I am trailering my track car for the first time this afternoon (in preparation for tomorrow's drive to Roebling) and I keep getting conflicting answers to a simple question:

Do I apply the emergency brake and/or keep the car in gear when it is on the trailer...or do I not?

Thank you!

:wave

You have tie down straps right?

Out of gear, hand brake on.

Matt

You have tie down straps right?

Out of gear, hand brake on.

Matt

Yup. Tie down straps. Why do you say out of gear?

It's redundant when you have your hand brake on.

Not in gear because you don't want all the jostling to be stressing the tranny. I always use the hand brake though.

Jay

Not in gear because you don't want all the jostling to be stressing the tranny. I always use the hand brake though.

Jay

Great, thanks. That's what I'll do.

+1, 2, or 3

Hand brake yes, not in gear stresses the axles, tranny and diff.

Just did an initial 20 mile pull. I can barely tell I am towing 4500 pounds! I love this truck!

What if you don't have the hand brake anymore?

You have tie down straps right?

Out of gear, hand brake on.

Matt

What he said.

What if you don't have the hand brake anymore?
then you'll want to add a pair of chains to the chassis of the car to secure it from rolling front to back.

then you'll want to add a pair of chains to the chassis of the car to secure it from rolling front to back.

Isn't that the point of the tie down straps...

What he said.

I have a lot of practice towing your old trailer with various racecar wannabe chassis' on it. :D

If you don't have a handbrake, I would use atleast two straps each front and rear.

then you'll want to add a pair of chains to the chassis of the car to secure it from rolling front to back.
If you don't have a handbrake, I would use atleast two straps each front and rear.
I use three straps front and rear, total of six, and first gear. I guess first gear is not a good idea. Is there a good, sturdy wheel chock that I could use?

Isn't that the point of the tie down straps...
when I think of straps, I think of them being used on the wheels...which is how I usually tie down the cars.

when I think of straps, I think of them being used on the wheels...which is how I usually tie down the cars.

Racers prefer to tie down the chassis in an attempt to limit the wear on our expensive race shocks. We run two straps to the front subframe and two straps to the rear subframe.

Even in your situation, the chassis seems like it would produce a better tow so that your cars aren't bouncing around on the trailer.

I use three straps front and rear, total of six, and first gear. I guess first gear is not a good idea. Is there a good, sturdy wheel chock that I could use?

We use a combination of "trailering" chocks, which are big blocks of rubber as well as special trailer chocks that can be locked into holes you drill in the trailer floor.

+4, out of gear, e-brake on.

4 tie downs is sufficient. 6 is redundant.

Racers prefer to tie down the chassis in an attempt to limit the wear on our expensive race shocks. We run two straps to the front subframe and two straps to the rear subframe.

Even in your situation, the chassis seems like it would produce a better tow so that your cars aren't bouncing around on the trailer.
good point but what I tow are hardly considered race cars. :)

what do you do to avoid compression of the suspension when tying the car down via the chassis? or is that your goal in an effort to prevent it from bouncing around?

good point but what I tow are hardly considered race cars. :)

what do you do to avoid compression of the suspension when tying the car down via the chassis? or is that your goal in an effort to prevent it from bouncing around?

Use the tiedown points on the trailer that provide the shallowest angle relative to the car (farthest from the car) so they do more pulling out and less pulling down, but it's not a big deal to compress the suspension.

I am not sure if this was already mentioned, but I use the stock "T" hook locations to attach the straps to the car (where the stock jack points are located).