TrackAire

Just picked up a 2003 Z06 that is primarily going to be used as a track day car. It will be towed in an enclosed trailer and will be winched in and out. I average about 18 track days a year so I want to make sure that the front tow hook attachment point will be up to the task. I've already ordered front and rear Pfadt tow hooks but I'd like to know the opinions of others if the front location they mount to is the best for a car that will be seeing a lot of winch pulling in and out of a trailer.

I've searched the forum but did not find anything regarding mounting point strength comparisons. Are there any additional "custom bumpers" the race guys are using under the nose of the car to connect the tow hook and possibly splitter support rods to?

I've also seen a nylon tow strap located in the center (where the license plate cover is) of the nose. Any ideas if there is a strength advantage to the center mount location?

Any other proven tow point ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

StreetSpeed

Why do you winch it in and out of the trailer?

TrackAire

Too fat and old to climb in and out of the window without screwing up the interior or paint, lol.

Because the trailer has living quarters built into it, there is a bed/couch that folds flat above the trailers wheel wells on both sides which means the Vette's door will only open a couple inches.

For me, once I used a winch it became a no drama stress free one person operation. It's just so quick and easy, even if there was an escape door on the trailers driver side, I would still use the winch.

Another plus is it is very hard to screw something up at 1 mph moving speed.

Joshboody

All front tow hooks are attached to the frame... location depends on where you want it to exit. I did the center strap with 1/2" bolt. Some use threaded insert instead of bolts I think, which don't seem like a good idea to me... its to avoid removing the bumper cover I guess. Using bolts, you have to remove it... easier than I expected.

Last C5

I made my own tow hooks and designed them to hook behind the front and back frame members. They both install without removing any body parts and I've winched the car on the trailer many times with them. They are attached with rivet nuts, but the nuts/bolts aren't the stress points when you're winching.

Dan H.

LastC5,
Your front hook is better than what you can buy! I have the pfadt front hook and don't love the way it mounts. Not sure how much I trust those recessed crush nut threaded things that go into the frame.

My goal is to be able to winch on and off a trailer, I think the first couple times I'll be cringing.....

Last C5

I have a friend with the Pfadt front hook on his C6Z and he has used it to winch into his enclosed trailer several times. Seems to work fine.

TrackAire

Nicely done on the design.....wish I had asked before I bought units. I may have to copy your design

You should start stamping these out for sale, better than what I've seen available on the current market.

Cheers,
George

C5Z06CE

I use the Sparco nylon tow straps which are rated to 10000 lbs if I recall correctly (far more than car weight) I have mine mounted with Grade 8 bolts to the frame and one of mine is center car in front license plate area just above my front mount oil cooler. The nylon fold easily behind the screen and I just unfold it to winch the car up and down off my enclosed trailer. I have done this at least 25-30 times with zero issues. The rear one is located off center coming between my horizontal slats on the right side rear bumper. I figured that would be fine to use if I hit something and needed towing off track and the front were not available but obviously not used for winching onto the trailer because it's off center.

I did not like the idea of solid metal tow hooks in case I got close to someone's bumper on track or when walking around my car in tight quarters like on the trailer I would kill my shins.

Just my .02

TrackAire

C5Z06CE,

I agree with your assessment, I'm not concerned about the strength of either the strap or metal tow ring....but I've seen some very questionable mounting points on other vehicles I've tracked (not necessarily Vettes), mainly Mustangs and Vipers. Just trying to educate myself on the Vette since it is a new platform for me.

Usually hardcore racers don't screw around and do it right...so I tend to copy what they do even though I just do open track.

If you get a chance to post a pic of the set up I'd appreciate it....especially how the strap comes out of the license plate area, etc.

Thanks,
George

C5Z06CE

Here in the first pic you can see the tow hook bolted to the undersurface of the frame just behind the license plate area. The oil cooler is just behind and underneath the tow strap at an angle. I have a screen covering the entire setup while on track like in the bottom pic. The middle pic shows the tow hook in the rear.

C5Z06CE

Rear tow hook

C5Z06CE

Front screen

TrackAire

Excellent, thanks for the pictures....that's what I thought you meant.

The car came with a DRM oil cooler, another project I'm working on is increasing air flow in and out of the heat exchangers to survive summers at Thunderhill. I haven't even begun to figure out if the mesh front license plate opening is the way to go. Obviously you use it and it makes sense to me. I'm not sure if there is a debate as to whether it is better to to open that license plate location or not.

In order of importance, my goals for the car is to keep it cool, keep it reliable and finally increase performance as long as it doesn't jeopardize the first two goals too much.

Thanks again,
George

C5Z06CE

No problem. I like the front license plate area for the oil cooler because I use the rear brake side vents on the C5Z in front of the wheel wells for a tranny cooler on the left and a diff cooler on the right. The front license plate area the way I did it has a custom shroud I made for the cooler and the air leaving the oil cooler is fed into the radiator area so more air for the radiator is fed as well. The hottest day I saw here is FL is 98-99 degrees with 99% humidity and track surface temps of 134 degrees. With this setup my oil temps never went above 237 on track and 241 when in the pits. My water temps reached 221-228 range. But I do have an upgraded radiator. The car ran hard and never even a hiccup. I have 416 rwhp/409 rwtq.

By the way I can tell you plenty of ways to keep her reliable. I have spent most of my $$ on mods that do exactly what you are looking for. I have only added a Vararaam air intake and LG header and a tune to get the hp/Tq numbers quoted above. My car is clearly far superior to the driver at this point. My car runs very strong and as I have gotten faster I have decided to take a few months off to do a full safety mod conversion with full cage, fire suppression, full containment seats, 6 point harnesses, and HANS device.

TrackAire

On all my track cars I've never cracked open the engine, just intake, exhaust and mild tune. I usually go bonkers on the suspension, cooling, aero, brakes, safety, tires, etc. I've been using a HANS device for the last 2 years and love it (NecksGen Rev model). I've got a lot of work to do on the C5 Z06 but it is probably the best platform to start with...amazingly many of the parts are less expensive than the modern Mustang platform.