Found a Cat trailer that looks pretty good, is there anything I’m missing?

[Keith Richards]

Question:

On the way home I had a little vibration, I'm thinking the light empty trailer with hard cold tires (27deg) was just bouncing around. I was wondering if perhaps the wheels need to be balanced? Tires look like new, and in 45y of towing, I never balanced a trailer wheel.

Anyone ever need to balance a trailer wheel?

Run your hand around the tread portion of the tires and feel for a raised (bubble) type area. If you find that the tire has dry-rotted from the inside and it about ready to let go. Had this happen once and you can feel the vibration from it towing.

 

[DavidKFla]

It definitely can't hurt anything to have them vibration free. No reason not to balance any tire that sees speeds over 30 or so.

Somewhat related, this week I got reminded of how important road force balancing can be. It was a set of refurbished wheels and more winter friendly tires for the GT AWD.

Three of the four were rejected by the Hunter GSP 9700 for having excessive road force numbers, and not only by a little bit. After measuring rim run-out (a simple procedure) the machine shows exactly how much to turn the tire on the wheel to make two discrepancies cancel each other.

It also shows what improvement to expect, and for the worst one it would go down from .052 to .034. That's still quite high, but obviously better. After doing the match balance it came out to .006! Yes, the worst one became the best of the four.

A regular spin balancer would've simply asked for small amounts of weight (to get them right required a fair bit more) and the machine would've declared them balanced. Not true in real life. You can balance out a piece of 2x4 attached to the tread, but that won't make it go down the road nicely.

Also, more often than not, the tire and wheel combo with the most weights is actually the smoothest running one. View attachment 126501

View attachment 126502

I bought some "takeoffs" that ended up being garbage one time. Fortunately I bought them really cheap and much less than the cost of the tires. Learned my lesson.

 

[DavidKFla]

Run your hand around the tread portion of the tires and feel for a raised (bubble) type area. If you find that the tire has dry-rotted from the inside and it about ready to let go. Had this happen once and you can feel the vibration from it towing.

I recently had the same situation with a drag radial. Took it in to get balanced and the tire guy called me over. It had a small hump in the tread area that was barely perceptible. A belt starting to separate. It could of been ugly.

 

[Jimmy N.]

I bought some "takeoffs" that ended up being garbage one time. Fortunately I bought them really cheap and much less than the cost of the tires. Learned my lesson.

Yeah, these wheels weren't the truest ones I've ever seen.

But then, I didn't expect perfection since they came from Florida. At least they had ground off most of the alligator tooth marks.

 

[2ndAmend]

It definitely can't hurt anything to have them vibration free. No reason not to balance any tire that sees speeds over 30 or so.

Somewhat related, this week I got reminded of how important road force balancing can be. It was a set of refurbished wheels and more winter friendly tires for the GT AWD.

Three of the four were rejected by the Hunter GSP 9700 for having excessive road force numbers, and not only by a little bit. After measuring rim run-out (a simple procedure) the machine shows exactly how much to turn the tire on the wheel to make two discrepancies cancel each other.

It also shows what improvement to expect, and for the worst one it would go down from .052 to .034. That's still quite high, but obviously better. After doing the match balance it came out to .006! Yes, the worst one became the best of the four.

A regular spin balancer would've simply asked for small amounts of weight (to get them right required a fair bit more) and the machine would've declared them balanced. Not true in real life. You can balance out a piece of 2x4 attached to the tread, but that won't make it go down the road nicely.

Also, more often than not, the tire and wheel combo with the most weights is actually the smoothest running one. View attachment 126501

View attachment 126502

Back when I bought the ‘04 GTO, I didn’t like the wheels so I bought aftermarket wheels and tires, they shook like crazy. The shop tried 3 times but they didn’t have a Hunter so I found a shop that did. One shop had one guy who really knew how to use it. He broke down all 4 and mixed and matched tires to wheels, it was perfect!

10 years later a (different) tech at that same shop took the GTO for a “test drive” and ran it off the road, $4k in damage.

Moral of the story: Even if you find a good shop, don’t expect it to stay that way forever. Techs move, managers move, owners change.

 

[Unholy707]

Lots of good info here

 

[2ndAmend]

If anyone would like to keep this going, I still have a lot to figure out. I've been towing
boats, horses, dirt, uhauls forever but never a vehicle, and this is one I really care about. I will be doing a few 15mi trips to the dragway and 2 long trips/year 350mi to land speed trials. Northern ME is low/no traffic, summer driving, 75 speed limit, soft rolling hills.

Someone recommended etrack, looks good and reasonably priced. I think this makes it easier to strap the front and avoid air dam damage. Not sure it is really necessary in the rear.

Is it ever better to cross strap L-R?

I have slingshot wheels, not sure if I need wheel nets or straps through the wheels with protective fuzzies.

I think I have the race ramp figured out, looks like I will make my own to dimensions tailored to the car and trailer.

A lot of you have been towing cars forever. Sharing experience is always greatly appreciated!

 

[Jimmy N.]

I think I have the race ramp figured out, looks like I will make my own to dimensions tailored to the car and trailer.

Look at what Best Aluminum Ramps has to offer. Might be quite appealing compared to making a set. I've had a set made to specs for a trailer and for a very reasonable price.

And they're knife edged which is a great feature with the Challenger's splitter.

 

[Jimmy N.]

Is it ever better to cross strap L-R?

No. Aside from that straps don't like being rubbed against each other, you're giving up a fair amount of strength by having the straps at that much of an angle.

To me the most important part is to keep the trailered vehicle from moving forward. That's because nobody always have control over how quickly things come to a stop. So I tend to make the rear tie-down setup the strongest.

Also, I prefer tie down, as opposed to tied fore and aft. That rules out tying to suspended parts, which is something I never do to anything with suspension no matter what.

By tying down there's far more friction between the trailer deck and tires, so any lateral or lengthwise movement is pretty much eliminated. Wheel nets, or straps over the tires, takes care of that nicely. Lasso straps is a close second if the anchor points on the trailer won't accommodate nets or straps over the tires.

But hey, it's your car, your trailer, your choice. After having trailered literally millions of dollars of cars for tens of thousands of miles, I know what I prefer.

 

[2ndAmend]

After having trailered literally millions of dollars of cars for tens of thousands of miles, I know what I prefer.

Which is why I appreciate your help. I'm going to tow maybe 2 times to Land Speed, 4 max. A few short trips to the dragway. Then the trailer and everything else will be sold.

I prefer to avoid a huge investment for low use. I was thinking maybe 4 straps on the back, 2 straight and 2 cross, retaining the rear is 90% of the game (I think). The front is just to make sure it doesn't roll off the back or fall to the side in an emergency/collision. I have no prob adding custom mounting points if necessary.

Thanks for your help!

 

[DGatzby]

X4 and be done.

 

[Jimmy N.]

I was thinking maybe 4 straps on the back, 2 straight and 2 cross, retaining the rear is 90% of the game (I think). The front is just to make sure it doesn't roll off the back or fall to the side in an emergency/collision.

I completely agree with that the rear tie-downs can be the most important, but four...

The two that would be crossed is a no-no in the first place, and if at about 45 degrees their strength/efficiency is cut in half even if the abrasion between them hasn't lowered their WLL. And that's not even considering the physical clearance for them. Would work better if it was your pickup on the trailer.

Two straps at a slight angle outward from the wheels will provide nearly full strength in a frontal collision scenario, yet keep the Challenger in place laterally.

 

[Jimmy N.]

X4 and be done.

Agree. Except that I'd use the far more substantial stake pockets instead of the rub rail.

 

[DGatzby]

Agree. Except that I'd use the far more substantial stake pockets instead of the rub rail.

Why? The car is positioned for the center of its mass to be where I want it. Jimmy for the experience you have, I am surprised you are telling me to position the car with respect to some minor shit on the trailer as opposed to getting it in the correct load point on that trailer. Show me structural calculations where tying it where it is positioned is not adequate on that rail. Show your work and I will be interested in vertical vectors please.

 

[DGatzby]

Agree. Except that I'd use the far more substantial stake pockets instead of the rub rail.

You may also want to research the distance btw our axles and the position of those “stake pockets”. Before you get to carried away, sir.

 

[Jimmy N.]

In your case, if the car is positioned correctly for tongue weight, I'd run the lasso strap to a stake pocket D-ring in the stake pocket just behind the center of the tire.

I have never run four lasso straps straight down vertically, wanting more fore and aft efficiency. And why the stake pocket D-rings? Because I only use hooks with clips, not wanting anything to possibly be able to detach.

 

[MMissile]

When towing my cars with expensive suspension, we always have rings on the body, and keep my shocks from beating themselves to death. Hundreds of miles of towing = 4X the dragstrip passes on the suspension. Just how we do it with our racecars. Opinions and applications vary....

 

[Unholy707]

What a

X4 and be done.
View attachment 127023

What Are those fancy 2 piece rotors you have on the rear

 

[DGatzby]

[

What a

What Are those fancy 2 piece rotors you have on the rear

Got the Demon Performance or GiroDisc on all corners. Us road course drivers need all the stopping help we can find.

 

[2ndAmend]

X4 and be done.
View attachment 127023

Thanks. I did a bunch or research and this was a popular setup, but my immediate reaction is the pulling down and to the side does almost nothing for F-R support. In hard braking I would expect the car to shift forward until the strap is at sufficient angle to provide rearward support. I was thinking maybe using this system and adding another strap from the D ring to the trailer rear tie down point.