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Hello everyone first post for me.I HAVE A 1980 Corvette and I am stressing about if i break down what is the proper way of towing my corvette without tearing it apart.also is jacking up one side at a time to do brakes safe to do on the body.
I would only jack one corner at a time if it were mine.
As far as towing when broke down, if you are doing it yourself, can't help you there. I know that once when I was stranded, the tow was with a system that pulled the car up on a lowboy. That's most of what I see nowadays.
Flatbed truck. Nothing else will transport my cars. Make sure the operator knows not to allow the pull cable to contact the front air dam.
I don't worry about jacking my cars to work on them. If I'm doing brakes where an entire side is raised, position the jack at the midpoint to lift both wheels and place stands at each end. If just jacking to change a wheel I don't worry about twisting the body/frame. All cars are somewhat flexible and this won't hurt them.
There is no reason you can't jack the whole side of the car up. I do it all the time. Just place the jack about midway and like mentioned above, be sure to place jack stands under the frame. The owners manual shows pictures of where they can be placed, but they are in front of the rear wheels, right before the frame kick up and behind the front wheels right where the frame starts to curve inward.
Those U-Haul trailers are the bomb if you want to get out on the cheap........they are well kept, solid and tow like nothing is there.........I just drug one to PA to pick up a Camaro and drove back with the car on it.......3200 miles overall.......I cruised at about 80 MPH......
Hagerty insurance provides for flatbed towing if you have a break-down. I don't know about the other insurers, but that method is needed, if you have a Corvette.
I've used the uHaul method on my car a few times with great success.
Once I had to get towed home. Used a flatbed similar to above again with great success. I did however clarify when I called that I needed a flatbed and one that can get low enough for a very low car. No car dollies here!
I would only jack one corner at a time if it were mine.
As far as towing when broke down, if you are doing it yourself, can't help you there. I know that once when I was stranded, the tow was with a system that pulled the car up on a lowboy. That's most of what I see nowadays.
How do you jack one corner at a time? With my '79 when I put a jack anywhere on the side frame member between the wheels both wheels rise. According to my shop manual the side frame members between the wheels are the only recommended lifting points. I do use the frame extensions in the nose for jack stands (again per the shop manual) but never for lifting at the manual is specific that these are only for jack stands or similar.
Actually I'd think that raising one full side is less stressful on a frame than trying to raise one corner at a time.
From: Loud, Raw and Dangerous 1968 327 4S in Southern California
Originally Posted by Jebbysan
Those U-Haul trailers are the bomb if you want to get out on the cheap........they are well kept, solid and tow like nothing is there.........I just drug one to PA to pick up a Camaro and drove back with the car on it.......3200 miles overall.......I cruised at about 80 MPH......Jebby
How do you get the car on this type of U-Haul trailer if it is not running....do they have a winch?
How do you get the car on this type of U-Haul trailer if it is not running....do they have a winch?
To load my non-running '72 onto a U-Haul trailer I merely used a pair of ratcheting come-alongs. Kinda slow but worked fine. Ratchet with one until you run out of cable, attache the second, release the first and repeat.