Towing Advice

[asianflava]

I have to take this car down to my parent's house about 550 miles away. It won't run so I had to get a come-a-long to pull it on. Once I got it on and strapped down, I noticed that most of the load is on the front trailer tires and that the truck squatted quite a bit. The trailer weighs 1750lbs and the car is 4000lbs.

Should I move the car back? or Is it OK the way it is? I was just thinking about moving it back on the deck, not onto the dovetail. About where the rear tire on the car is behind the rear tire on the trailer. I figure that the front of the trailer and the engine will give it the proper loading on the tongue. The only other times I've towed a car was using a U-haul trailer, the tire straps tighten down to the front of the trailer so you don't have a choice as to the position of the vehicle. I'm not leaving for a couple days, I figure that it's easy enough to adjust now instead of when I'm on the road.

[sdtripper2]

Rocky:

I wonder if putting the car on the trailer 180 out with the engine over the two
axles on your trailer would make the difference you seek? That should have
the tongue weight change for the better?

[bobhenry]

Looks like you have 3 feet behind the rear car wheels. Just back it up and keep an eye on the truck so you can keep some tongue weight. You do not want to tow with negative tongue weight you will be asking for way more excitement than you really want.

[Leon]

If you load it with the car close to centered over the trailer wheels, the extra weight of the engine will give you the tongue weight you need. With too much tongue weight, you risk making the front of the truck too light, which will hurt braking power. I'd move it back.

[arsnls64]

Since it doesn't run, I'd try moving it back some. If your still not satisfied, turn it around so the engine is to the back.

[Joe G]

I would move it back about a foot and try it there. Generally as a rule of thumb, you should have the back wheel of the car just barely behind the rear trailer wheel, like the rig I have posted below. I pulled this one from San Diego to Minneapolis (about 2000 miles) last spring. I repositioned the car on the trailer twice before I wad satisfied with the balance. It may take a little trial and error on your rig too. You'll be surprised how much difference moving the car just a few inches will make in the rig's handling.



This was my rig at a rest area on I-70 in Utah.

Joe G

[madjack]

Rocky, I would try moving it back, untill you get a good eyeball balance achieved...I tow a 4000# tractor around, regularly and load it so that the the tongue is just starting to push the rear of the vehicle down and call it good.....
madjack

[48Rob]

Yep,

What Jack said.

I load my old car and other vehicles the same way.
Watch as the weight starts to push the back of the tow vehicle down.
Let it drop just a little, couple inches or so, then strap it down.

If you don't have it right, you'll know in the first 5 miles of towing at highway speed.
If it isn't right, move it back 4-6 inches and try again.

Getting it right means the difference between comfortable relaxed (SAFE) towing at 65-70 mph, or white knuckled panic every time a car or truck passes you and causes the trailer to fishtail all over the road...

Rob

[Claw]

You definitly want the trailer balanced because the capacity of the trailer is rated based on the capacity of both axles. If it is loaded to far forward the front trailer axle will bear most of the weight and you may exceed the single axle rating, probably 3500#, potentially causing axle failure and or tire failure.

Too bad the car doesn't run. It looks like it would be a fun ride.

[asianflava]

Thanks for the tips, that was pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I was concerned because it just didn't look right to me. I think I'll pull it back to where the hub of the car is inline with the rearmost edge of the trailer fender, kinda like the way Joe has his.

I haven't done much hauling with tandem axle trailers, I wasn't sure how to load them. Just seems logical to me that most of the weight should be centered on the axles. It seems like the axles on this trailer should be moved up about a foot or so.

[Nitetimes]

It seems like the axles on this trailer should be moved up about a foot or so.

Naaah...the axles look about right, the car is just too far forward. You back it up a bit it will be fine..

[asianflava]

I moved it back about a foot, where the car hub is lined up with the rearmost part of the fender. It only dropped the rear of the truck about 3-6in. Got to my mom and dad's last night with no problems (towing problems that is). I had a constant crosswind almost the whole way. No swaying or anything that would cause concern. Managed to eeke out 14.1MPG the whole way down.

The problems I had; severe weather and fires. Looked like a hurricane had blown thru South Georgia. Lots of downed trees and power lines on the secondary roads. Saw convoys of linesman trucks getting off the interstate when I passed. When I got to my hometown, I-95 was closed due to fires. I knew where I was going since I grew up here. I saw others using their GPS only to find the interstate still closed off.

Thanks again to everyone for their help

[madjack]

...glad to hear that all towed well (we give such GOOD advice )...................................

[angib]

(we give such GOOD advice)

(and we're SO modest.....)

Andrew