pit-pony

My son and I are driving our two Corvettes a long way to a track event in Mont Tremblant, Quebec

In order to bring our 8 track wheels & tires we have a hitch on the C5 Z06 and new 4ft x 4ft trailer with 12 inch wheels and bearing buddies installed. The deck is plywood and there are no sides. I have 10 good 1.5 inch 15 foot tie down straps, each rated 1300lbs.

What would be the best way to stack and tie down these 8 wheels / tires?

I can try:

- 4 stacks of 2, laying down, they don't fit fully on the bed, as one rear stack sticks out 5 inches to the rear and one stack sticks out to the front, a bit of a diamond shape.

- tires on edge, 2 rows of 4, running side to side. Fits on deck.

- tires on edge, 2 rows of 4, running front to back. Fits on deck.

Tying all this up correctly is the key, using opposing forces front to back and side to side, but which configuration would be more secure for a long drive?

Here are two trial loads:






..jack

jaa1992

the two rows of four will be best.
the four stacks of two will be worse!

When I had my small trailer I had a small truck box on the rear and put one row of four tires in front of it. As long as I got the straps tight the tires stayed on real well.

Solofast

Stacking them flat, as in the top picture will be the best. I've done both and found that the stacks in rows will tend to move around a lot more. Unless you have something on the trailer to keep them from trying to roll, like a tall chock of some kind, they will work loose. I do see that you have a lot of rachet straps, and that's a good thing, but with a row of tires four tires long, the middle ones tend to try to work their way out unless they are restrained some way.

If do them in rows, loop a strap through the four middle ones and cinch them together to make a pack of four tires, and then attach the ones on the end of that stack.

With the flat stack, you can cinch through all of the tires and tie them all together, like you apparently have done, then with four straps tie it down to the trailer and you will be fine. When I flat stack I loop a strap through the middle of the stack of four and chinch them together and then tie down the end top tires to the trailer. The real key is that middle strap that locks the stack together.

FWIW, Just my experience.

jaa1992

Its strange but when I did my tires 2/stack I had the most trouble with them bouncing and comming loose.
Maybe when I went to a row in front of the toolbox worked because the tool box was the "tall chock".

Flat works a lot better with a pole mounted to the wooden deck. Can be plastic (solid drain type piping) or iron. Make sure its got a pretty thick wall. Electrical conduit will not work.

Jason

You have a strap at 3o'clock on that front row, you need one at 9 o'clock also.

pit-pony

I tried the 2 rows front to back in this picture. In the picture I only have 4 straps on and plan to use the other 6 for the final tie down.

I have a wood chuck on both outside edges to help keep things tight (not nailed down yet).

It looks more solid somehow.

sebdavid

Are you coming to the BMW Quebec Club HPDE by any chance? I'll be there instructing. Look for the guy with no track car and a WRX station wagon trailering a green Kawasaki and come and say hi if you can catch me between students!

pit-pony

Testing the ride

urtoslo

Is your jack on that trailer? Jack stands? Tools?

pit-pony

It's a 4ft x 4ft bed.

With the 8 tires on the trailer ( for 2 cars at the track) there is no room for anything else. If I only load 4 tires that there would be room for a box with tools and Jack etc.