MarcD147

so I am buying a 24ft ATC Raven with car hauler plus package. it will be used to haul a 2003 cup and gear.

I am contemplating putting the tire rack across the trailer over the nose of the car.

I will be using the D rings to secure the car. Where will I end up positioning the car to get the weight reasonably balanced?

Where exactly should the tire rack go? how far from side door.

Other good suggestions welcome too

mark.jorgensen

Will depend on what your "gear" and wheel/tires weigh and where you position them so no good first answer. The ATC trailers are nice though.

linzman

Nice buy. You'll love it. Might want to consider the escape door before it's too late. Makes getting in and out of car much easier. As far as where to put the shoring beams, you're going to have to experiment with this. It really depends on what you're planning on putting in the cabinets, whether you carry spares, tool chest, etc. In my 24' (which I bought used), there is e-track on either side. It goes from just behind the door to well past where my windshield is on curbside, and from just behind base cabinets back to the edge of my escape door (old style) on roadside. I have room for 16 wheels on 4 shoring beams and it's perfect for my current needs, but it also gives me flexibility to move them as needed if I were only carrying 8 wheels on 2 shoring beams and had a different car that needed to be moved forward more (current car is front engine). Hope that makes sense and good luck.

MarcD147

Thanks. That makes good sense....
Get flexibility to move rack forward or back

linzman

I like the shoring beam setup. It's a bit of a pain to thread a ratchet strap through the wheels every time. I am in and out of the trailer a lot during race weekends, so I take the beams down at the track for the weekend. Beats ducking under them. Currently trying to figure out a way to do it like the new version of the trailex enclosed trailers, where they have removable rods on top of the wheels to hold them down. Put tires on rack, snap rod in on both ends and go. Much easier. Currently Iput some eyelets on the end of each shoring beam to hook my straps to so they weren't pulling on the trailer wall, but there's room for improvement here.

ExMB

I have a 24' Intech and for now I'm loading my GT4 rear axle over rear trailer axle to get a decent balance until I load stuff in the front which will require a rebalance. Since you are using a rear engine car you most likely will have to move it up even further. That means if you plan on the escape door you may or may not better be good at gymnastics since its only 88" wide centered over the trailer axles compared to the Intech which is 120".

Basically what I'm getting at is that weight management will get be imperative. Just having the cabinets up front and then loading your spares across the hood with shoring beams may not be the best option for you. You will be front loading weight in the trailer. That will limit access, i.e. ducking, and may force you to move things behind the car for a proper balance.
Not sure about your tow vehicle but anything in a truck bed behind the rear axle of the truck will count as tongue weight complicating your balance even further.



+1

MarcD147

I plan on winching car in to save clutch.
I figured frontloading was good to counterbalance the rear engine of the cup car?

ExMB

That is definitely an option to go that route. But I've seen enough cars after a track day needing a new alignment. If you have a skinny grand -son/daughter to steer you might want to bring him/her along to keep the car straight while loading (and to make their day).

StoogeMoe

I don't know about this. I thought only the things behind the rear axle are used to calculate the proper size for a weight distribution system. They always show putting the tongue scale on a disconnected trailer.

DHI

Not to hijack the topic, but I'd like to see see pics of the Cup car !!

MarcD147

Irma is causing car hauler delays so I only have pics of the previous owner:

https://rennlist.com/forums/vehicle-...up-2003-a.html

ExMB

Thats trailer only. Anything behind the rear axle will drop the a$$ end of the truck even further. And due to the weight placement it will count towards tongue weight for balancing purposes. I believe that is stated in most owner's manuals in the the towing section.

StoogeMoe

That doesn't really make sense. Anything you put in the bed is going to drop it down. The springs compress. It's only the things behind the axle that change how the truck sways because they are behind the rear axle pivot point. Maybe if you had a real long bed and put something really heavy at the back, you might start lifting the front wheels some. But I don't think that would have that much effect. I'd have to do some math.

See this:

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

nxfedlt1

Unloaded my 22 ATC is ~1400 lbs tongue weight, loaded I can drop it to ~1200. Thats full cabinets, 2 spare trailer wheels/tires,(one in floor, one in tongue gen cabinet), 8 spare wheels and tires, GT3, Onan 5.5 on the tongue, and built in fuel cell for the gen set, plus spare brake pads, 3x batteries, winch, etc etc etc.

My rear axle of the GT3 is behind the trailer rear axle at that.

lmnsblu355

Isn't tongue weight supposed to be limited to 10-15% of trailer weight? An ATC 22 weighs about 3000 lbs empty. Cabinets and gear 500 lbs? Your tongue weight seems very high.

Does a weight dist hitch allow higher tongue weight?