Towing Newbie: Need Advice

[Ewheels]

I finally have the 3rd "T" of the 4 T's of racing and I want to try out towing my mustang to track days.
I have never towed anything before in my life so I'm as green as can be. Does anyone have any helpful tips, insights, advice for someone who wants to tow for the first time?

Tow vehicle: 2023 F150, 4x4, 3.5L V6
Track car: 2018 Mustang. Roughly 3,700 lbs
Trailer: plan to use U-Haul car trailer

 

[blacksheep-1]

I finally have the 3rd "T" of the 4 T's of racing and I want to try out towing my mustang to track days.
I have never towed anything before in my life so I'm as green as can be. Does anyone have any helpful tips, insights, advice for someone who wants to tow for the first time?

Tow vehicle: 2023 F150, 4x4, 3.5L V6
Track car: 2018 Mustang. Roughly 3,700 lbs
Trailer: plan to use U-Haul car trailer

Look up project supertrailer
There are also several posts on towing that are less than a year old.

 

[biggsy]

Hey Eric,

I was pretty nervous before i started towing last year because i have never towed anything before my car either. Now i am pretty comfortable.

• I would suggest getting the Ford tie down kit and Mac straps. I used the wheel straps my first time and had to stop once because they came loose. I would not depend on the Uhaul straps. I bought the tie down kit and Mac 8' straps and it never came loose on a 16 hour one way trip to road atlanta.

2015-2024 MUSTANG TIE DOWN KIT

2015-2024 MUSTANG TIE DOWN KIT|Ford Performance Parts

performanceparts.ford.com

Mac's Custom Tie-Downs 511218 Mac's Ultra Pack Tie-Downs | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Mac's Ultra Pack Tie-Downs with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Tie-Down Straps at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

• Get wooden boards ( about QTY:4 14"x12" sections) because your splitter will not clear the tire stop. There are youtube videos about this from Uhauls own youtube account.
• Get the Uhaul $5 addon for roadside just in case
• Use race ramps or build your own. I found already built wooden ramps for $20 on FB. Use horse stall mats or something with grip so the stele ramps dont slide in as you load the car.
• If you can, add a winch and save your clutch (ask me how i know)
• Keep turns wide

I know people have had their own experiences with Uhaul trailers but i think it can work very well if you have all the right tools. As far as towing in general, I watched a lot of youtube videos of Do's and Don'ts.

 

[biggsy]

Enjoy not having to swap wheels and empty the car before you get on track!

Have all the energy in the world to drive lol

 

[Ewheels]

Thank you @blacksheep-1 and @biggsy
I'll do my youtube homework but wanted to see if there was anything specific from people with the same cars.

Great advice Warren. I'll add those hooks and straps to my shopping cart.

 

[biggsy]

Thank you @blacksheep-1 and @biggsy
I'll do my youtube homework but wanted to see if there was anything specific from people with the same cars.

Great advice Warren. I'll add those hooks and straps to my shopping cart.

You can try and zoom in but you can see the boards under the front tire and the straps connecting to the front D ring. There are two D rings in the rear for the rear tie downs.
Also reversing takes practice. I try not to put myself in situations where I have to but you gotta learn to turn the opposite direction of what your brain is used to. Left is right and right is left lol.

Okay that’s all I have. Good luck man!

 

[blacksheep-1]

The biggest deal on towing is locating the car correctly on the trailer so you have the correct tongue weight.
It will prolly take a couple of attempts to get it right, once you do, mark the trailer deck.

Getting the car off and on ( and getting in and out of it) can also be a challenge especially if the fenders on the trailer are non removeable.

 

[GAR944]

Tyre Pressures, set them when you pick up the trailer and check them when you get home before loading. Better to find out if you have a leak before you load up.
Especially on a hire trailer. A lot of weight on those poor things and a lot of side load when turning tight. Kinda scary watching a tall sidewall flex like its going to get torn off the rim.
Was always told to put 10psi more on the rear set of the tandem, assume it was caus they would be getting more load as the trailer tended to sit nose up because of the tow vehicle.

As @blacksheep-1 mentioned, getting the car in the right spot on the trailer is probably the most important thing you need to do. Thankfully had electric brakes on one trip when the load wasn't quite far enough forward and had to use the override to pull the trailer straight to stop a tank slapper on the freeway. Stopped and moved it forward and no issues for the next 450 miles.
The 1 minute youtube video shows why.

 

[biggsy]

@GAR944 Good call on checking the pressures. I should’ve done that. On the way from Road Atlanta I ended up losing pressure in one of the tires. I was fortunate enough to be near a U-Haul so they put air in one of the tires and I was on my way. Which is why I said just pay the $5 roadside fee just in case.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Tyre Pressures, set them when you pick up the trailer and check them when you get home before loading. Better to find out if you have a leak before you load up.
Especially on a hire trailer. A lot of weight on those poor things and a lot of side load when turning tight. Kinda scary watching a tall sidewall flex like its going to get torn off the rim.
Was always told to put 10psi more on the rear set of the tandem, assume it was caus they would be getting more load as the trailer tended to sit nose up because of the tow vehicle.

As @blacksheep-1 mentioned, getting the car in the right spot on the trailer is probably the most important thing you need to do. Thankfully had electric brakes on one trip when the load wasn't quite far enough forward and had to use the override to pull the trailer straight to stop a tank slapper on the freeway. Stopped and moved it forward and no issues for the next 450 miles.
The 1 minute youtube video shows why.

He never got credit for it, but that is a TMOer performing that demonstration (UHaul trade booth) that went around the internet in 24 hours.

 

[GAR944]

He never got credit for it, but that is a TMOer performing that demonstration (UHaul trade booth) that went around the internet in 24 hours.

Damn good video, i recon i saw it in that 24 hours. It was the first thing i thought of when this topic came up. Having experienced it first hand tends to trigger those memories.

 

[Jungle_Jim]

It's honestly not too bad, just keep your head straight and it'll be fine! One main bit of sage advice is that you'll get a list of things to check/do when towing and after doing it a while, just make sure you get in the habit of doing the same thing every time. Complacency is the killer. I've witnessed it first-hand in the general aviation world. Run through the "checklist" in its entirety and don't skimp. Soon as you think "ah it's ok" you'll miss something that'll make your day longer/more difficult. Otherwise for some specific bullet points:

Loading things up:

• Others have touched on the ramp situ
• For a U haul trailer you'll place the car all the way forward on the wheel stops anyway so not too much of an issue with weight balance so long as you load the car facing forwards.
• Strap all four of your wheels. MACs are nice, I have Vulcans as well as a "cheap" set and they work great. Make sure you don't snag a valvestem when tieing down otherwise your day will end before it starts!
• Don't forget the door to fender cover situation on uhaul trailers. They do swing up/out of the way and that can make it easier getting into/out of the car

Before leaving the lot whenever you're going somewhere:

• In addition to checking the trailer tire pressures give the wheels a tug/shove and check the bearings aren't slopped out
• Check the trailer tires for abnormal wear/general health
• After plugging in, turn on your parking lights and hazards and do a quick light check
• Re-check your safety chains and brake tether
• No electronic brakes so there's nothing to check

Then after you've strapped the car down, did your walk-around check, and started driving, pull over quick again in another 6-10 miles or so. Uhaul trailer shouldn't have to worry about too much but if the car isn't perfectly aligned usually things will "settle in" and your straps will loosen up a bit. Basically after going for a little ways the moving/shaking of the road kinda sets everything. Easier to do a 2-minute check than potentially suffer the consequences. This is a good chance to check and give em a notch of snug if they've significantly loosened.

If you're going some kind of distance and pull in to refuel or go to the bathroom, just do a quick "once over" walk-around on the trailer, car, and tow vehicle before you leave again. Check the straps are tight, chains are hooked, push on the tires quick and visually inspect that they look ok, etc. Crap changes on the road and again, easier to do a quick once-over and find out when you're stopped that a tire's gone bad than having a blowout on the road.

Remember you have crap behind you now. I forgot once as a kid pulling a hay rack and had to replace the mailbox because of it Same goes for merging/passing. You'll have to get used to having more crap behind you before getting back a lane over again. When driving remember to think ahead, it'll take more time to slow down so give yourself some more space following distance especially because some jackass will pull in front of you or cut you off.

Also, when you get home after the event, before you drop the trailer off, go screw around with the trailer for a bit. Find a big open parking lot at some box store or who knows where and practice pulling into a spot and keep the trailer between the lines. Try backing into a spot that you've pulled the trailer "straight" in line with. Try backing the trailer into a spot that's 90* to you, etc. etc. It's all practice! Just like the track the more seat time you get maneuvering a trailer the easier it gets.

 

[Dave_W]

Also reversing takes practice. I try not to put myself in situations where I have to but you gotta learn to turn the opposite direction of what your brain is used to. Left is right and right is left lol.

One trick for reversing is to put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel instead of the top, and move your hand left/right in the direction you want to go, like normal. Because your hand is on the bottom, you end up turning the wheel in the opposite direction than you would with your hand on top. And that ends up turning the trailer where you want.

 

[LS128]

I just went through the same thing. Kept telling myself every turn is a late apex. After a while it was no big deal

 

[OX1]

I would consider an "external" sensor TPMS for the trailer. Even though my new F250 has available factory trailer TPMS,
I kept the aftermarket one I had with my older Dodge diesel.

I like that it displays all the tire pressures, all the time without having to use any part of the factory display.
Also like I can set alarm pressure's where I like and the receiver/display also rotates through tire air temp.
(which can be useful if one tire starts increasing temp a lot, might be a dragging brake or hub going).

Can add/remove sensors easy, as soon as you pick up/drop off trailer each time, being they just screw on
tire valves.

This pic was on my older truck, that did not have it's own TPMS. I now use all 8 sensors for two different trailers (4 each).
This particular brand/setup has an insane range, so no issues with sensors being pretty far away from receiver unit.
Will even pick up sensors, through the metal wall of my pole barn.

 

[blacksheep-1]

When I taught my wife to drive with a trailer, I did what Jungle Jim suggested. I took her to some open lots, gave her some advice, then I let her back down cracks in the pavement. It wasn't long before she figured it out.

 

[TMSBOSS]

I did the same thing with my daughter. We went to the local high school parking lot and she drove forward and reverse while staying between the lines. Then we practiced turning ensuring the trailer cleared obstacles. The next day we drove from northern illinois to Seattle.

 

[JP X]

I have this Weigh-Safe trailer hitch which allows me to better determine the hitch loading than by the good ol' "eye-ball the sag" method. I'm pulling the Mustang with an Audi Q7 which has a shorter wheelbase than your truck by about 20-30 linches, so I am trying to get the loading as perfect as possible. That said...Since you can't adjust the car placement on the U-Haul trailer due to the tie-down method, it probably doesn't matter as much unless you want to add weight to the trunk of your Mustang. Otherwise the tongue weight will be what it is.

Weigh Safe Drop Hitch

The only hitch with a built in scale for measuring tongue weight!

www.weigh-safe.com

I've used the U-Haul trailer in the past and the advice by others about the wooden boards under the front wheels to clear the spoiler at the front of the trailer is spot-on. If memory serves, I think I also needed something in front of the loading ramps for my stock front splitter to clear. Also...that twist-dial ball lock on the hitch is a little hokey...make sure the ball is seated completely and it is locked properly before you load your car. I've seen the hitch come off the ball more than once in the paddock on those while people drove up the ramps! It's always a great attention-grabber.

Someone mentioned roadside assistance...YES! I had a tire blow on 85 on the way to Raod Atlanta. If only I had it on video...the smoke show was glorious. I wish they had a spare tire on the trailer...I could have replaced it in 10 minutes, but it took them about 1-1/2 hours to show up. So check those tires really well.

 

[OX1]

I have this Weigh-Safe trailer hitch which allows me to better determine the hitch loading than by the good ol' "eye-ball the sag" method. I'm pulling the Mustang with an Audi Q7 which has a shorter wheelbase than your truck by about 20-30 linches, so I am trying to get the loading as perfect as possible. That said...Since you can't adjust the car placement on the trailer due to the tie-down method, it probably doesn't matter as much unless you want to add weight to the trunk of your Mustang. Otherwise the tongue weight will be what it is.

Weigh Safe Drop Hitch

The only hitch with a built in scale for measuring tongue weight!

www.weigh-safe.com

I've used the U-Haul trailer in the past and the advice by others about the wooden boards under the front wheels to clear the spoiler at the front of the trailer is spot-on. If memory serves, I think I also needed something in front of the loading ramps for my stock front splitter to clear. Also...that twist-dial ball lock on the hitch is a little hokey...make sure the ball is seated completely and it is locked properly before you load your car. I've seen the hitch come off the ball more than once in the paddock on those while people drove up the ramps! It's always a great attention-grabber.

Someone mentioned roadside assistance...YES! I had a tire blow on 85 on the way to Raod Atlanta. If only I had it on video...the smoke show was glorious. I wish they had a spare tire on the trailer...I could have replaced it in 10 minutes, but it took them about 1-1/2 hours to show up. So check those tires really well.

View attachment 99431

View attachment 99432

The good old "China Bomb" trailer tires. I had those on my 26" alum car trailer.





Look at the final shape of this POS, after de-beading it on tire machine
I've NEVER seen the steel belts literally "sneaking" out the sidewall, of a near new tire.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Grab an electric impact w/ socket the size of the lugs on the trailer (also useful for car at the track), a cordless inflator, and get a "Trailer Aid" ramp (amazon). Check to make sure your trailer tires (and trailer spare(s)) are properly inflated before you leave. Torque wrench w/ extension in easy to reach spot.

You can change a tire in <10 mins on the roadside if you have that stuff. Keeps you out of danger more if you have no option other than doing it on the side of a busy road.