Show Me Your Race Car Trailers

[handbrake]

121 is a bloody serious tyre!

damn iPhone.

yes Ben, i think thats how Nevco build their gear.

I hope I have made the right decision. Maintainence is the best preventative measure moving on from here to help minimise catastrophe.

[Beer Baron]

personally I reckon a big car like an R35 on a single axle trailer is not a recipe for success. it would mean well over 2,000kg (more likely close to 2,500kg?) on 2 tyres. even the R35 itself gets 4... the pressure on those tyres would be pretty immense and I would say a blowout would be pretty nasty with that much load on board. a simple 2 axle trailer works well. no where near the cool factor of the super low alloy trailers like that one but safety wise they are solid as a rock. as the guys pointed out they are also much less sensitive to load balance too.

having said all that I've never personally tried one of those particular brand trailers and if they assure you it will work then I guess you have to make a judgement on their skill and honesty. $500 per tyre for the trailer is pretty nasty though and they will have to be 'special' tyres (like the ones they put on tom cruises car in days of thunder) to handle 1,500kg each.

it does look nice and easy to load though, but from my own experience I'd sacrifice a bit of load ease for towing safety and stability.

at the other end of the scale a mate of mine (Alan Lewis) runs a number of cars including a quick porsche in nsw historics. he uses a big old (and I mean OLD) truck with ramps that must be about 30 degrees (looks like even more) incline loading up to the pantec. the floor of which would be easy 8ft or higher from the ground. clearance each side of the car at entry is 9/10ths of bugger all and i've seen him launch that thing up there at about 40km/h and still stop it inside the truck without punching his way out into the atmosphere. how he does it I have no idea! it's like watching a circus act seeing him load that thing. especially if he's been punted around a bit in the course of the race as he wants to get it loaded quick so he can hop out for the possible post race punch on!

[Beer Baron]

forgot to say the storage options etc on that nevco look very cool. if it tows well and is safe and stable then it will be the daddy of trailers. the single axe thing still has me a bit nervous about using one for a 1800kg car.

[handbrake]

Thankfully my car will soon be about 1550kg

It's the other 300-400kg of other shite to carry along that's weighing me down

Comments about single axle and balance are spot on from what I've been told. Should be able to manage car placement to optimize handling. We sent down cornerweighting numbers to make sure perfect distribution could be achieved.

Tyres blowing, well we will have to wait and see!

[FineLine]

Thankfully my car will soon be about 1550kg

It's the other 300-400kg of other shite to carry along that's weighing me down

Comments about single axle and balance are spot on from what I've been told. Should be able to manage car placement to optimize handling. We sent down cornerweighting numbers to make sure perfect distribution could be achieved.

Tyres blowing, well we will have to wait and see!

The other real advantage to that trailer design is the very low centre of gravity.

If it were to blow a tyre it would minimise the pendulum effect of a much higher rig swaying from side to side.

[Beer Baron]

Thankfully my car will soon be about 1550kg

It's the other 300-400kg of other shite to carry along that's weighing me down

Comments about single axle and balance are spot on from what I've been told. Should be able to manage car placement to optimize handling. We sent down cornerweighting numbers to make sure perfect distribution could be achieved.

Tyres blowing, well we will have to wait and see!

yeah I guess the downside of all the neat storage is you quickly can add a few hundred kg of tools, wheels, tyres, spares etc. I mean even just one spare set of rims with tyres mounted is ~100kg. it would be 'interesting' with a full weight R35 and 300kg of gear on it!

still if it works well then the convenience will be pretty awesome. for the cost I hope it's kick ass! I just find it hard to put so much faith in 2 little axles but that is probably lack of imagination on my part. it will certainly be nice to load the thing flat on the deck...

[hrd-hr30]

121 is a bloody serious tyre!

yep, its very rare to find a LT tyre with anything liek that load rating! I guess that's why they're $500ea! (Four LT tyres rated to the same total weight would probably set you back about $250) Just be careful if you ever replace the tyres that you get one with the right load rating for the job.

FWIW they're being a bit cheeky with the ATM of 3200kg and tyres rated to a total of 2900kg. I guess the 10% ball weight must make it legit???

Edited March 2, 2011 by hrd-hr30

[benm]

damn ugly trailers but very effective. Will wanna be a good tow car, without that second axle ur gonna feel every bump in the road.

VW used to make a van with the same concept (fwd with the rear floor drops to allow a pallet in via a pallet jack) once again damn ugly but very effective.

[badhairdave]

Speaking of ugly trailers, anyone got any experience with these gypsy dolly things? Saw one on the back of an NRMA van the other day and it got me thinking...

http://www.trailers-melbourne.communityguide.com.au/

I have a total lack of space to store a trailer out front (and don't really want to due to possible theft) but i reckon i could just get one of these through my garage and out the back with a bit of tricky manoeuvring.

[Beer Baron]

I fookin hate pikies!

I dunno, it has some plus points in being small and light and (i hope) cheaper to buy too. on the downside the car is pretty exposed (would have to have someone rear end you are a set of lights!). plus if it's a track car it's going to put a fair bit of road wear on your semi's or you have to carry another pair of wheels with road tyres which is a bit of a hassle. but for the space challenged it's not a bad idea I guess. certainly beats having nothing.

[samstain]

is the car you are towing registered and in road worthy condition? If its touching the road then is has to be... doesn't matter if your driving it or towing it on a dolly - if it touches the road then they want your registration $$$'s to maintain that road.

Edited March 21, 2011 by samstain

[badhairdave]

Do you know that or are you guessing based on general police/rta flamin mongreliness? As that would be my main concern also. Trying to find solid info on oddball things like this is like pulling teeth

I reckon it could go either way, but as you are towing it, and the trailer is RTA approved for that purpose and registered you'd have a reasonable arguement if you got pinged for it.

Yeah, i'd be swapping tyres for towing baron. No way i'd pull it on semis.

[samstain]

Doing a quick search I can't find the acutal legislation... but im pretty confident that's the case. These days basically anything that touches a public road must be registered. Technically reversing a race car off your trailer when its parked out the front of your house to drive it in your driveway is illegal - if your doing it carefully and quitely im sure the cop's would generally turn a blind eye, but if you happen to run over someone or get hit by someone in the process you would be screwed.

There was also the case locally where a group of guys were pushing a stripped out race shell (no driveline or interior) 50m down the road in an industrial area from the body shop to the mechanics... the guy holding the steering wheel got done for driving without a licence and driving and ungegistered vehicle... If you can get done for that I would imagine towing such a vehicle down a road at highway speeds could be an issue...

Before buying one I would want to get it in writing from your insurance company that you are going to be covered while using it - however generally they will just say that as long as you are doing everything legally you will be covered... and good luck getting anything in writing from the RTA as no one there wants to put their name to anything.

Edited March 22, 2011 by samstain

[handbrake]

The Nevco just arrived. This is one serious trailer.

note, pit trolley up front.

[Let Me Drive]

well to start this has taken me and my dad a few years now to complete

[boxheadmr]

that bus is awesome

[warps]

Fook Me, that's a serious bit of kit!!

Just watch that last step - looks like the Winfiled might need a bit of buffing on the front spoiler after driving off those ramps

[LSX-438]

The bus setup has to be the ultimate solution, awesome.

[Let Me Drive]

yeah there are more ramps that we put on so that it can pick up a car thats 25mm off the ground no problem

[Snowman]

There is a guy in Melbourne that has just imported a bunch of trailers from Germany specifically to suit race cars (although they don't have a wheel rack) that are available to rent at rates cheaper than your normal crappy petrol station ones.

Twin axle tilting style that go down to 3degs angle (if you use the extensions) and are super light. I'm using one for Targa this year and won't bother trying to buy one now since the rental rates are that bloody good.

There's a vid he's done to show how easy they are to use.

I'll put some pics up of my car as well once its on with the proper wheel straps and everything. Its a very cool set-up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqcOLrpwwsA