Learn Me: Hauling Cars

So today I bought my car trailer. 20 feet. Wood deck. Double axles and on and on. I'm pretty excited. Only after getting it home did it occur to me that I haven't really hauled anything in the better part of 20 years and that was farm equipment. Tractors have big burly metal bits to attach chains to. Cars, must less so.
I find myself seeking wisdom on car hauling. Tips and tricks. Recommended tie town methods/hardware. Where I'm likely to go wrong. That sort of thing.
I could probably do it myself, in fact I'm sure I could, but there's probably some stuff that I'd rather not learn the hard way. What do I need to know?

Does it have D-rings on it already for the tiedown straps to hook to? If not, you'll want to weld some on.

If the car has hooks on it for tying down, use them. If not, axle straps around the A-arm or through the wheel will work. There are people who say that this risks wrecking the alignment or bending the suspension, but the way I look at it the load from max braking for turn 1 on sticker Hoosiers is way higher than I'm going to get tightening a tiedown strap. For my Miata I use the axle straps through the wheels up front, and the factory tiedown points in the rear.

Loading the car -- splitter clearance onto the ramps is a common problem. One useful technique is to use a pair of Rhino Ramps under the rear wheels of the tow vehicle.

For the e30 we just cross ratchet straps from the two front tow hooks and from some other eyes up near the rear control arms. I think we also usually put a chain from the front subframe to the trailer frame, just in case.

sorry, best pics I have...

Tiedown straps on a Europa suspension will guarantee bending something. I think you can bend Europa A arms with your fingers. Point: Know where to attach stuff on your vehicle.

I'm no expert on these things, but what I do is check the clearance between the tire and wheel well in the back of the truck with the trailer hooked to the truck, load the vehicle and move it forward until the clearance is just a little less than before I loaded the vehicle. I figger this way I have the load mostly centered, but just a tad forward.

HF sells a tire tie down net thing. I think I'll get a set of those.

btw, I highly recommend electric brakes and a good controller rather than surge brakes. Makes a HUGE difference.

This is the trailer. It does have electric brakes on one axle. I need a brake controller I suppose? Any recommendations? I installed one with a friend once, but it's been a while.

irish44j wrote: btw, I highly recommend electric brakes and a good controller rather than surge brakes. Makes a HUGE difference.

This. Do not pass go, just go buy this: http://www.etrailer.com/Brake-Controller/Tekonsha/90195.html, or the cheaper version the P2, and with the right harness it will plug right into the wiring on your truck and work with the trailer.

For tie downs, there are lots of theories about crossing the straps or not, etc. I typically do cross them to prevent side to side motion on the trailer, but not always as it depends on the setup on the individual car.

^^That one. I posted a few months back and everyone recommended the Prodigy series. I got the P2 (the cheaper version of the one linked above) and it was awesome towing through the Appalachians to Pittsburgh last month (the photos above). It was like the trailer wasn't even there, even when he had to do a few downhill panic brakes in the mountains. Easy setup, easy manual controller lever as well.

Sonic wrote:

irish44j wrote: btw, I highly recommend electric brakes and a good controller rather than surge brakes. Makes a HUGE difference.

This. Do not pass go, just go buy this: http://www.etrailer.com/Brake-Controller/Tekonsha/90195.html, or the cheaper version the P2, and with the right harness it will plug right into the wiring on your truck and work with the trailer. For tie downs, there are lots of theories about crossing the straps or not, etc. I typically do cross them to prevent side to side motion on the trailer, but not always as it depends on the setup on the individual car.

Yes, the P3 is the way to go. Nice looking trailer.

Your truck should be pre-wired for it. Our 4Runner actually had a plug-in pigtail in the glove box when we bought it, so I just spliced that right into the controller's wires and used it. etrailer sells direct adaptors as well.

irish44j wrote: btw, I highly recommend electric brakes and a good controller rather than surge brakes. Makes a HUGE difference.

I award you 1 internet for the best advise given of the day

I buy my straps from a towing supply company, high quality stuff. http://www.awdirect.com/ I've used chains and binders and the big yellow tie downs in the past and they've worked well. But recently I've started using the tire straps.

I noticed the professionals use these http://www.awdirect.com/2-wide-soft-transport-tie-down-strap/truck-tie-downs/ , you know the guys you see with take three haulers on the highway, and they seem to work really well. Yes there's a little more customizing to be done on the trailer, but if you will be hauling the same car it makes it really easy. and you don't have to worry about crawling under the car, pinching brake lines etc.

Experiment with your setup. Move the car around some on the trailer and take it for a short drive to see what works best for tongue weight. It seems every set up is different. If you need to add sway control, don't hesitate, it's a great option to have.

Good luck and take your time, there's no need to be in a hurry when you're towing.

95% of my car hauling has been on a dolley so i will not venture into the realm of trailer advice.

But, my experience towing cars on big trailers with big half tons is that this will probably be way easier than you're expecting. Towing cars on trailers with big half tons has made me realize how people can get into trouble: It seems so effortless that you might forget to be cautious.

My tow rigs NEVER let me forget to be cautious! So far so good...

Check the car you are going to haul for tie down points. If it has them then you are golden, if not you will need to get some "T" or "J" hooks and learn where to hook them on the body or frame.

Some places have tow truck laws that a zealous law enforcement officer may apply to you for revenue generating purposes regarding chains on both ends of the car. Depending on how comfortable you are with your car's anchor points the bounce impact of chain on those anchor points might be a bit harsh. I hedge my bets with a chain on opposite corners loosely wrapped in the suspension or engine cross member to back up straps.

As to crossing straps, my usual operation is to run the straps out straight from each corner of the car to its corresponding corner of the trailer, tighten them, then run extra webbing on each strap diagonally and tie it off. This usually results in a single mechanically tightened strap on each corner and a doubled up hand tight "X" on each end. I figure I have to do something with all that extra webbing anyway, and it works for me.

And, if you are going to be towing the same car most of the time, do yourself a favor and mark on the trailer where the wheels end up once you get everything strapped down. Use tape or something until you get a good trip in and are happy with the results. Then make your marks permanent. It will make it easier and quicker, just pull the car on till your spotter says stop and start strapping.

Save yourself alot of problems, and just get four of those.

No matter what setup I've used, I've always had problems with straps attached to the frame, because unless you completely bottom out the suspension, there will be a time when the suspension of the car being towed will compress. That will loosen the straps, then when the car goes back-up, it gives a great big tug on the straps. That breaks cars, and straps.

Also, if you tow the same car often, take your time to establish the perfect position for the car. That makes a huge difference on the handling of you're tow rig. Dr Hess's method's pretty good.

Learn to use your electric brakes. It's nice to have them, but understand how you can stabilize the truck and trailer by using the trailer's brakes.

Brake controllers: I used a cheapo Draw-Tite for many years on many different tow vehicles with 3 different trailers. They were all Fords, so the same connector worked on all of them, but it always seemed to do a perfectly adequate job to me. My current truck has a factory built-in brake controller.

Tie-downs: I have a similar trailer to yours, wood deck and all. When I got it (used) all it had for tie-downs were some stake pockets on the sides and a little mini-rail along the front. I added 4 recessed D-ring tie-downs. I routed the wood out to mount them flush, the ran 4 Big Ole Bolts (tm) through them and through the metal framing underneath with Big Ole Washers (tm). Been about 5 years, and they are still very tight. Point being that you can add tie downs without welding, if need be.

As for the straps themselves, I bought a bunch of 2" wide ratchet tie-downs from Racer Wholesale many years ago and they still work fine, though some of them are getting a bit frayed. Probably time to replace them simply because of age.

Every car is different when it comes to strapping it down. If the car has any hooks or factory tie-down locations, I always use them. If not, I try to find something as solid as I can underneath. When I hauled my Mustang, I got a couple of axle straps that went right over the rear axle for the rear. In the front there were holes in the frame crossmember that I could use.

I've also completely rewired my trailer and installed LED taillights and extra reflectors. When I replaced my tires last year I got some of those tire covers that RV owners use. I find that the tires die from UV exposure before they wear out, at least in my case, so I'm trying to keep them out of the sun as best I can. Also, check the trailer's wheel bearings a couple of times a year. I've had one fail, and it wasn't pretty. Mine has Bearing Buddies, which are nice and easy for lubing, but if you need to remove them to actually inspect the bearings, it's a PITA.

I'll order the brake controller when I get home from the kids soccer practice tonight. Thank you for that. I have the factory tow package in my truck so it looks like an easy install.
The first order of business is to get the car back from Atlanta. For that I'm going to need some generic strapping stuff. Once I get back home I'll set the trailer up specificly to haul the RX7. I'll also need to be able to haul other cars so the general tie down stuff won't be wasted. Thanks for the tips, keep them coming. I'm learning a lot.

fanfoy wrote: Save yourself alot of problems, and just get four of those.

The last few times I've had cars on flat-beds (E30 and Mini), this is what they used, although only on opposing corners with the cable still attached as a back-up.

Personally, I'd get a 12V winch for the trailer as well... because racecar and you never know when the day will end with a non-running car.

Ah, yes, the winch. After battling to get a few dead cars on and off my trailer, I decided to add one. Being a cheapass, I got a Harbor Freight manual one, figuring I'd hardly ever use it. And while I have only used it a couple of times, it's only marginally better than nothing at all. Don't get me wrong, it works fine, but it's geared SO LOW that your arm will fall off before the car has moved 6 inches.

I have 8 or so axle straps and these ratchet tie downs from Tractor Supply. They are over-built, locked on, and not coming loose.

Is there a good way to use those tire straps without rings directly fore and aft of the tires?
The winch is coming too. I need to talk to my father in law about his setup which he really likes. I also have a welder friend who had me rebuild the suspension on his welding truck last spring. He wanted to pay me, I wanted to wait until I needed welding done. I'm thinking a good winch mount might be that favor.

Ian F wrote:

fanfoy wrote: Save yourself alot of problems, and just get four of those.

The last few times I've had cars on flat-beds (E30 and Mini), this is what they used, although only on opposing corners with the cable still attached as a back-up. Personally, I'd get a 12V winch for the trailer as well... because racecar and you never know when the day will end with a non-running car.

I use those too, so much better than the "Through the wheel" options. I normally add chocks as well though(As seen above with the europa)

Same setup in the back.