Hi All,

I am contemplating the completion of my Six in the next month or so and bringing it home on a flat bed trailer my cousin owns. It's a 400 miles trip from Jim's place to mine. The truck we will use is a Ram diesel 3500 that hauls his back hoe and other cars and trucks. We just brought Datsun 280Z down from Napa yesterday on the trailer and it tows nicely. Looks terrible as it needs paint, but has new tires, wheel bearings, etc.

Anyway, I want to secure my Six to the flat steel bed of the trailer with the nylon straps I see AAA use when they tow a car on their rollback trucks. The nylon strap goes over the tire and then then ratchet that strap tight to the steel deck. So nothing is touched except the strap on the tire. It does not go through the rim at all. I definitely do not want to damage the finish on the wheels Weidman did for me.

Does anyone know what those straps are called and where I can find them? I went to Amazon and found tons of straps but do not know which to buy.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.

Michael

Michael...

they are called Ratchet Tie-Down Trailer Straps


you can pick them up locally at Home Depot and Lowes

they are about $13

https://www.homedepot.com/p/EVEREST-2-in-x-...S1021/203566760

Michael wants the ones that “hammock” over the entire tire. I don’t know where to get them. Unless there is some other reason, I would use your standard wheel straps around the A arms and trailing arms.

Like this?
@Cairo94507

What tie-downs do you have on the trailer? Unless the trailer has tiedowns in the middle, those won't work.

I secure the race car, forward and backward, with straps through the wheels:

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productse...sp?Product=2357

basket style side pull,,,never tried them ...

Thanks guys- Mark posted what I was thinking of. The problem is I don't want to have a strap running through the actual rim because I am afraid it would mess up the finish. I had not thought about using the regular straps and just going through the lower A arm and the training arms to secure it. You don't think that would hurt anything? I know nothing will bend. I was more concerned about the finish on the A arms and the trailing arms. Yeah....but seriously, I am driving this car. I almost thought about driving it home from LA but Highway 5 is brutal. Tons and tons of big rigs throwing stuff everywhere.

Hopefully this is the one and only time it will be towed once it is running.

I used the suspension for towing many times and never saw a scuff. If it did scuff, it would be away from your line of sight but if your parts are powdercoated or epoxy coated, they won't scuff anyway. We just always use the wheel straps for wheels or suspension and then standard tie downs and it works for any car. The only time I've ever had an issue is with deep and wide bodywork on extreme street cars. Race cars almost always have some tie down points.

I like looping the straps over a solid piece of metal. Once it's strapped down that way, noting moves no matter how bumpy the road is or how hard you stop.

I go through the rim and add a sock to protect finish.

I use 8 straps...overkill I know

Plus, I wrap the front, and cover the windshield in stretch wrap.

Oscar

Click to view attachment

The basket side pull kind sixnotfour posted scare me. The load paths are really wonky and because of that the 1670# working limit seems pretty slim if you have an emergency stop-think I'd stay away from those.

I think you could make life so much easier with the padded wheel straps. So much faster than positioning padding on the wheels. I guess it's more of a concern for east coast since it's either hot and humid or cold and rainy. They are very reasonably priced.

http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/category/WheelNets

Best I've used

I have 3 sets of tie downs from this company. They have everything, you will need. You will have to look and see what works with the trailer. I have done the through the wheel, but only once. Over the wheel worked better for me.

https://www.truckntow.com/auto-hauler-suppl...ler-straps.html

I'd second going with Mac's.

Please be careful, I have first hand witnessed this issue, but strapping down the tires only leave the suspension of the vehicle unloaded and free to move around - imagine the car bobbing all over while hitting every bump and curve. We had a case (stacker with 2 early vintage Porsche race cars strapped down the same way) where the cars moved enough to throw off the weight of the trailer and pushing the rear end of the tow vehicle almost causing a major wreck. Thankfully had a cool headed and experienced rig driver to regain control and get the vehicle stopped. This team always straps all cars from the suspension points now.

You’ve got a big tow rig, light car and heavy trailer that’s not so top heavy, so not as much of an issue, but please be aware and careful towing that beautiful car.

With those basket straps, you still have to be careful. As said before the entire car will still be going up and down as the suspension moves when the trailer goes over big bumps and things. I recently had my car towed by a professional flat bed guy who used the over the tire basket straps. I destroyed one side of my front valance as the car came down hard on one of those straps. So make sure you have loads of clearance when using those basket straps with any and all of your bodywork. Those straps don't move much when they are cranked up tight, and if your valance or fender comes down on one of those....the strap will win.

99% of the time I’m towing an enclosed trailer so I don’t think the basket straps would work. Same with all the RSR wheels and tires or when the car is on a dolly. I’m not really seeing the point but to each their own.

Advantage to tires or rims is that they are designed to be in contact with the ground. Strap them down, using Mac's the best in the business.

I do add to extra straps to the suspension just to make sure it stays with the trailer. Proper axle straps with locking heads and locked ratchets. For long trips I wire tie the handles down on all straps.

Only things you should bound to the trailer hard is a hard object. For me that would be tractors attachments or machine tools.

Just make sure you have safety system built in.

Try Mac Tie Downs. Made in the US. Great product. Had mine in about 4 days

www.macscustomtiedowns.com/

Oscar...

A tip I learned a long time ago is to use a piece of fire hose in place of the sock.
I went to my local volunteer fire dept and they are always changing hoses out so they will give you a piece.
The regular straps fit right thru it and it is always on the strap.
Works great and saves the wheel finish.

I have always strapped through the wheels not unlike Oscar. One strap for each wheel & I have never had an issue. I usually wrap a towel around each strap where it comes through the wheel. Never left a mark on my wheel

these for the rear , and loop around front lower arm tube brace..

Through the wheels or the suspension with towels. Easy

OK- thanks to all. I now have a bunch of ideas how to secure it to the trailer. Thanks for all of the links and pictures. Especially the pictures.