911 on trailer? tiedown/trailer rails/trailer brakes ques!

[vash]

My car is going to texas! ok, i have a flat bed car trailer, on the way. unfortunately, it is one of the models with the raised rails on either side. two questions, will the damn rails get in the way of the doors? and my brother has those 3" wide nylon straps that ratchet tight. in order to secure the car down tight, do i use the tow hooks or go through the fuchs? not convinced the hooks on the ends of the straps will fit thru the wheels. i am bummed i dont have either the straps or the trailer for a "dry run".

oh third question! tow vehicle will be my brothers' chevy duramax diesel 3/4 ton. the trailer has the electric brakes, do i need to put the unit in the truck, or can he safely tow from cali to texas with only the truck brakes. i estimate the entire load to be around 4300lbs.


cliff

p.s. this is all going down this weekend, maybe monday.

[Zeke]

I will address the brakes. Going to TX on 10 will not tax the brakes, but it is safer to have the brakes. The contrller unit is about $100 if you shop around.

OK, I will add my .02 on the straps. If you can't get thru the Fuchs, use the suspension. Not the sway bar and not the drive axels. Careful not to have the strap in a situstion will it can get frayed and cut. 4 straps 3'' style is plenty. Check after 2o miles and then at each gas stop. you'll be fine.

If it is a smaller trailer, back the car on for proper weight dist. Otherwise, just drive it forward until you have some tongue weight, about of 10% of the load.

[TMH]

I'm going through all of this right now as I am preparing the '87 Coupe to be a track-only car which will not be registered to drive on the road. I just bought a 16' flatbed trailer. Good thing it has a "dovetail" rear end, as the car would have been too low to get onto and up the ramps if it was not. Even as is I have to use a couple of 4' pieces of 2x8 to get the nose up so that it doesn't drive into the ramps. Be prepared as you might have to do this.

I purchased an electric brake controller and installation wiring at the U-Haul place which also does hitch installation. I got a medium priced model, and all told the controller and accessories were about $120. Well worth it, I believe, for towing something with the weight of a 911 on it.

It is amazing what you can find on the web. Go to this site: http://www.etrailer.com/faq/brakecontrol.asp
and follow the link towards the bottom of the page for GM/Chevy pick-up installation. I installed my own brake controller and 7-pin circular connector on my F150 with no issues.

Also, tongue weight is incredibly important, especially when towing a rear-engined car. Know your tongue weight, and assure that it is in the 10-15% range of the loaded trailer weight. Here is how you can measure it using a bathroom scale: http://www.drawtite-hitches.com/towing_info/towfacts_step1.htm

Good luck,
Tom

[Edit]: I'm going to use these tow/tie down hooks to secure my car to the trailer: http://www.rennline.com/exterior/911_tow_hooks_street.htm
I'm going to hook the metal hook-end of the tie-down straps directly into these in order to not chafe the straps. If anyone has an opinion (good or bad) on this, I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,
T

[Edit2]: Edited link #2 to link directly to the Draw-Tite site. Good info here.

T

I completely agree with the previous contributors. I have an 18' flat bed without a dove tail and had to buy 7' ramps. Be sure that you adjust/compensate for the car's low profile - both loading on and taking off the trailer. Take necessary ramp extensions with you (or whatever you used to get the car on the trailer) or make sure you have the same thing at your destination. I know you already know this, but just in case: Leave trailer connected to truck while loading and unloading.

[arrivederci]

Trailer brakes are highly recommended...in fact most states require them on trailers over a certain weight. You should check the local laws before towing without trailer brakes. So you will probably need a brake controller for your setup. I have surge brakes on my trailer which are much simpler and IMO, more effective for my purposes. But that's another topic all together.

I can't really answer about the rails on your trailer. Some are high enough to get in the way and make it difficult to get into and out of your car. I bought a trailex aluminum trialer. It is lightweight (less than 1000 lbs) and configured for my 911. My doors even clear the wheel wells. The downside is that its expensive.

I clip a shorter 2" loop to each of my 3" tie down straps. Each loop is long enough to fit through a fuch, and it has some additional webbing to prevent the material from chafing. I criss-cross the rear straps (left tie down to right wheel, right tie down to left wheel), but hook the fronts up directly.

Finally, I've been told to leave the parking brake off and the car in neutral. Let the straps do the work...don't abuse the tranny and/or parking brake.

[vash]

lots of good stuff! thanks. (keep it coming, i am taking notes)

[Grady Clay]

unfixed,
You have PM.

Absolutely hook up the trailer brakes!

If you have a panic stop, the trailer brakes will help with the braking and help prevent the trailer from trying to jackknife and pass the tow vehicle. The 911 and trailer weigh close to same as the ¾ ton pickup.

There is no such thing as “too much” when tieing the 911 down to the trailer.

Yes, tow in neutral and the parking brake off.

Padlock the trailer to the tow vehicle. Too often someone just unhitches your trailer and POOF, no trailer or 911.

At every stop, go around and feel the temperature of the tires and hubs. If an electric brake drags it can start a fire (Racers Group can tell you.)

There is much more in what I will e-mail you (I think it’s too long to post here – 20+ pages.) If anyone else wants this draft article - e-mail me.

Best,
Grady
gradyclay@hotmail.com

[chrisp]

sounds like Grady has some info coming you're way. I can add the following.

Doors: My doors just grazed my fenders. I put pads of 3/4" plywood under where the front tires go. It raised the car enough to clear. So now I drive up on them and am all set.

Brakes: I wouldn't drive without them. Recently mine were spotty so I got to feel with and without. Scary without. Perhaps if it's a 2000lb car on a Trailex it's a differnet story. My car is 2575lbs and I have a 1600lb trailer.

Ramps: I have a dovetail with 4' ramps. I use some wood but the best thing I do is with trailer connected to truck (of course) I use the tongue jack to jack up the trailer tongue about 6" or so. It reduces the entry angle onto the trailer. Works like a charm.

Straps: My strap hooks will go through my 16" fuchs but it takes some playing with. I twist the hook as it's going through it it's fits. Much better with my 17's. I won't tow with my Fuchs on since it's such a hassle.

Straps: I believe in securing the tires to the trailer and let the car stay suspended over the wheels. Strapping to the chassis adds so much shock load through those mounting points. I use four straps and go forward from the fronts and back from the rears. I do not criss cross. Straps have been known to pull cars out of alignment if they are overtightened. For this reason I think crossing straps that are secured to wheels is a bad idea. WHen you strap to the chassis and the car suspension compresses and then rebound the straps stop it and peak load those mounting points.

I use the parking brake since I want that as a saftey factor and it reduces the load on the straps and the inherent alignment risk mentioned above.

I am no expert on the subject and have been towing for only two years but the above seems to work for me.

[raceman]

you`ve got the good advice here amigo,l`ve towed race cars thousands of miles during the last ten years,over terrible roads and from as fas away as Guatemala.The journey you`re talking about on smooth US hiways...a cakewalk.All the safety precautions are for the "what ifs" and you really can`t have too much insurance.

[vash]

thanks guys, ALOT. i didnt even think about most of this stuff. i will install the prodigy brake switch for my bro. i think his truck is prewired for the thing anyways. i think i will use my engineering to calculate front in, or back in, how far etc. LOVE the putting the car on wood so the doors clear the rails. thanks. cant wait to read the long PM.

cliff

[chrisp]

With a wood deck, screw the wood pads down so that they're semi permanent and not inclined to slide around. If you have a steel deck then hopefully it'll grab the ply pretty well.

[thabaer]

My Prodigy always seems to do exactly what is necessary. GMs usually come w/ a wiring harness in the glovebox, the Tekonsha stuff also comes with wiring instructions for the big 3 'murican truckmakers.

Everybody else already mentioned everything else I would have said

[ZCAT3]

Yep - the Prodigy is a great controller. On figuring out where to put the car on the trailer for balance, I have been told that a good trailer will be set up so that it has the proper tongue weight balance when empty. The midpoint of the weight of the trailer should be the midpoint between the axles for dual axle trailers or the axle itself for single axle trailers. The 911 is set so the the jack receiver in the rocker panel is at the midpoint of its weight. So in general you want to line the 911's side jack receiver up with the mid point of the trailer.

[A Quiet Boom]

As for trailer brakes, normally I'd highly recommend them but if it's a one time trip you should be fine. I haven't installed the controller in my new truck yet and I drove 800 miles last weekend delivering my Targa roller and all the related parts. My trailer weighs close to 2000lbs with a full steel deck and the car and parts were probably close to 1500. That's about 3500lbs behind a 4x4 Ranger and stopping in the Memorial day weekend traffic was not a problem even though I hit heavy traffic around Indy. I had one near panic stop without trouble as well. However if your brother isn't used to pulling a trailer or you just want to be totally safe install the controller, it definately can't hurt. FWIW when I used to tow my 3200 drag car every weekend on the same trailer (dual axles both with brakes) I always had the trailer brakes set on the lowend to keep from locking up. Ideally you push the brake pedal and the trailer starts to slow before the truck does for a nice even stop. Don't take what the others said about tonque weight lightly, I nearly killed myself one time with a badly loaded trailer. I was helping a friend get his wifes car off the interstate and had to winch here car on backwards, all I had to do was get to the next exit about a mile away but I had to use the brakes to slowdown and the heavy rear of the trailer violently tossed the rear of the truck around, I still don't know how I managed to get it back under control but I drove the last half mile on the burm at 25mph. You want the trailer to be slightly nose down when pulling.

[TMH]

Hey Guys,

Any more pearls of wisdom for these questions? I am looking to begin trailering my car very soon, and I want to be safe and ready.

Thanks,
Tom

[chrisp]

Look at the recent Carrera GT posts and you'll see the car tied down for airplane travel. Take some notes from that.