Gino230

Hey all, I have my first event with FARA in Homestead with my new 944 spec. I have never trailered a car before. If I don't have a new trailer by next week, I'll be renting the open variety from U haul.

Can anyone give me some tips / advice on tying down the car? I'm guessing ratcheting tie downs to D rings in the floor of the trailer.....what do I attach them to? Is it critical to have the car centered over the axles of the trailer?

I'll be using my F-250 as tow vehicle.

Any advice would be appreciated!

jbossolo

You can attach ratcheting straps to your towing hooks both front and back. I'd also do the wheels, with either over-the-wheel straps, or bolt-in stud type hooks. On my 996 TT I do the front tow hook and two straps under/around the lower trailing arms/suspension, ratcheted in back. No problem so far, and my car is a LOT heavier than yours. I also put the e-brake on, car in neutral. Try to center car over axles, shouldn't be too much of an issue with that trailer type. Good luck, and stay safe!

Kein_Ersatz

Postition of car on trailer is based on car and trailer. Easiest method is to control weight transfer on to tongue. 400 to 600 lbs on the tongue is typical, but YMMV.

Tie down points vary on car (shipping hooks and wheels are common points). U-Haul trailer uses front wheel "baskets" to hold front wheels against tire stops. The tire stop on a trailer will dictate tongue weight (along with cargo packing).

Lots to think of when hauling a car trailer. A U-Haul rental is a good first step.

Frank 993 C4S

If you are renting a U-Haul trailer, it will have straps for your front wheels. Here are the problems you will encounter:

If you go front first on the trailer and follow the U-Haul loading instructions, you will most likely not clear the front of the trailer with your front spoiler. Best to have some wood ready to drive your front wheels up on to get the clearance. (See below).

The next problem you will encounter is a very high tongue weight. The U-Haul trailers weigh a ton and they are very tongue heavy. Measure your tongue weight and possible load the car backwards.

Tongue Scale

or like this:

Alternate Tongue Scale

I rented a U-Haul trailer once and hated it. You have an excellent tow vehicle. Should make things easy.

mrbill_fl

http://www.etrailer.com/faq-how-to-d...ue-weight.aspx

^bathroom scale version and board / pipe.

there were some good instructions on how to load a race car onto a U haul (quite a while back).

IIRC, it used some 2x12 ramps. and more boards under the car like shown above.


How far a tow? where are you from?



edit, miss that link nice setup!

http://hildstrom.com/projects/tonguescale/index.html


ps: don't forget a safety chain, front and back.

Gino230

Thanks for the responses guys.

I'm from Hollywood, FL, and I'm going to Homestead so it's about 50 miles or so. I have been looking at a 8.5 x 16 enclosed for sale locally. I want the smallest trailer possible due to storage constraints. I also have an RV for "away" races so creature comforts are not an issue....just enough space for car and toolbox. I'm used to packing tightly. With the bikes I get two bikes, toolbox, tires, fuel, generator, air, etc, etc, etc, into my 12' enclosed.

I'm really looking for specifics on where to attach the tie down straps on the car. The front is quite low so it should be fun getting in there and tying down the front of the car. Seems to be more space in the rear. 4 floor mounted (welded to frame) d-rings in the trailer I'm looking at.

Thanks for all the tips, I'll be checking out the links asap!

StoogeMoe

I use the factory tie downs in the front. They are actually pretty easy to get to from the side, just in front of the wheel.

For the back, I installed tie downs at the bottom bolt of the shocks. I supposed you could go through the spokes of the wheel. It should have cookie cutters which should have enough room to get the strap through.

dgmark

I tow our lemons 944 all the time, You an use the front tie downs and they are not hard to get to through the wheel well. It is kind of tricky getting the hook through the eye of the tie down, you have to hook it through the narrow part. you will see what i mean the first time you try it, but it will go in. In the rear your best bet is to buy the Rennline tie downs that attach to the lower shock bolt. If you do not have them, you can wrap the tow strap around the control arm making sure that it goes under the brake line. Also some tow strap hooks are a perfect fit on the lower shock bolt in the rear.

Falcondrivr

+1000
I ripped the front bumper cover off my 993 on a u-haul trailer 3 weeks ago.

67King

I used to rent from U-Haul quite a bit, and frankly, I think it is a great option for many people. I could rent the trailer for $100 for the weekend. If you don't have storage, figure $50/month to rent. Well, if you do 6 events per year, you are at breakeven. And you didn't have to buy the trailer. Or register it. Or maintain it. An enclosed is a different equation, though.

Frank could not be more right about the front end, though. The first time I rented the trailer, I took the front bumper off of my freshly painted car when I went to back away (batwing went over the trailer, but caught backing out). Given the car's short wheelbase, I ended up not pulling all of the way up, and used ratchet straps to restrain it.

You can get good ratchet straps at Home Depot, but get the expensive ones. You can use the factory tie-downs in the front. ON the rear, I'd advise you to get something like this: http://www.rennbay.com/porsche-944-r...eye-p-126.html A better option than the Home Depot straps if you have time to order this stuff would be something like this: http://www.apexperformance.net/ProdList.asp?scat=288

You can also tie to the wheels, I just prefer not to when I can.

32krazy!

order the rennline tiedowns. they are great and make tiedowns much easier.

Gino230

Thanks again for the tips guys. Still 50/50 on whether or not I'll u-haul it or have an enclosed for the weekend. If it wasn't for the tool transport situation I'd just rent.....but it's a 25 year old car, I can't imagine going to the track without a screwdriver

I was able to locate the front tie down points, those are great. I'm guessing it will take a little trial and error as to where to route the straps and how to line up the car with the tie down rings in the trailer- to avoid putting tension on the front splitter and also to get the best "hold" on the chassis. Not to mention setting the tongue weight.

I'm guessing the suggestions about going through the rear wheels would include having the car forward of the tie down rings so that you could be pulling the chassis backwards while the front tie downs pull slightly forward? I've seen the cross tie suggestions as well.

One final question: Do you leave the car in gear or parking brake set? I imagine there could be mechanical consequences to this that I'm not aware of....

Frank 993 C4S

Just set the parking brake - you'll be fine.

TAI2

Some Trailex dealers actually rent Trailex's and then sell them as used 1-2 years later.

linzman

No parking brake, and in neutral. Just remember to put the brake on or put it back in gear before undoing the tie down straps when you unload. Ask me how I know. I swear it looked like a flat parking lot.