Trailer Towing Q's

I just got a new 18 foot car hauler, so I don't have to rent one anymore
for my race car, and was wondering a couple of things:

"Levelness" of the trailer - how important is this? My truck isn't
jacked up, but I sure had to lift the front end pretty high on the
trailer to get it mounted. Of course, this was with the truck unloaded
and the trailer unloaded, so I'm expecting a bit of sag with car and
cargo loaded. Other than asthetics, if the tongue weight is around
10-15%, does it really matter if the trailer is pointed nose up or down?
(My hitch is adjustable for height...)

Strapping the car down - with my rented trailer, we used straps around
the front tires and a chain over the rear axle. Aren't most cars
strapped down around the chassis when delivered? Does this make any
difference when hauling if the body/frame is strapped down or allowed to
"float" because only the tires are strapped down?

The truck is a 90 Chev K1500 350/5spd regular cab/longbox, the trailer
is an 18" flatdeck with a dovetail, and the race car is a 76 Camaro dirt
stocker in case it matters...

Ray

ray wrote:
>
> I just got a new 18 foot car hauler, so I don't have to rent one anymore
> for my race car, and was wondering a couple of things:
>
> "Levelness" of the trailer - how important is this? My truck isn't
> jacked up, but I sure had to lift the front end pretty high on the
> trailer to get it mounted. Of course, this was with the truck unloaded
> and the trailer unloaded, so I'm expecting a bit of sag with car and
> cargo loaded. Other than asthetics, if the tongue weight is around
> 10-15%, does it really matter if the trailer is pointed nose up or down?
> (My hitch is adjustable for height...)

It is best to always have the trailer level. How much it matters depends
on whether it's a single axle or multi axle and what type of suspension
it has.

With a single axle with leaf spring suspension it won't make a lot of
difference. With a multi axle if it's not level the axles will not be
sharing the load equally. How unequally will determine if the effect
will be uneven tire wear, or axle or tire failure due to overload.
Torsion type axles / suspension are more sensitive to out of level
conditions.

I'd also imagine that a seriously out of level trailer would attract the
attention of the police on a slow day. Best to get the appropriate drop
hitch to keep the trailer pretty level.

>
> Strapping the car down - with my rented trailer, we used straps around
> the front tires and a chain over the rear axle. Aren't most cars
> strapped down around the chassis when delivered? Does this make any
> difference when hauling if the body/frame is strapped down or allowed to
> "float" because only the tires are strapped down?

I'd say it's best to strap to the tires / axles. Strapping to the body /
frame would allow the straps to go slack on the bumps as the car loaded
down on it's suspension, with the potential for a strap coming loose at
that point.

>
> The truck is a 90 Chev K1500 350/5spd regular cab/longbox, the trailer
> is an 18" flatdeck with a dovetail, and the race car is a 76 Camaro dirt
> stocker in case it matters...

The trailer has brakes and the truck has a proper brake controller I
hope? Certainly the trailer will be over the legal limit for brakeless
operation anywhere in the US and a 1/2T truck doesn't really have the
excess braking capacity to compensate either. Also with that old a
truck, I'd check shocks and suspension (i.e. leaf springs) as I expect
they may be a bit to geriatric to handle the towing load well.

"Pete C." > wrote in message

>> Strapping the car down - with my rented trailer, we used straps around
>> the front tires and a chain over the rear axle. Aren't most cars
>> strapped down around the chassis when delivered? Does this make any
>> difference when hauling if the body/frame is strapped down or allowed to
>> "float" because only the tires are strapped down?
>
> I'd say it's best to strap to the tires / axles. Strapping to the body /
> frame would allow the straps to go slack on the bumps as the car loaded
> down on it's suspension, with the potential for a strap coming loose at
> that point.

There was an issue that the NACE often referred to in this context, and that
is, IIRC,
"fretting" corrosion. Cars were shipped from the factory, and because of
the way
they were snugged down to the transporter, the wheel bearings were more
prone
to fail because of the fretting.

By changing the method of snugging the cars down, this was essentially
eliminated.

I believe, but cannot remember for sure, that they started snugging the
bodies down
rather than snugging only the wheels. This kept the movement against the
bearings
to a minimum.

Maybe this will ring a bell for somebody else.

Pete C. wrote:

> It is best to always have the trailer level. How much it matters depends
> on whether it's a single axle or multi axle and what type of suspension
> it has.

>
> With a single axle with leaf spring suspension it won't make a lot of
> difference. With a multi axle if it's not level the axles will not be
> sharing the load equally. How unequally will determine if the effect
> will be uneven tire wear, or axle or tire failure due to overload.
> Torsion type axles / suspension are more sensitive to out of level
> conditions.


Thanks. It's a dual 3500# axle with electric brakes. I'll go for level
to make sure both axles are loaded fairly equally.

>>Strapping the car down - with my rented trailer, we used straps around
>>the front tires and a chain over the rear axle. Aren't most cars
>>strapped down around the chassis when delivered? Does this make any
>>difference when hauling if the body/frame is strapped down or allowed to
>>"float" because only the tires are strapped down?
>
>
> I'd say it's best to strap to the tires / axles. Strapping to the body /
> frame would allow the straps to go slack on the bumps as the car loaded
> down on it's suspension, with the potential for a strap coming loose at
> that point.

Ok, but new cars come strapped down at the frame - that's why I'm
wondering. FWIW, I'll probably end up doing whatever works best - 2
straps in front, 2 in the rear.

> The trailer has brakes and the truck has a proper brake controller I
> hope? Certainly the trailer will be over the legal limit for brakeless
> operation anywhere in the US and a 1/2T truck doesn't really have the
> excess braking capacity to compensate either. Also with that old a
> truck, I'd check shocks and suspension (i.e. leaf springs) as I expect
> they may be a bit to geriatric to handle the towing load well.

Yup, the trailer has brakes and the truck has a brake controller which
needs to be re-wired at the back. Father in-law's old farm truck, so it
only had a 4pin trailer connector and an additional connector for the
brakes - I'm going to redo it all nice. It may only be an old pickup,
but it's about as close to a 3/4 ton as you could get in a 90 Chev, it's
got the factory HD stuff on it, but I have already concluded I'm going
to need new shocks in the back. Of course, it would help if the roads
around here weren't so bad. At least it's flat, so I don't have to
worry about towing in the mountains. My buddy's 02 Silverado is
definitely a heavier duty truck - that's one thing I've noticed about
trucks in the last 10 years or so... the base model "1/2 tons" are about
what a 3/4 ton were, and something like a new F350 is about 2x the
capacity of a 15 year old F350.

Thanks for the advice, I'm definitely a big believer in "safety first"
when towing, especially after seeing a Chevette jacknifed in the ditch
trying to tow a 10 foot utility trailer....

Ray

In article <avepi.1401$fJ5.669@pd7urf1no>,
ray > wrote:
>I just got a new 18 foot car hauler, so I don't have to rent one anymore
>for my race car, and was wondering a couple of things:
>
>"Levelness" of the trailer - how important is this? My truck isn't
>jacked up, but I sure had to lift the front end pretty high on the
>trailer to get it mounted. Of course, this was with the truck unloaded
>and the trailer unloaded, so I'm expecting a bit of sag with car and
>cargo loaded. Other than asthetics, if the tongue weight is around
>10-15%, does it really matter if the trailer is pointed nose up or down?
>(My hitch is adjustable for height...)

apart from what others have mentioned loading the car by yourself
will always be iffy with that much of an angle. Can you count
your manual trans (or automatic parking spall) to hold the racecar
on the trailer? Get the correct drop hitch, a good investment.
>
>Strapping the car down - with my rented trailer, we used straps around
>the front tires and a chain over the rear axle. Aren't most cars
>strapped down around the chassis when delivered? Does this make any
>difference when hauling if the body/frame is strapped down or allowed to
>"float" because only the tires are strapped down?

I doubt your racecar has much suspenison travel, but it's "float"
will make your trailer's work easier. If your racecar is "tub"ed or
an all out tube frame construction, strapping it by the frame (vs. the
tires/axle) won't matter much. But if you have a stock (that vintage
was a wierd mix of full frame/subrfame chassis?) chassis it is a bad
idea to strap it down and put stresses where they weren't designed to
be placed. My racecars always got tied down via either the wheels,
or the axles/control arms (IRS datsun 510 semi-trailing arms), where
such loads were intended to be placed...
>
>The truck is a 90 Chev K1500 350/5spd regular cab/longbox, the trailer
>is an 18" flatdeck with a dovetail, and the race car is a 76 Camaro dirt
>stocker in case it matters...

Electric brakes for the trailer are nice. If not, I'd definately upgrade
the tow vehicle's front brakes w/Porterfield, Hawk, Performance
Friction or the like pads, and give yourself HUGE distances
in front of you in the rain...

--Ken

--
Ken R. Dye an optimist is a guy |
Chicago, Illinois that has never had |
www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Track/8746 much experience |
dye1146 at sbcglobal dot net archy |