Cobra4B

Got very lucky... no damage to the car. I was accelerating away from a light and got to abou 30 mph when somehow my front straps came undone and the car rolled backwards and off! The tongue went up and the back of the truck got very light. Thankfully my equalizer hitch kept everything in line. One of the back straps held on and kept the car from going all the way off the trailer, only the back wheels where on the road.

I guess I just didn't tighten my straps enough and the slight rocking back/forth (Panoz has no parking brake, towing in neutral) allowed the front hooks to come loose from the wheel straps I loop around the front frame section.

A couple of cops came up behind me to divert traffic and put out flares. Amazingly they had a floor jack. I was able to jack up the rear of the car, pull out my trailer ramps, put the car down on them and drive back up on the trailer.

Moral of the story... make your straps super f'n tight or better yet get straps with clip ends on them so this cannot happen. No damage to the car

1ED1

Go get a lotto ticket now! Its your lucky day.

Oyishdog

shesh! Sounds like a wild ride. Thankful nothing serious happened

outnumbered

Measure twice and cut once.

Glad all was ok.

Bill Dearborn

I had the front straps on my car come loose a couple of years ago. Luckily, I had the parking brake on and the car in reverse so it only moved a few inches due to bouncing. If the brake and tranny hadn't of worked the chains I use in the rear wouldn't have let the rear tires drop off the trailer but it could have made the rig very unstable if the car had moved all the way to the back of the trailer while driving at high speed.

Bill

Cobra4B

^ That's exactly what happened to me... but no parking brake on the Panoz. I've always been instructed to tow in neutral becuase manual transmissions are splash lubed.

Hardcorvette

No doubt.

freefall

wow - lucky!!! better clean your seat too.

carnut101

What does that mean? On Friday I'm towing my track car for the second time. Last time my dad told me to leave it in gear with the e-brake up

Cobra4B

^ I've always been told parking brake on (if you have one) and in neutral. The trans is lubricated by the gears spinning through the oil in the bottom of the trans case, the oil gets on the gear faces and lubricates everything.

If you're sitting still the fluid is not getting moved around and the gear faces will get dry as the fluid settles to the bottom. So.... if you're towing in gear you have gear faces in contact w/ minimal lubrication. Over time that can caused increased wear.

jbusmc1986

I vote for in gear on the trailer, as there is less chance of movement, and then once the destination is reached put the car back in neutral.

edcmat-l1

Goddamn you're lucky. BTW, we dont do body work LOL.
Keep those straps tight. You may wanna cross em too. That helps keep them from loosening when it wants to rock back and forth. Also, dont keep it in neutral. Put that biotch in gear!!!

John Shiels

I had my car in front of the house and unstapped it. Ran in the house and did something. Came out and said I need to move it a foot or so for what ever the reason was. Put the truck in gear and just start to move the 12" and I hear a bang and get a shake. Car rolled back and dropped to the belly pan. Just enough room to get the jack under it and back on. Now I remember it was my friends trailer before I got mine.

The when I got my trailer I was at the Glen and before I pinned the ramps real good it fell again. It was the first time with my trailer and I was using glue-lam beams. I hit the gas and they shot back and it dropped with the rear ties just hanging at the edge of the trailer.

Mikelly

Thankfully, this has never happened to me...

Brian, You heard correctly. Never leave the tranny in gear... Good way to damage the internals of your tranny by having the car bouncing back and forth, banging against those internals...

Mike

sperkins

Holy crap man. Glad everything is OK. Just today I was following directly behind a guy on the interstate pulling a large enclosed utility trailer when all of a sudden I see sparks flying everywhere in front of me. The damn hitch came loose and the trailer separated from the truck.
Luckily, the chains kept it attached to the truck and I was able to floor it and get around him. He managed to get it off to the shoulder, but he tore the hell out of the road.

Cobra4B

^ Yeah... at first I thought I had a hitch failure, never expected the straps to come loose.

Ed.... yeah I alway criss-cross front and rear.

mousecatcher

You need a windshield banner for your car -- "Knight Rider"!!!

the blur

I always trailer in 1st gear, e brake on, and 4 straps. never a problem. I'll accept the wear and tear on the tranny, (if there is any, which I feel is debatable ) who cares if there is .

better than losing a car at highway speeds.

LS3FORME

Cobra4b,

I sold my panoz a few weeks ago as I got tired of trailering it and dealing with that ****. I remember you from the panoz gtra forum. I had mine roll off the trailer at PCA event, no brake, the trailer had a dove tail, and I undid the front straps. I usually put it in gear but I was in a hurry, sucker rolled right off, heading for a bunch of parked cars. I felt like an idiot. I stopped it with the help of a few guys next to me. But that car and my trailer never got along. By the way I sold my car to a Panoz Factory driver who is putting in a 5.7 and penske.

I did buy the LS3 vette, I did like the panoz but it is alot of work.

Zip Corvettes

Strap it very tight from the frame to the trailer, you will load the suspension and the car will not move, then put it in gear. I can't even count how many cars I have towed and I have never had one come off or even loosen up. Also get good straps, I use 4 10,000 ratchet straps with axle d-rings sewed into them. You are not going to hurt the trans when you do it like I just described because nothing is moving around.
Good Luck.
Justin