Semi Annual Towing Advice

#1

Due to the fact that we have several new racers in Spec E30, periodically I’ll post some towing tips. If you know them already, feel free to move on.

  1. You want good trailer brakes and a good brake controller in your tow vehicle. If you’ve never installed a brake controller, let a pro do it. It’s worth the time and trouble saved. And trailer brakes are needed even if you’re using a full size tow vehicle.

  2. You want (roughly) 10% of the weight of the trailer and everything on it, on the tongue. That is, if the trailer and it’s gear weight 4000 pounds, you want 400 pounds on the hitch. This will ensure steady and safe towing. With too little tongue weight, the trailer will start to sway at about 45 mph and you might end up in the ditch. To determine the tongue weight, use the "Bergstrom Method." If you need 400 pounds on the tongue, get two-200 pound friends to stand on the rear of the vehicle. Measure the drop in the rear, from the ground. Then, hook-up the trailer and drive your beautiful new Spec E30 car onto the trailer. Keep moving the car forward until the tow vehicle drops to the measured height.

  3. If you’ve bought a used trailer (most-all of us), take a spare tire, especially if the trailer has car tires. Mine had four car tires and every one came apart; one just outside of Savannah at 6:30pm on Sunday, and the spare was sitting in my garage at home. My trailer now has four Carlisle (sp?) trailer tires, and I still take the spare. Also, make sure you have a lug wrench that will fit the trailer lugnuts.

  4. If you have any questions about towing, ask a friend with experience or even the local UHaul guys.

Carter

#2

  1. Make sure your emergency breakaway switch on the trailer works. You can usually test it by jacking up the trailer tongue until the front set of tires is off the ground. Then pull the breakaway switch and see if you have resistance in the wheels.

  2. Trailer balance. You want to make sure your hitch height is set so that the trailer is level or slightly pointing down in front. This will yield a more stable tow.

  3. Tire pressure. Make sure your tire pressures are set correctly. Correct trailer tire pressures can be anywhere from 50-80psi. Also, the rear tires on the truck are typically inflated for a light payload. Mine typically runs around 50psi. When I tow, I bump it up to 75-80psi according to my owner’s manual.

  4. Safety chains. Make sure your breakaway safety chains are in good shape. Remember to cross them over to form an X so that the trailer tongue has a cradle to fall into should it break away.

  5. Lights. Make sure your trailer lights are in working order. Typically, ground wires on a trailer will tend to rust and break.

  6. Truck bed loading. Load your gear as far forward in the truck bed as possible.

  7. Carry emergency flares or cones. If you need to change a flat on the highway, you’ll need a bunch of them.

That’s all for now. I got done checking out the trailer this evening for a tow I have on Thursday.

#3

Also, if you do have a brake controller, you can apply just the trailer brakes if you need to to settle the trailer down in an uncomfortable situation.

#4

Corollary to #1:

installing a brake controller on many late model vehicles equipped with a "towing package" or similar is a snap (you can still pay someone to hook it up, but for many vehicles, it’s SOOO easy).

I recently installed a new brake controller on my '96 F350 (I know, not exactly late model, but…). The PO had the controller installed by an allegedly reputable shop- but the wiring was giving me trouble. I took one look at it, and knew they had done a hack job- wires run through rough holes in the firewall and floor, etc. I did a little research and found out that this truck had the towing package, which included pre-wiring for a controller, and a factory 7 prong trailer connector!! Well, the wiring had been butchered a little, and they made it 1000x harder than it had to be. I purchased a $5 connector at the local auto parts store and only had to splice 4 or 5 wires from this connector to the new brake controller, then plug the connector into the corresponding plug right there under the dash!!!

Like magic, I had full trailer lights + brakes, each circuit is covered by a separate fuse in the auxillary fuse block under the hood.

So, don’t make it harder than necessary… :slight_smile:

Bret.

#5

More advice:

[ul][li]Don’t cross your tie down straps – if one strap lets go, the lateral forces from the other strap will pull the car off of the trailer.[/li][li]If you’re using axle straps, use latching hooks; no matter how much tension you put on the hooks, it’s possible for the load to shift momentarily, allowing the hook to back out. (Ask me how I know just how sickening a feeling it is to stop at a stop sign, look back and see the car a few feet further back than it was a moment ago.)[/li][/ul]

#6

sharkd wrote:

[quote]More advice:

[ul][li]Don’t cross your tie down straps – if one strap lets go, the lateral forces from the other strap will pull the car off of the trailer.[/li][li]If you’re using axle straps, use latching hooks; no matter how much tension you put on the hooks, it’s possible for the load to shift momentarily, allowing the hook to back out. (Ask me how I know just how sickening a feeling it is to stop at a stop sign, look back and see the car a few feet further back than it was a moment ago.)[/li][/ul][/quote]

I seriously doubt you can crank that much tension into a strap that it will pull the car sideways.

#7

Dumb question, since I’ve never even looked at a brake controller other than to see it hanging under the dash: why are they so hard to install? Aren’t they just electrical? I think I’d rather attempt it myself than have some mouth-breather at U-Haul do it for me.

#8

ddavidv wrote:

That was pretty funny! I bought a Tekonsha controller with the PNP wiring harness for my model truck. It literally took about 30 minutes to install it. If I didn’t have the wiring harness or trailer plug already, I could see that it might be a pain to install.

http://www.tekonsha.com/prodig.html

#9

screwynewy wrote:

[quote]ddavidv wrote:

That was pretty funny! I bought a Tekonsha controller with the PNP wiring harness for my model truck. It literally took about 30 minutes to install it. If I didn’t have the wiring harness or trailer plug already, I could see that it might be a pain to install.

http://www.tekonsha.com/prodig.html[/quote]

I agree. I was able to buy a harness along with my tekonsha controller so installation was very easy: Remove electrical panel cover, plug in one side of harness, replace cover. Notice GM has holes in the under side of the dash to hang a controller, find correct sized bolts, plug in harness to controller, bolt to underside of dash - install 40A fuse under hood.

#10

I just finished doing this a couple of weeks ago on my '98 GMC Sierra.
I easily had 6 hours in the job. Luckily, my truck already had 2 wires pre-ran
from the engine bay to the hitch bar in the back. The only challenging part was
finding the wire under the dash that goes hot when
the brake pedal is pressed. There was nothing particularly hard about this
job, just a lot of work under the hood, under the dash, and finally under
the back of the truck. I ended up spending more in connectors, wire,
self re-setting breakers, and fuses that I did on my brake controller.
I got the Hayes-Lemmerz Syncronizer controller from R & P Carriages for
around $40 and it seems to work great. Here are the installation instructions
for that controller:

http://www.hayesbc.com/PDFs/SYNCRONIZER%20Installation%20and%20Operation%20Manual.pdf

Most newer truck don’t require this type of wiring. Simply buy the harness
required for your truck, plug it in and splice the 4 wires from the controller
to the harness and your ready to go.

Steven

#11

There are tons of wiring kits available for many brands of brake controllers out there for the big 3 American brand trucks. I would recommend the Tekonsha Prodigy. It is very easy to install and dial in. All you do is tow the trailer along at 25mph and manually activate the trailer brakes from the controller. You keep turning up the power knob on the controller and keep applying the trailer brakes until it locks up. Then just dial it down a hair and you are set.

#12

It’s not the strap tension. It’s the fact that if you lose one of the crossed rear straps, the remaining strap will only provide tension in one direction laterally.
If you hit a small bump while turning, the rear of the race car can shift sideways if its a metal-floored trailer.
By running the rear straps straight back, losing one still provides you with [reduced] lateral tension in either direction.
Rob

#13

traqrat wrote:

I hope you’re right - I just ordered this. I figured it’s about time to start towing with brakes!

#14

I doubt they make a pre-made harness for this:
http://www.mongrelmotorsports.homestead.com/files/f100a.jpg
:lol:
And yes, that is my tow vehicle. Converted to disc brakes, so no worries!

#15

I didn’t even check for a pre-wired kit for my '89 Chevy 2500 van. I dropped it at the local UHaul, paid them something like $40.00 for the installation, and it works great. Best $40.00 I ever spent. But if you’d rather spend the time doing it yourself (as I have in the past), diy.

And thanks to everyone for the good advice. I hope some of the new guys picked up some tips.

Oh yeah…make sure you check the straps at every fillup and I even check them after about ten minutes of towing, just to make sure they are all still tight. I have found some that got a little loose, especially when they were new.

Carter

#16

Thanks to everyone whom has contributed to this thread. I Just started towing and this thread has some great advice. Ive never towed anything before so Its an adventure all its own. Im sure this will save me lots of headaches in the future.

Brian

#17

Brian,

I just wanted to remind all of you that towing is for wusses. As JP would say, "Don’t be a Nancy." Drive to the track with the knowledge that you must fix all mechanical and race damage before heading home! :stuck_out_tongue:

Sasha

#18

Ex36 wrote:

[quote]Brian,

I just wanted to remind all of you that towing is for wusses. As JP would say, "Don’t be a Nancy." Drive to the track with the knowledge that you must fix all mechanical and race damage before heading home! :stuck_out_tongue:

Sasha[/quote]

Normally I wouldnt tolerate such an attack…but I know you suffer from Bronzitis and therfore I can see its just your blatant cry for help. Maybe we can start a fund to paint Sasha’s car because It hurts my feelings just thinking about it… :silly:

#19

Some may argue that a tow vehicle allows you to not have to drive like a wuss for fear of breaking something.

#20

traqrat wrote:

[quote]Some may argue that a tow vehicle allows you to not have to drive like a wuss for fear of breaking something.[/quote]Well Al Taylor has a place close to VIR and I live Close to summit…we always have a place for you to put a car…so DRIVE it