Car hauler and the Pantera ???

The tires!

Yes, I agree with George. Depending on what kind of rims you have, you could run CANVAS straps thru one of the spaces in your rim. As an added precaution I have wrapped the soft styrofoam packing material around the strap to prevent any chafing. Chains or metal tiedowns...never.

The photo is a good friend but not me. This is picking up 1280. 2x4's on both side of the tires with rubber bands on both sides keeping them in place. From Cleveland to Southern Indiana no problem!; except for the trailer tire that blew just out of cleveland!

Gary

Kinda need to do a crossing thing to keep the car from moving side to side in case someting bad happens,, right.... the tire's ? are u sure ? would'nt that put funny pulling angle on them, bending the rims, pulling them in an odd way ???? I remember Dave A. talking about rims getting bent by pulling on them. ??????? lets get to the bottom of this.... all options

I certaily would not gop through the rims. There are plenty of spots over the suspension and under the frame without any issue. Just take your time and look around. Front strap pull toward front, rear strap pull toward rear. Drive a few miles, pull over and tighten the straps again. They typically loosen up a little as things settle.

I have a axle strap that I use on the rear frame center and attach two straps from that to the trailer.
For the front I tie off same to way. only using an after market chassis kit on bottom of car if you don't have one use the a arms but make sure it pulls as close as posible nearest the frame.

The wheels would be best but is not very practical most trailers are not set up with the correct points to strap down the wheels without pulling on them like you said Brad.

I see, I found some nice wheel straps but need some mod.'s to make this work,,, "later"

Right now I will need to do something diff.,( like Mark),, only have 4 tie down points on trailer, not around or "under" the wheel

Ok my solution was this ... 2 long rachet straps ...

front .. from the front corner of the trailer entering in over the control arm down under the frame across to the other side back up over the control arm and back to the trailer hook at the corner of the trailer. Similiar in the rear.

The car towed 2 hours each way like a champ.

I was told no criss crossing and the straps have to be at a 15 degree angle in to the car. Also attached to the suspension and no the frame the car should be able to react to bumps as if it were on the road.

MY 2 cents.

Ron

Brad make sure you get the car as far forward as possible to place more weight on the front of the trailer. Don't back the Pantera on as this would be a problem if the front or rear hood came open on the freeway.

Like shotgungrooms, I've also heard that you want to strap the wheels down and not strap anything to the suspension. The car does need to react to bumps and corners in the road. If you limit the suspension by ratcheting it down, the stress will be transferred someplace else on the car that might break.

John

Here’s how I tie my Pantera racecar in its enclosed trailer:

Front: I wrap axle straps (those foot-long straps with heavy rings on each end) around the angled brace section of the lower A-arms. I then clip the straps to the tie-downs that I run under the front part of the A-arms and forward to the ring on the trailer floor.

Rear: My preference is to wrap a second set of axle straps around that stout brace right under the ZF - that place where everyone jacks up the rear of their car - and back to the rear trailer rings. But some cars' transaxle mounts make this impossible. In those cases I just wrap another set of axle straps around those same diagonal braces on the lower A-arms, hook them to the tie-downs that I run under the rearmost arm, and back to the trailer ring.

Before tightening the straps for the last time I put the car in neutral to avoid stress on the ZF. I also put sandbags in front and back of one rear wheel just in case.

Crank the tie-downs tight but not guitar-string tight. A car banging back and forth on a loose strap will put a lot more stress on its suspension than one that’s having its movement gently absorbed by the stretchiness of the straps.

Some people criss-cross the tie-down straps when they’re using a trailer that’s too short. In such cases I’d strongly suggest that you first consider a different trailer.

By the way, I NEVER use tie-downs with open hooks. If a strap with open hooks comes loose it'll just fall completely off the car leaving great potential for a true automotive horror story.

Hope that helps.

Matt Merritt
(former) #2171

Brad, there are actual reinforced points in the frame rails of the Pantera. You can use a "J" hook in these locations. I would recomend a wheel strap as well however. There is always less potential of damage. I run an auto transport cross country and I will always use wheel straps on cars of this nature. I use straps that rap around the tire though, and not through the wheel as I believe there could be damage to the finish of the wheel.

Steve

I thought you wanted the car's suspension to still be active when transporting? No?

Otherwise, there's a lot of weight(ie, inertia) that would really stress the attachment points when the trailer goes over a bump.

I used axle straps on the A arms and a ratchet strap on the rear.
I plan to modify my trailer to use tire straps from now on. much less to worry about.