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This was a helpful thread.

24" or 40" axle straps? Are you going through the wheels, or around something under the carriage? I will be renting a UHaul for 2 days at National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park 10/2-10/3/2021. Did you try backing the car onto the trailer? Without having tried it yet, that seems like a way to use the forward stops of the trailer and avoid needing 3.5" of lift under the wheel when tied down (just curious)
I'll be at NCM that weekend too! Just started researching uhaul trailers for the GT350 and found this thread. Another local buddy will be towing down his GT350 as well :)
 
2,198
1,065
Bay Area
This was a helpful thread.

24" or 40" axle straps? Are you going through the wheels, or around something under the carriage? I will be renting a UHaul for 2 days at National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park 10/2-10/3/2021. Did you try backing the car onto the trailer? Without having tried it yet, that seems like a way to use the forward stops of the trailer and avoid needing 3.5" of lift under the wheel when tied down (just curious)
I did the soft traps that go through the wheels. But now I have FP tie downs under the car so I can do either option
 
Hoping for some experience here.

I rented a Uhaul car hauler years ago to haul my Mach 1, which I ended up backing on. The GT350R is lower and has a lot more going on with the splitter etc. Anyone used rented trailers to tow their GT350? Do I need race ramps? Frame tow hooks (for trailering)?

Would love to buy a trailer but no space at the current house.
I had to
Hoping for some experience here.

I rented a Uhaul car hauler years ago to haul my Mach 1, which I ended up backing on. The GT350R is lower and has a lot more going on with the splitter etc. Anyone used rented trailers to tow their GT350? Do I need race ramps? Frame tow hooks (for trailering)?

Would love to buy a trailer but no space at the current house.
if your car is lowered like mine, you may have to raise the front to clear the tire stop. I did that by adjusting the coil overs as high as I could then I cut a 2x12 to fit under the front tire to raise it even more in order to clear the tire stop. Winch the front tires down tight with the straps and use the chains provided to wrap around rear axel or something. Make sure you secure the back end!!!! The car will and I mean will slide forward if you have to stop in a hurry. I telling you from experience. That was a hard lesson learned.
 
1,119
1,110
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Lenoir City TN
I rented UHaul trailers a few times to haul my lowered S197 to the track. I bought a trailer after the local UHaul gave my trailer away and left me with no way to get to the track for a weekend that was paid for. I used a couple of 2 x 8's stacked on top of each other in a staggered fashion under the ramps as extensions to get on without hitting the nose. A short 2 x 8 under each front tire allowed clearance at the front tire stops. This allowed me to use the standard UHaul tire nets. I used my own tie downs at the rear attached to tie down loops bolted through the rear lower control arms. It worked pretty good and 2 8' 2 x 8"'s was a lot cheaper than race ramps. I would have continued to rent for the few times a year I need a trailer if I could have counted on UHaul to honor my reservations.
 
51
47
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Francisco
I deal with the same issue with my lowered Boss.

I rent a u haul for track days. $60/day with the insurance is not to bad.

I cut 2" x 12" x 18" for the front of the trailer. This keeps my splitter from hitting the trailer. I also made my own ramps with the 2" X 12". Never any issues

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
I am here to report that it’s not nearly this simple for my car, a 2019 GT350 lowered on Ford Performance springs with 305/30R19 track tires and an R front lip. My car has 3”-3.5” of front clearance on my track tires or just over 4” on my street tires (which have a 35 series sidewall). That equates to a 5.5° approach angle on track tires or 7.2° on street tires.

I could get the car on the trailer with my street tires using a 2x12x2’ stacked on a 2x2x4’. However once the car was on there was only two finger widths of clearance left to right (so it’s a tight fit) and the front lip will hit the tire stop if you only put 2x12x18” boards in front of the wheel track. I had to put another 2x12x4’ behind those boards, since it’s 32” from my front tire contact patch to the front of the lip. That let me load ok - but when I backed up the lip caught. I had to put down another board behind the front tires to raise the front end to get off. Like so:

5EAA7D0D-40C2-4767-B481-11367FB9CCC5.jpeg
ACE6B0CC-6CD9-4045-86A9-8761CE4E5808.jpeg

This was all with my street tires. With my track tires, I couldn’t even get on the trailer with the stacked 2x12s in front of the ramp, and I definitely would have hit the front bumper stop without another $50 of lumber.

I drove the car home and my wife drove the truck. I won’t rent a Uhaul again.

C4D1E398-B7DA-4110-AE46-3510F51462AA.jpeg
 
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Lenoir City TN
I followed that too. Definitely not enough clearance for my car.
The same principles apply, lessen the approach angle and shim the wheel box to clear the wheel stops. You can use an extra board in the wheel box if it still hits. If you are still hitting the ramps you can try jacking up the front of the trailer which effectively lowers the rear lessening the approach angle. The next step is longer and more boards under the ramps.
 
I rented UHaul trailers a few times to haul my lowered S197 to the track. I bought a trailer after the local UHaul gave my trailer away and left me with no way to get to the track for a weekend that was paid for… I would have continued to rent for the few times a year I need a trailer if I could have counted on UHaul to honor my reservations.
Last time I got a uhaul trailer there were two families literally crying in the office over the moving trucks they’d reserved having been given away.
Once you learn to work with these trailers they’re a great option for the occasional trackday, but that is a real risk.
 
51
47
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
San Francisco
The same principles apply, lessen the approach angle and shim the wheel box to clear the wheel stops. You can use an extra board in the wheel box if it still hits. If you are still hitting the ramps you can try jacking up the front of the trailer which effectively lowers the rear lessening the approach angle. The next step is longer and more boards under the ramps.
Perhaps you missed my post where I detailed laying out $100 of lumber and it was still a pain in the ass. Based on that experience, no thanks.
 
1,119
1,110
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Lenoir City TN
The U-Haul trailers are not for everyone, but once you figure out how to load your car they are workable for people that trailer occasionally or do not have a place to store their own trailer. Many of the trailers available for sale will have the same problems with lowered cars. You may still be using boards or race ramps to load. Many do not have removable fenders, so you can't open your door to get out. Most don't have the U-Hauls front tire stops, so clearance at the front isn't an issue. The take away here is after using the U-Haul you now know the problems with loading lowered cars are and what to look at if you decide to buy a trailer.
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
I have my own trailer, bought it brand new and it's a stout piece, rated for 7200 lbs load I believe. But it needed all kinds of work to get a lowered car onto it. Had to double the ramp length, made new extensions with a mid point support. They're steel and heavy AF, aluminum was just retarded for cost. Total ramp length is now around 8'. Added 2 X 8's on the left side so that the drivers door could open and clear the fender. That's an old guy problem, crawling out the window is not really fun (or even likely possible) anymore. And even with those and a couple of other tweaks it is so sensitive that unless the trailer and motor home are on exactly the same plane the car will not go onto the trailer without wanging the splitter, which is just a stock PP splitter. I put a winch on it to bring the car up slowly and minimize any possible damage since often even when it looks perfect, it's not. But the winch also introduces its own issues....
It's really just a problem with lowered cars, I've hauled several road cars on it and they load/unload perfectly with zero issues. I saw a really nice aluminum custom made one last track day, it was extremely slick and extremely wildly expensive. It could kind of kneel to lower itself. But it was not stout enough to carry a heavy car like ours.
 
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5-10 Years
Virginia
I really like my Futura....they are expensive but, the light weight and ease of moving it around when not in use really are a plus. I tow my car with all I need for the track weekend with my wimpy 4.6 F150. I believe the extra expense of the trailer may have kept me from buying a more capable tow vehicle.
 
466
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Exp. Type
HPDE
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Under 3 Years
MD
Hello there!

I will be towing for the first time next week to my event and will be using the uhaul auto transport. I’ve never towed a car nor loaded a car on a trailer before so please excuse my lack of knowledge.

I plan to use the uhaul front tire straps but for the rear, I would like something more secure than the chains. According to uhaul there are two D rings where I can add straps. They displayed where to use axle straps for vehicles with IRS. Going with cross bracing in the rear, would it be better to have the straps through the wheel or is somewhere on the rear subframe better? I’m not a fan of using the control arm. Thanks!

21CAE5AD-5402-4703-970A-EC689739E262.png
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
This is Ford's official guide to tie downs for 2015-16, you can find other model years around on the web if you search. The Mustang is on the bottom of sheet 7. They specify use of special hooks that go into purpose built holes in specified locations under the car for shipping and that's what they recommend using.

I bought 4 X 8,000 lb straps with these hooks on the end of the strap that goes under the car. The ones I bought actually have a gang of 3 different hook styles used by the auto industry for shipping, so I'm not limited to just using them on the Mustang. Wrecker supply companies stock these tie downs with the correct ends. They're not cheap, but not a fortune either. Getting the hooks into the holes under the car can be tricky at first, but once you learn it's simple.
Always put the parking brake on and trans in neutral.

This is how Ford does it for shipping from the factory so I think that's the correct way to do it. They want the car tied down through the body/frame, not the suspension.
 

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  • 2015-2016-Wrecker-Towing-Guide-Final.pdf
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