything and everything you can do is trouble well taken! Overkill should be standard, my friends!