scannon Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 (edited) I haven't installed new tiedowns in the front of the trailer. I've been using the left and center MC tiedowns but they are too close to the front of the car. I bought a length of E-track and cut it into four sections. I was planning on mounting it in the V-nose roughly where you see the end of the cable on the right side in the picture. It would be pointed towards the opposite side of the trailer. The plan was to put one piece of E-track on top and the other from the under side of the trailer to add strength as I think the floor up there is thinner than in the rest of the trailer. It would have caught the edge of a steel piece underneath. I tried to attach the pictures but it won't let as they are already posted. See page1, post 3 for the pictures. I am rethinking the E-track and am now leaning towards the standard tiedowns up front in a similar position so it will be clear of the area for extra tires. I will make a doubler for the underside for this as well. You can see the rear tiedowns I put in. If I were to do it again I would move them to the rear a bit more if there was some metal under there to drill through for strength. I don't have a spare yet but plan to get one. They are fairly narrow tires and it will be at the bottom of the stack when I get around to making a hold down in the V-nose. I don't know if the trailer will be towable with one tire removed. I had a conversation with Nathan Down yesterday about tiedown points. He is the fellow who was responsible for the design of the Caterham SV. On the front he recommends the forward part of the lower A arm, just outboard of the tube that runs between the front and rear inner joints. Run the straps crosswise to keep the car centered in the trailer. On the rear he recommends the area where the plates are for mounting the rear exit exhausts if you want two straps or around the deDion tube if you want to run just one strap. You would only need one tiedown in the center of the trailer for that. Nathan also recommended leaving the car in neutral with the parking brake on. He said that if the transmission is in a forward gear and the car moves backward, the Zetec engines can jump a cog on the timing belts as it releases the tensioners for a moment. Not a problem with my Miata engine as they are locked down after the spring sets the appropriate tension. I use short axle straps on all four places. I can get the car in or out of the trailer in about 5 minutes including tied down and ready to roll. Edited August 23, 2009 by scannon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowflyer Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 (edited) The advice I got about leaving it in gear is - don't. The car will move slightly when you go over bumps and the motion will cause pressure on the gear teeth faces. It's also tough on the bearings in the gearbox. If you tie down each corner, where is the car going to go? But that brings up another area for discussion. When you tie the car down by the suspension, you are creating pressure on the bottoms of the wheel bearings, especially as the trailer bounces up and down. Since, you already taken up most of the suspension travel, but pulling the car down snug, all of the weight is transmitted into the spindles, bearings and such. In the front of my trailer, I use tie downs going through the wheels, which leaves the suspension free to move. In the rear, I'm forced to tie down the rear axle, but I try to make the pull at a 45 degree angle, so there is still a small amount of up and down suspension travel. Just a thought. Edited August 23, 2009 by lowflyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 I agree, I don't crank the straps down super tight, just enough to snug the car into place. I want to have the suspension working, not overloaded by the straps. Nathan said he preferred not to tie down through the wheels but I cannot remember his reasoning for that. I have been giving some thought to permanent wheel chocks for the front wheels, partly to make sure I place the car the same each time and partly to prevent forward movement of the car once it is tied down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim F. Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 To add to the discussion, I used to tie down my Titan FF with ratchet straps around each slick at the 4 corners and never had a problem, nor did anyone ever explain why I shouldn't tie down by that method or suggest another way. When I tow the Cat I continue to tie down the same way. I have folding "D" rings flush mounted directly in front and behind each tire with the strap cinched over the tire and between the two rings. Even with cycle fenders on the front I don't have a problem placing the straps around the tires. Anybody care to comment on why I shouldn't tie down this way? I'd sure like some opinions, as I'd sure not like to do any damage to the suspension or any where else I haven't considered. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pksurveyor Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share Posted August 23, 2009 Thank you for your inputs. I am looking forward to have the trailer ready for fall. Now I have to go practice backing up a trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian7 Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 see photo: these are the best way to strap a car down, no unusual suspension stresses, no impact loading on any parts, car effectively feels the same loading it would driving on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanG Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 I like the idea of using tire strap. I have a set of chalks bolted onto the trailer floor that helps me position the car. I still tie to the suspension but don't put too much tension into it. I use airline track and it is great stuff. I place plywood over the trailer floor which makes the airline track flush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomove Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 (edited) I have been giving some thought to permanent wheel chocks for the front wheels, partly to make sure I place the car the same each time and partly to prevent forward movement of the car once it is tied down. That is what I did and it appears to work well. I just tighten the front strap until the wheels hit the chocks (they hold forward and to the side and are bolted to the floor). For the rear strap I go around the rear roll-bar stays; that is much easier to access than the axle. I wondered to have the strap crossed but after many miles of towing I found the car is not moving at all, probably because the suspension springs are a little under tension all the time. I understand the comments that the bearings will be loaded in one spot but I can not see that the load is that much higher than when driving, not even talking about driving potholes or track days. Did somebody ever hear about ruined bearings from trailering? Gert Edited August 23, 2009 by slomove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drew... Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Drew weighing in... I added a D-ring in the front-right corner of a 12' low hauler symmetrical to the factory installed one on the left for the forward motorcycle. (The low hauler is designed to offset the two bikes with the one on the right set back about a foot). I wrap a strap through the rim on each front wheel and hook both ends up to the same D-ring. I then snug them up with the car where I want it placed, about 4" between the nose and the front of the trailer. These straps have special pads wrapped around the to protect the finish on the rims. For the rear of the car I fabricated slots (1/2" X 1") in the ends of the trailer frame rails. On the low hauler there are 4"x4" rails running down each side of the trailer, these are capped off where they end just in front of the rear door. On the drivers side of my se7en I hook to the ring welded on the frame from the factory and the other end goes into the slot at the rear of the trailer frame. On the passenger side I loop an axle strap over a diagonal frame member in front of the fuel tank and again, the other end to the rear of the trailer frame. I am tying down the suspension on the rear but there is so little vertical component to the angle of the straps that the car does not hardly squat at all. Some have mentioned wrapping around the de-dion tube but I am leery of strapping over my rear brake line. With the spare tire in place I have 5-6" clearance front and back of the se7en. I can then load a tool box just inside the side door behind the passenger side front wheel (cycle fenders) and strap that down. Its tight but I have trailered the car from Minneapolis to: Lime Rock, Banff National Park, Barber/Birmingham, with no issues. Hope this makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pksurveyor Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share Posted August 23, 2009 I am going to have the dealer add D-rings at the back similar to the pictures from Skip and Slomove instead of e-track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowflyer Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 re: tie downs. On my Haulmark, the factory motorcycle tie downs are located in a metal piece that's part of the frame. If you choose to locate yours somewhere else you will need to create your own reinforcement panels. The normal recessed D-rings are often available with a 1/8" steel plate which sandwichs the floor. Ken Edney Chandler, AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pksurveyor Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 http://www.raceramps.com This is advertised in the September issue of the SCCA magazine SportsCar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I am going to have the dealer add D-rings at the back similar to the pictures from Skip and Slomove instead of e-track. Are you going to have them added in the V-nose as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pksurveyor Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 I am planning to add 2 D-rings at the V-nose and 2 D-rings at the back per your picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pksurveyor Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Thank you for everyo one's assistance, I have purchased an orange Haulmark V-nose 7x14 Low Hauler. The dealer is adding 4 D-rings and a spare tire. The Caterham is ready to hit the road. No place is too far now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomove Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 ...... No place is too far now. Cool, how about Arizona next April :seeya: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pksurveyor Posted August 28, 2009 Author Share Posted August 28, 2009 Arizona should be a "can do". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pksurveyor Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 We picked up the trailer today. Thank you for every one's help. It is easy to tow and the mileage on the Landcruiser drops from 15.8 mpg to 12.5 mpg on an empty trailer. Next thing to do is to load the Seven in the trailer to see how it fits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Looks great! But why isn't the nice florescent green color to match your car?:seeya: Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pksurveyor Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 We added a flourescent green reflective strip on the sides and back of the trailer this evening. It really glows at night like a school bus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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