dapopa9

Towing a C6 Z06 on a 16' trailer.

I see three options for strapping the car down to the trailer:
1. Strap to the wheels
2. strap to axle
3. strap using t-bar inserts to jack points

- Is there one method that is safer or 'better' than the other?

- I noticed some people cross the straps. What is the advantage of this? Necessary?

After my own research it seems that strapping to the Wheel or Axle is better than strapping to the frame so that I'm not compressing the suspension. It looks like this may be a great package to get the job done: http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/product/262/ProPacks

Any thoughts are welcome!! Thanks!

rbl

There is always an advantage in paying $260 for what can be done for $75.

The factory uses the T-hooks ... good enough for me.

16' is pretty short too.

X prevents lateral movement.

jlutherva

There's virtually no suspension compression w/ the t-hooks due to tie down points being in front and behind the car.

I have a 16' trailer and like he said, it's too short.

Jim

spazegun2213

I've used t-hooks on my open trailers and thought they were great. Just note that you'll have to have some long(ish) straps to reach the mount locations (although on a 16ft you may not, lol). I did this for many years on my 16ft trailer and never had a problem.

Now that I have an enclosed and my car is super low, I simply use "axle straps" through the wheels. I've been doing this for a few years now as well and never had a problem either.

to each his own.

dapopa9

Too short? The car fits on the trailer fine.

UrbanKnight

I've done axles many times, but recently went to through the wheels and haven't had any issues, and its a lot easier than axles.....

**EDIT**- You can get the setup in your link from ebay for about $75 or less.....

dapopa9

Do you have a link from eBay you can send me that you are talking about?

Hat_Trick_Hokie

No problems with my T-hooks so far on my open trailer. I stop a couple miles out to check the straps are tight, and I'm good to go.

UrbanKnight

Here you go
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...d=200440762142

jlutherva

Well, yes, but I would really like to have more space in front of the car to make it easier to tie down as well as having space for a tire rack and gas cans. I could solve the tire issue w/ a fancy rack but that would complicate the tie down process even more.

With all that said, I'm not selling my 16 footer to move up; I'll just deal with it. However, if faced with a decision to BUY a new open trailer, I would absolutely go for the 18 ft over 16.

Jim

mdaniel

I've found the T-Hooks work well and are easy to use on both my C5 & C6.

RedLS1GTO

I use All-Grip T-hook straps as opposed to a separate hook/strap like I usually see. Works like a champ.



EDIT: 2nd down on this page.

http://www.all-grip.com/index.php?s=29&t=1

dapopa9

UPDATE: I called and spoke with the experts over at Mac Custom Tie Downs and they highly recommended against crossing X the straps when securing the car down for the following 2 reasons:

If one strap for some reason breaks or becomes severed in the crossed strap setup then
1. You now have one strap with tension that is pulling the car sideways off of the car
2. You now have one end of the car with zero tension holding the car from moving forward/backward

Whereas if you had a straight non-crossed tie down setup and a strap breaks the 3 remaining straps are all still securely holding the car.

As far as lateral movement on the trailer they told me that is very rare and not a concern with a wooden deck trailer. If you have a slick metal deck then it would maybe be a slight concern and in that case you should use a separate solution to prevent that lateral movement.

2 GTOs

Interesting. First time I have heard not to cross them.

Bill Dearborn

I tow with a 16 ft trailer and it fits just fine. Have a tire rack in front with a mud guard across the front of the rack. Car sits about a foot away from front of trailer.

I have tied mine down two ways. The first way was to use chains to fasten the rear T hooks to the trailer. I would drive on the trailer and attach the rear T hooks then drive forward until they were tight, set the parking brake and fasten two 2 inch wide ratchet straps to T hooks in front and tie both rathect straps to a chain going through a mount on the tongue of the trailer. That way I could tighten the car against the rear T hooks using the straps. This worked fine on my C4 and two C5s since I could move the cars around on the trailer to get the rear chains tight. The C6Z is so wide I can't jockey the car around on the trailer and once it is on it is pretty much where it is going to be with only an inch of spare room from side to side. Thus I added tie downs to the trailer and do it like a lot of others. The straps can't get to the D rings on the same side of the trailer (car tires are in the way) so they have to cross to the other side of the trailer.

Bill