Best place to tie a car down on a car tralier - Page 2

OLDFORDNUT · 03-10-2009, 08:39 AM

hire trailers around here never seem to have a working winch anymore,makes life very very hard for hauling up a non runner.i sold a Valiant Ranger to a guy in Brisbane earlier this year and he turned up with a hire trailer that also had no winch,lucky for him there was 5 of us here to push it on.the cost of trailer was $75 for 4 hours or $118 for 24 hours, the hire trailers dont come with any ropes, straps or chains so you need to have your own.,also never touch a tandem with different tyres on them they will cause the trailer to throw tow car and trailer from inside lane to outside lane very easily,( lots of hire trailers have up to 3 different tyres fitted to trailer,VERY DANGEROUS)if you dont have any experience towing big trailers make sure you take someone who has with you.and NO the pimply git at servo counter is not good for advice on tying down a load.

**GasoLane** · 03-10-2009, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gilmore

They had road scales their and I was issued with a warning and paperwork was issued(blue slip).

Ah, now thats different. RTA inspectors (or the SA equivalent) usually do know what they are on about. Especially if they conduct an operation like that.

P.S. they hand out tickets (blue slip) for a warning?? Here a warning is just that...a smack on the wrist and told to not do it again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OLDFORDNUT

if you dont have any experience towing big trailers make sure you take someone who has with you.and NO the pimply git at servo counter is not good for advice on tying down a load.

We're lucky here. One trailer hire place actually makes the trailers on site

OLDFORDNUT · 03-10-2009, 09:35 AM

Just to ad to my last post, if towing an unfamiliar tandem trailer with a car on it dont take your kids with you, if you have not been flung across three lanes of traffic on Hi-way due to poor loading or bad trailer you dont know what fear is..
also make sure heaviest part of car is at front of trailer,if no motor in car put it on backwardswith boot at front of trailer, if a ute loaded in back and towed car sits higher at front due to load then put it on backwards also,even if it has an engine in front, then when loading car on make sure you position weight so tow car starts to sink on its springs (meaning more weight is on draw bar than back of trailer)
then chain and rope it on so it cant move forwards or backwards,this will help stop the dreaded speed wobble that will quickly throw you off the road if you cant get trailer back under control fast, by pulling it straight with a quick hit on the gas peddle or a gentle slowing down ,if slowing down does not work you must hit the gas so tow car quickly straightens load,all this must be done in split seconds or you will crash,
CONFUSING,yes thats why its so important to distribute weight properly as its no joke when things turn ugly towing big trailers.
Also when putting weight forward towards draw bar dont take it too far forwards so tow car is down right to bump stops as this is nearly as bad for towing too,
you will know if you have too much weight on draw bar as tow car will have extremely light steering as its lifting front too high for proper control.
If towing for first time or using a big trailer your not used too towing then LEAVE THE CHILDREN HOME.

silicon · 03-10-2009, 10:02 AM

..and take it real easy. A badly loaded trailer can get the speed wobbles up at 60 to 70 km/h and it is not fun at all.

VertexZ · 03-10-2009, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

NOT quite true .. A trailer is around 650 kg.. Thats means an EF [1600kg]
can't tow an EF.. If trailer has brakes ?? Which most do, the ratio is higher..

not true. an EF can tow 2300kg. 650+1600 = 2250kgs

however, many servo trailers are only rated to take a 1200kg load.
any load above 750kgs (including the weight of the trailer) must be braked.
any load above 2800kgs, the trailer must have electric brakes.

you can tow whatever the maximum towing capacity specified by the manufacturer is (with the appropriate tow pack). This rule applies nation wide.

the other rules apply where there is no towing capacity specified by the manufacturer.

XR Martin · 03-10-2009, 07:13 PM

Any trailer over 2000kg GVM must have a breakaway device. Rental trailers do not come with this, so that is why they shouldnt be carrying a Falcon. Most will tare at about 750kg, and gross at 1995kg, so that leaves you with less than 1250kg...

Just remember if you are over the GVM you will not have any insurance (no personal, no third party, nothing), if the trailer detaches from the vehicle, most car insurances also doesnt cover this. (even if it is within weight)
Check what the GVM and tare weight of the trailer is before renting it.

richa · 03-10-2009, 10:13 PM

[QUOTE=OLDFORDNUTdreaded speed wobble that will quickly throw you off the road if you cant get trailer back under control fast, by pulling it straight with a quick hit on the gas peddle or a gentle slowing down ,if slowing down does not work you must hit the gas so tow car quickly straightens load,all this must be done in split seconds or you will crash,
CONFUSING,yes thats why its so important to distribute weight properly as its no joke when things turn ugly towing big trailers.

Reading the above just brought it all back to me(the scariest 2mins of my life)...4/5 years ago we had to pick up a couple of cars ,the first a brand new F350 which we were setting up for The Australian Antartic Division. The second a heavily modified Toyota Hilux and transport it back to work on a trailor for repairs.The tow vehicle was our companys near new F350,the trailor a purpose built 4x4 racetruck trailor(Tri axle low loader).Myself and the boss drove out over the Westgate Bridge and picked up the new F350 from the docks,we then took both cars to a separate transport Co,where the hilux was and loaded it up.We were fortunate(as it turned out)to have access to heavy chain and a lot of good anchor points on our trailer.We sized up the hilux and decided to put it on backwards(this thing had around an extra tonne of weight in the back)Mistake!!....so l
jump in the work truck and make my way down the Westgate freeway,with the boss in the new F350 following.It got a little sway up at around 60 kmh..no worries!,hit the gas sorted!..80kmh a bigger sway,hit the gas,speed up to 90/100kmh,then it really started to sway,Tried slowing down and thats when it got ridiculous.Apparently the trailor/hilux was doing a 3 lane sway with the trailor gettig around 4 foot of air on each change of direction.....My boss(following) had a a handheld UHF and I could hear him screaming over the radio 'Get your foot of the F###'n brake..Go Faster'..so ,with no choice I did and at about 130kmh it sorted itself out,I slowed down,stopped.got out and wondered how it was that I was still alive.I drove the new F350 the rest of the way.LOL

With hindsight ..if i'd just applied the trailer brakes all would have been ok and you should maybe think about hiring a Tow Truck as all kind of bad things can happen to the less experienced of us! Good Luck

frd906 · 04-10-2009, 08:27 PM

i have gone off the hire tralier and has got a qoute to get it from a to b, will cost 80 bucks for the tow,

saves me stuffing my au or something goes wrong

FreddyDUZ747 · 04-10-2009, 08:29 PM

Probably the same price too with fuel and trailer hire.Good price.

**ebxr8240** · 04-10-2009, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VertexZ

not true. an EF can tow 2300kg. 650+1600 = 2250kgs

however, many servo trailers are only rated to take a 1200kg load.
any load above 750kgs (including the weight of the trailer) must be braked.
any load above 2800kgs, the trailer must have electric brakes.

you can tow whatever the maximum towing capacity specified by the manufacturer is (with the appropriate tow pack). This rule applies nation wide.

the other rules apply where there is no towing capacity specified by the manufacturer.

Yep thats what I'm saying..

svo supporter · 05-10-2009, 02:30 AM

[QUOTE=richa][QUOTE=OLDFORDNUTdreaded speed wobble that will quickly throw you off the road if you cant get trailer back under control fast, by pulling it straight with a quick hit on the gas peddle or a gentle slowing down ,if slowing down does not work you must hit the gas so tow car quickly straightens load,all this must be done in split seconds or you will crash,
CONFUSING,yes thats why its so important to distribute weight properly as its no joke when things turn ugly towing big trailers.

Reading the above just brought it all back to me(the scariest 2mins of my life)...4/5 years ago we had to pick up a couple of cars ,the first a brand new F350 which we were setting up for The Australian Antartic Division. The second a heavily modified Toyota Hilux and transport it back to work on a trailor for repairs.The tow vehicle was our companys near new F350,the trailor a purpose built 4x4 racetruck trailor(Tri axle low loader).Myself and the boss drove out over the Westgate Bridge and picked up the new F350 from the docks,we then took both cars to a separate transport Co,where the hilux was and loaded it up.We were fortunate(as it turned out)to have access to heavy chain and a lot of good anchor points on our trailer.We sized up the hilux and decided to put it on backwards(this thing had around an extra tonne of weight in the back)Mistake!!....so l
jump in the work truck and make my way down the Westgate freeway,with the boss in the new F350 following.It got a little sway up at around 60 kmh..no worries!,hit the gas sorted!..80kmh a bigger sway,hit the gas,speed up to 90/100kmh,then it really started to sway,Tried slowing down and thats when it got ridiculous.Apparently the trailor/hilux was doing a 3 lane sway with the trailor gettig around 4 foot of air on each change of direction.....My boss(following) had a a handheld UHF and I could hear him screaming over the radio 'Get your foot of the F###'n brake..Go Faster'..so ,with no choice I did and at about 130kmh it sorted itself out,I slowed down,stopped.got out and wondered how it was that I was still alive.I drove the new F350 the rest of the way.LOL

With hindsight ..if i'd just applied the trailer brakes all would have been ok and you should maybe think about hiring a Tow Truck as all kind of bad things can happen to the less experienced of us! Good Luck[/QUOTE]

I'm glad I was no where round you when this happened. First rule of towing a car with a car on the trailer when it gets the wobbles. NEVER HIT THE BRAKES. If you start getting a speed wobble, hit the gas. If the wobble continues, lift off the gas. LEAVE THE BRAKE PEDAL ALONE. Same applies with caravans.

What can happen and quite often does with this scenario, is you lock a rear brake, as you have an unweighted rear wheel. Very much like ripping the handbrake on and turning the steering wheel. From that the tow car starts to rotate round, so the back wants to swap ends with the front. Add in 2 tonne of car and trailer and things get really nasty and messy.

Car trailers are all built differently. Some you put the car on, weight at the front for best towing results. Others, visa versa. The best thing to do is once the car is on a trailer that you don't know, is try frontwards first and head off. If it's a pig to tow, or even steer the tow car, take the car off the trailer and turn it around so it's backwards.

Yes it's stuffing round a bit, but in the long run it could save you some scarey moments, or even your life.