[Shop-talk] which tie down best for car hauler

[David Hillman]

On Mon, 16 Jul 2012, Steven Trovato wrote:
> My decision is not based on the shocks at all.  If I tow the car 500 miles, I 
> can't see how the shocks will be worn any more than driving it 500 miles. 
> And for my situation, that's just not that important.  My concern is that if 
> tied by the chassis, the suspension can still compress, momentarily 
> slackening the straps.  Then the car comes back up and slams against the 
> straps.  That just doesn't sound good for the car or the straps.  As for the 
> safety issue, I haven't done a comparison, but I have never felt any handling 
> effect.  Maybe it's because I'm towing with a large vehicle and the car on 
> the trailer is relatively light.

    Don't your shocks have rebound damping?  I'm not sure 'slam' is the 
right word on a car with a functioning semi-modern suspension.  In my 
case, I cross tie-down straps on each end, so whatever force the chassis 
is applying to the strap in the episode you describe is mostly pivoting 
the ~8' strap, not stretching it.

    While not important to me, 500 miles on racing shocks can be a big 
deal.  I can see why people would care about that... but not at the 
expense of controlling their rig.  Personally, I would never tow a heavy 
vehicle, or any other load, on a light trailer that was suspended and 
subject to shifting around.  The physics involved scream danger, to 
me.  YMMV, and I know people do it all the time.  People also smoke ;)

--
  David Hillman