check those tie down points

#1

this is what i found when i went to unload the car from the trailer this morning

#2

We noticed my tie down loops where bent Sunday. I may go back to axle straps.

#3

Run axle straps over your subframe and attach to them. It’s actually quite easy to access. Don’t strap the wheels or lower shock bolts because that will pull our rear toe out. I found out the hard way.

#4

Is there a reason people dont use the tie down holes built into the frame behind the rear wheels? We use them all the time with no issues…

Andrew Z
Drive-gear.com

#5

Just go on the inside of the full filler neck hose or it can be really tight to get the strap back out, which we also learned the hard way.

#6

I just leave my car in gear. :slight_smile: It hasn’t fallen off the trailer yet…

#7

[quote=“andrew240z” post=56748]Is there a reason people dont use the tie down holes built into the frame behind the rear wheels? We use them all the time with no issues…

Andrew Z
Drive-gear.com[/quote]
A lot of people have them tear out. One side is torn on my car.

#8

I’m not sure if you’re kidding, and I don’t have any hard evidence behind this, but I don’t tow with the car in gear. The theory being that the constant back and forth motions on the trailer puts a beating on the gears. Is that any worse than what we do in a normal track session? I have no idea…

#9

I’ve seen a lot of rusted or broken factory tie down points. I would agree that the subframe is a good spot if you have axle straps. As for leaving the car in gear, I’m not sure I would do that since the car does rock very slightly, probably not enough to damage a tranny if you strap it down tight enough, but you never know. I do leave the e-brake on during trailering, but I’ve also heard that is hard on those parts. And we all know from a different post that Richard (and Chuck) doesn’t believe in e-brakes for a racecar. More than one way to skin a cat I guess.

#10

Use the rear subframe/axle straps. It’s only about 10 seconds more difficult and worth the piece of mind.

I’m nowhere near the worrier that Steve D is, but the shock bolt thing has always been very bothering to me. I know a lot of guys say it’s fine, but I’ve never had a strong trust level in it. As much as I would love the convenience, I would be sick the whole way to the track wondering if I was going to break the mount or bend something.

#11

currently i use the factory holes in the front and the rear shock mounts to die down my car, havnt had a single problem since weve started doing that and we tighten our straps pretty tight…

#12

I’m not sure if you’re kidding, and I don’t have any hard evidence behind this, but I don’t tow with the car in gear. The theory being that the constant back and forth motions on the trailer puts a beating on the gears. Is that any worse than what we do in a normal track session? I have no idea…[/quote]

I was kidding… Good point about not leaving the car in gear after tied down!

#13

There was a thread about this at bf.c a couple yrs ago. After much arguing the consensus that emerged was car in neutral with ebrake on. Some smart tranny guys said that the nature of the rocking motion forces that being in gear would put on the tranny is not good for it.

Mechanical things are designed around planned forces and movements. When you get outside of that plan, bad things happen.

One guy had a story where some guy kept having to replace his transmission because they were wearing prematurely. This continued until he started putting it in neutral when towing.

Until I read that thread I’d been putting the car in gear on the trailer. But they convinced me so now I just use the ebrake.

#14

[quote=“Ranger” post=56780]There was a thread about this at bf.c a couple yrs ago. After much arguing the consensus that emerged was car in neutral with ebrake on. Some smart tranny guys said that the nature of the rocking motion forces that being in gear would put on the tranny is not good for it.

Mechanical things are designed around planned forces and movements. When you get outside of that plan, bad things happen.

One guy had a story where some guy kept having to replace his transmission because they were wearing prematurely. This continued until he started putting it in neutral when towing.

Until I read that thread I’d been putting the car in gear on the trailer. But they convinced me so now I just use the ebrake.[/quote]
I guess I’m a bit surprised that trailering with the transmission in neutral isn’t general knowledge. I’ve known that was a bad thing to do since even before the Internet and easy searches. Once the car is in position on the trailer you select neutral and set the parking brake (hard).

#15

i leave my car in neutral when i tow, although i don’t have an ebrake. if my other rear hook or strap had broken i’d get a trunk full of race car in the excursion when i hit the brakes. like i said before, keep the ebrake when preparing your car, whatever gain there is from removing it isn’t worth it imho.

#16

You have 4 straps and the odds are in your favor that both wont break at the same time. I knew a few people over the years that would only use one strap at the rear and I never liked that just for this reason.

#17

[quote=“thornton” post=56770]Use the rear subframe/axle straps. It’s only about 10 seconds more difficult and worth the piece of mind.

I’m nowhere near the worrier that Steve D is, but the shock bolt thing has always been very bothering to me. I know a lot of guys say it’s fine, but I’ve never had a strong trust level in it. As much as I would love the convenience, I would be sick the whole way to the track wondering if I was going to break the mount or bend something.[/quote]

I have been using adapters bolted to the shock bolts for over 10 years on three different cars and have never had any issues with bending, breaking or alignment. Just need to make sure they are made from strong thick steel and you have enough threads into the hole. Also make sure no one swapped the 10.9 hardware for some cheaper stuff over the years. My car has the weld in camber/toe kit which could be why my toe stays as adjusted using this tie down for the rear.

#18

You have 4 straps and the odds are in your favor that both wont break at the same time. I knew a few people over the years that would only use one strap at the rear and I never liked that just for this reason.[/quote]

not true, if one (front|rear) strap fails the remaining one will suddenly have 2x the force as before and be much more likely to break as well.

#19

The rear straps will see more load than the fronts because you stop much quicker than you accelerate. Running one strap in the rear is not a good idea.

#20

I have towed my car a few times now with the tow hooks on the rear shock loops. Worse, I do not have good tie down points in the front based on where my D rings are positioned in the trailer so I have been looping the tow straps from inside out of the front wheels. Each time the straps have been compeletly tight after a couple hour tow and I always check them when I am filling up for gas. The telltale sign will be when I check my alignment. I stupidly never thought about either of these throwing the alignment off. Maybe that will be my excuse for sucking so bad at Mid-O last month :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Towing my e36 with the bimmerworld tow hooks was soooo easy…