Since you started the discussion, lets get this one going right. First and
foremost, I am not an expert, but the information I am presenting here was
presented to me by someone I believed to be an expert. One of the guys at
our SCCA club put on a trailing clinic, and this is what he told us. Since
he has pulled a lot of very expensive cars around to tracks all over the US
and claims to have had 0 incidents, I think his experience is worth
listening to.
I was taught to ALWAYS strap a car down by the frame. I was told to use
crossover strapping and tighten them until the suspension was about 50%
compressed.
The Crossover strapping method means that the amount that the straps
stretch or relax is minimized when the car moves up (in ANY direction). So
if the car hops to the side a bit the angle of the strap might change, but
the length won't (or at least it will change less).
Compressing the suspension forces the car and trailer to move as one and
insures that even if the car shifts a little bit, the straps will remain
tight. If your trailer has suspension and the car is allowed to bounce on
its suspension independently of the trailer, the tow can end up going at
different directions with a significant amount of force.
And finally, ALWAYS have a backup method of insuring your load does not
ever separate from the trailer. I was taught to have at least tow safety
chains connected to the frame of the car with clevis or quick link.
My own personal advice is do all of the above AND stop after 20 miles or
whenever the weather changes and check your straps. I only pull a trailer
a few times a year and have probably done less than 10000 miles hauling
cars, but I have also never had a problem using these methods. I am
curious to hear what other on the list have to say on this subject.
On Wed, Sep 9, 2015 at 9:54 AM, Mike Rambour <lists@dinospider.com> wrote:
> and when you get lucky and I mean really lucky, the car rolls off the
> trailer on the freeway offramp and comes to a stop with minimal damage...a
> few hundred yards earlier I would have been to 60, instead I was doing
> 10mph, like I said lucky. This was with the chassis strapped down tight,
> but I guess not tight enough since a downward bounce allowed the hooks to
> come loose and the straps came off.
>
>
> After that incident, I got the wheel basket straps, moved the D-rings to
> where they needed to be and never strapped down the chassis again. Let the
> chassis bounce all it wants, keep the wheels locked down and the car will
> stay. Maybe even better for the car since the cars suspension is still
> able to freely move.
>
> mike
>
>
> On 9/9/2015 4:48 AM, Dave wrote:
>
>> If you put restraints on the chassis but don't compress the suspension
>> sufficiently the restraints will go slack in a jounce situation and when
>> the suspension rebounds and you hit the limits of the restraints you put a
>> lot of kinetic stress on the restraints and the attachment points. When
>> you are hauling a car like a TR with a stiff, overdamped suspension there
>> is little secondary bouncing. If you are hauling a 70's vintage Cadillac,
>> on the other hand...
>>
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