Towing a perfectly balanced car

[LennyM1984]

I've recently bought a tilting trailer for my race car but due to the weight distribution I'm having trouble getting the trailer to tilt down again once the vehicle is loaded.

If I drive the car on forwards as far as I can, it still isn't sufficient to get the bed to tilt back down again without persuasion.

The car in question is front engined but the weight is distributed 48% front and 52% rear.

I'm wondering if I may be better off reversing it on (which due to the ride height and rear overhang would allow me to get the car on further).

My only real concern with this is that when towing I have always put a front engined car on nose first.

I'm probably overthinking it, but what would be the best approach in this situation?

[GreenV8S]

The further forward the CoG is the better it will tow, as well as solving your tilt problem..

Be on the lookout for trailing edges of soft tops / tonneau covers that could catch the wind, but apart from that I wouldn't expect any aerodynamic problems from towing it backwards.

[Smint]

Reversing on should help transfer that extra weight forward enough, especailly if as you say you can get the race car further forward...should aid towing stability too.

The main reason for not reversing on is if something at the rear end could be damaged or become dislodged at speed due to the wind factor, i drove full size multi car transporters for 20 years, yes sometimes deck angles dictated which way round the vehicles would face but sometimes rear spoilers and similar made the decision for us, if you have a offside or head wind and are travelling at 60mph you could easily have gusts in excess of 80mph total doing their best to remove aerodynamic parts now facing the wrong way.

[LennyM1984]

Brilliant. Thanks both.

It has a rear spoiler but it's not huge and I could always remove it if worst came to worst.

[tapkaJohnD]

Lenny,
As said above, forward weight on a trailer is essential for stability. Have you see this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mW_gzdh6to

John

[LennyM1984]

tapkaJohnD said:

Lenny,
As said above, forward weight on a trailer is essential for stability. Have you see this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mW_gzdh6to

John

I know the logic... the challenge really is that it is front engined (so you would expect the front to be heaviest) and yet because it has almost perfect weight distribution, it's basically balanced on the pivot point of the trailer when the front is as far forwards as I can get it.

If I can get it a bit further forwards by reversing it on, that should hopefully tip the balance (quite literally) in my favour.

[hellorent]

Bear in mind the tow bar maximum nose weight

[drmotorsport]

As others have said, the load CoG needs be in front of the pivot point of the trailer, if that means reversing it on then so be it. Out of curiosity what is the race car in question? I can't think of anything front engined hat has such a heavy backside (BMW with a boot full of cement?)!

[MagicalTrevor]

Fit a tyre rack to the trailer and carry spares

[The Wookie]

drmotorsport said:

As others have said, the load CoG needs be in front of the pivot point of the trailer, if that means reversing it on then so be it. Out of curiosity what is the race car in question? I can't think of anything front engined hat has such a heavy backside (BMW with a boot full of cement?)!

I'm going for 944 or something else with a transaxle

Loading backwards isn't an issue OP, a mate used to tow his 964RS on an open trailer backwards out of necessity (back in the crazy old days when you could pick one up for 30k!). I've trailered plenty of rear biased cars backwards in closed trailers.

I'd dare say that if you've got any aero addenda that will become dislodged running backwards at 60mph then it needs sorting for track use anyway as it could come off in a high speed spin

[LennyM1984]

drmotorsport said:

As others have said, the load CoG needs be in front of the pivot point of the trailer, if that means reversing it on then so be it. Out of curiosity what is the race car in question? I can't think of anything front engined hat has such a heavy backside (BMW with a boot full of cement?)!

It's a Ginetta G40. The engine sits behind the front axle with the gearbox and diff then tipping the weight over the rear. It's only 48/52 distribution but with that and the extremely low ride height, it is enough to make the tilt trailer a pain in the a55.

[The Wookie]

Damn, I was quite emotionally invested in being right about a transaxle

[LennyM1984]

The Wookie said:

Damn, I was quite emotionally invested in being right about a transaxle

I do also have a Porsche if that makes you feel better (although it's not a transaxle!)

[stevieturbo]

LennyM1984 said:

I've recently bought a tilting trailer for my race car but due to the weight distribution I'm having trouble getting the trailer to tilt down again once the vehicle is loaded.

If I drive the car on forwards as far as I can, it still isn't sufficient to get the bed to tilt back down again without persuasion.

The car in question is front engined but the weight is distributed 48% front and 52% rear.

I'm wondering if I may be better off reversing it on (which due to the ride height and rear overhang would allow me to get the car on further).

My only real concern with this is that when towing I have always put a front engined car on nose first.

I'm probably overthinking it, but what would be the best approach in this situation?

Most tow bars will specify maximum nose weight, you cannot simply keep going forward as much as you like. Set up a set of scales on the ball hitch, and move the car about to see where the max weight for your towbar is found.

I'm sure many do run far higher, but it would be a good test to find a starting point anyway