What kind of Truck & Trailers are you guys using to tow your FDs to the track?
 

I'm interested in what you guys are using. Pictures would be great if you have any.

I drive it to the track. It is a street car afterall. I only notice posers or wanna be racers tow their street cars to the track. I don't understand why one would go through the expense and effort to do that but different strokes and all that...

I do tow my race car (Spec Miata). I use a Ford Excursion. Typically rent a trailer from UHaul. Not sure if the FD would work on that trailer due to ride height and the 99 lip.

Good point Gracer. Just wondering about those who can't smog their FDs and choose to keep their FDs as track only vehicles...

Stick it on the back of any car with a bit of power, FD's are not heavy.

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:dubs:

Was only towing as it was a non-runner - I'd drive it to the track unless it was a session where I needed more than one set of tires.

Excellent thread :)


I recently acquired a new open trailer for towing my FD to the track. I had rented one in the past for a long trip and decided it was something that I needed.

I tow with a 2002 Range Rover. With the FD on the open trailer the Range does excellent, you dont really feel the car back there until you find a hill.... I do wish it had a bit more power, but for my needs it does great.


I used to drive my FD to the track. Having a trailer opens up so many additional possibilities. The biggest is the amount of gear you can bring, you are no longer restricted to the FD's tiny hatch space. However the biggest advantage (personally) that I have found is confidence on track. Previously when I would drive to the track I would always have it in the back of my mind that I needed this car functioning to get me home. That put me in a mental state where I was not able to push the car as hard as I would have liked. I noticed that as soon as I started trailering the car I immediately got faster because I was no longer worried about blowing up, failing turbos, some minor off track excursions, etc.


Here is a shot of me towing Scrub's FD to the Carlisi Meet back in August with Scrub driving my FD behind.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1381403250


Now the real question is how does everyone strap their FD down on the trailer??? I found this to be a pain in the ass, so I spent some time developing tie down hooks for the car. They should make strapping the car down a breeze. The prototypes are being laser cut this week or next, I'll post some pictures when I get them done.


In for more trailer pics! :egrin::icon_tup:

That's a bit extreme to call people who tow their cars posers... When we make the 7 hour trip down to VIR I would MUCH rather be sitting in the comfort of my tow vehicle. Its quiet, comfortable, has great A/C, and nice stereo. My FD has none of those things. Additionally, even for closer tracks its great to unwind in the comfort of the tow vehicle for your trip home after a long day at the track.

^ I agree. Towing IMO is a good idea if something goes wrong, you still have a way to get home with less stress.

Ah, a Range Rover, ideal towing vehicle really :).

For the trip pictured I just ratchet strapped the wheels down to the trailer, plenty good enough to hold it in place over the 220 odd mile trip :icon_tup:

Barely knew the trailer was there when moving - The main key is getting the load balanced on the trailer, thankfully the FD is easy to balance due to its weight distribution.

Your car is looking great btw John :icon_tup:

Thanks!

How was towing with that Golf? I assume it is a TDI? When I was over in Ireland I noticed a large amount of normal passenger cars with tow receiver balls mounted to them. You never see that around here.

Yeah its the GTI TDI 150hp model, but remapped to 210hp & 410nm for fun :lol:. It towed it no problem at all. I was a little worried when I had to stop on a steep hill at some traffic lights, but surprisingly it was fine. That trailer is a pretty heavy one too. Its normally a tri axle, just had one removed at the time. Its taken Land Rovers in the past. Averaged 41mpg over the 220 miles with a full trailer & was comfortable, a/c, heated seats etc, cant complain ;).

Its far more common to see a car towing than a truck over here. I'd imagine due to the fuel cost making trucks impractical.

I'm glad for those who have chimed in so far. Wasn't sure of the reaction I'd get as this is not a normal topic here, but I wanted to hear specifically from FD owners. John what kind of trailer is that and how much did it set you back?

I drove my car to and from the track for about eight years, pulling a trailerette with tires/tools on it, even as far as VIR and WGI (5-6 hours away), and with a few close calls, always drove home.

Ironically, as soon as I started towing the car, I started breaking stuff (but it's really because I was going faster, and stuff was getting older).

I tow with a 2006 Toyota 4Runner. I did a lot of research on what would be the most real world livable/driveable for both me and my wife, and still honestly be robust enough to tow OVER TIME. Lots of stuff WILL do it. Then two-three years later, your transmission is toast and the thing rattles like a bucket of bolts (or whatever). At the same time, I didn't feel like driving a giant ass F350 diesel dually to work every day.

I'm borrowing a trailer for a friend currently (thanks Rich!), awaiting a place to be able to park my own, before I buy one. The trailer is a TANK... it's probably as heavy as the car and really requires a load-leveling hitch to ride well. When I buy I'm hoping to pick up something more compact and lighter to ease the load on the truck.

You guys all using steel trailers? I wonder if a Nissan Titan with a tow package would last. I don't want a big F350 either and I don't want a huge diesel either.

I got an 18ft Sure-trac steel bed trailer. It has 4 wheel brakes, dove tail, winch plate (for future winch), and removable driver side fender. The removable fender is a fantastic feature for our low cars. All said after taxes, registration, inspection, and spare tire, it end up costing $3400 new.

Sure Trac |

Even with the dove tail, my FD is too low to load it with the standard ramps so I made ramp extensions out of wood. The other option is to purchase race ramps extensions.



This is exactly why I bought the Range Rover... more than enough towing capacity so I am not taxing the truck, but it is also my daily driver so I wanted something I could live with every day.

My steel trailer weighs 1950 lbs empty.

I've got to believe the 18' steel trailer I'm using weighs 1950 or so as well. It's a tank. It's for towing trucks and such.

I'd like to spend the $$ for a used aluminum Trailex or something that is not only much lighter (1k lbs or so), but also a lot lower and more compact.... they also have nice attachments for tools and extra wheels. Just need a place to put the thing.

I think the Trailex's are about the same height as most standard open car haulers. However the Trailex trailers don't have dove tails. So it may require even longer extensions to get the car up.

Aluminum trailer is the way to go for sure though if you can afford it!

Those I've parked next to actually have smaller tires, and are definitely lower than what I'm using. The Ramps that come with them are super long, too.

IMO, Towing and the longevity of the equipment has more to do with the driver rather than the equipment doing the towing.

I think people(not you) just need to take it easy when towing and remember the vehicle will not accelerate like it will when empty and to just take it easy when it comes to hills, no excessive overtaking where the trans has to downshift 2 gears... things like that. Little driving style changes make a larger impact to increase longevity rather than the actual vehicle. JMO

I would have no problem towing my FD with a F-150 there is absolutely no need for a 350 diesel to tow a single FD:lol:. (speaking from experience) The newer F-150's drive like cars and ride amazing.

I use my Dodge Ram 3500 diesel dually to tow my FD on a 18' open trailer.

As stated before, even with the dove tail, I still have problems. To get around this, I carry a couple strips of 2x6 to extend the ramps.

No, I don't need to tow my car anywhere, but when I go out in the 90*+ sun for autocross, I pack a tent, four collapsible chairs, a small cooler, and if the breeze is dead, also pack a fan that hooks up to an inverter in the truck.

Is the truck an overkill? Hell yes! But I also use it to tow boats, a 2 car gooseneck trailer, and other random heavy items.

I think the biggest thing I've towed is probably my brother's 38' Fountain. Estimated around 14k lbs with trailer.


Downside to towing the car, packing up and leaving is a lot longer.

Benefits, as everybody else stated, convenience and capability of carrying whatever you want.

As stated above newer F-150s do the job perfectly well. I towed my FD with my roommate's old 2009 F-150 (had the 4.6 in it I think). The truck barely knew it was there aside from the suspension sag. Uhaul trailers do put a lot of weight on the tongue though because the wheel chalks are not adjustable so you cant get the weight of the car over the axles.

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that wouldn't fly in most countries, including most US states.

This is what I use to tow.....pretty much anything

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I used to have an 8x20 enclosed trailer but I sold that one to my dad so he could use it for his construction business, now I have only my wife's 7x16 enclosed which doesn't fit the FD, obviously

Next time I move though (due to military orders) I'm picking up an 8.5x52' enclosed so I can just put everything I own in the back of it and roll out

whenever I see that photo of the golf pulling the FD I immediately think of this video:

^ I remember seeing that a while ago.....I can't imagine how i'd feel if that happened to me towing my FD

and that is why you don't tow a car on a trailer behind a car weighing half what it is towing.

of course someone is going to say the trailer wasn't balanced properly to which i will simply say that is BS(it actually appeared to be very well balanced), the trailer will push the car in front and try to overtake it even on the most minor inclines. if the trailer has brakes and you take it easy you could get by, if you're experienced.

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When I bought my RX7 I drove 4 hours to get it so I trailered it. The trailer is a tilt bed but I still had to use a few 2x4's to clear. My truck is a F250 with a V10 so I got 12 mpg empty trailer and 11.6 loaded. Also found out that hooking through a rim isn't the best idea put some small scuff marks on them.

I tow with a 17' steel open trailer with an open deck and dove tail. Weighs about 1700lbs on its own. I actually borrowed an 07' GMC Sierra 5.3L to tow with for a long time and just recently finally got a tow vehicle of my own. I got a good deal on a Saab 9-7x Aero (Trailblazer SS) that I'll be using now.

I strap my car down through the wheels and have never had issues with it.

As for driving...I can't fit my track wheels/tires into the FD, so my options were to build a hitch and tire trailer or get a trailer. I chose to get a trailer as I'm very good a breaking my FD at the track and it's nice to know I'll always get home. Plus, driving all day at the track and then driving home in aluminum seats is not fun.

I figure fully loaded with gear and gas my setup weighs around 4800lbs. If you go with an aluminum trailer that would allow you to lower your weight by roughly 700-800lbs and then be able to reliably pull with a V6 option which would get better mileage as a daily.

Why not?

Exactly that, keep the speed down and be sensible and its a non issue (Think the max I took it was 55). That trailer has brakes, was perfectly balanced, and didn't snake at all. The car is rated to tow the weight it was towing, as is the tow bar. Its perfectly legal/safe.

perhaps it is in the UK, here in the western US the highway patrol will give you grief and at least a ticket.

even when i see small trucks towing something like that i stay far far away.

granted i have done worse, towing a 35' trailer with about 15,000 lbs in it(including the trailer) behind a 3/4 ton truck(weighing just over 1/3 of the load it was pulling). going down the long grades was no fun.. after smoking a rotor to the veins and boiling the fluid out of the front calipers i decided it was a good time to fix the trailer brake. being past the truck turnout and facing a 5 mile straight grade with 5% braking will make anyone cautious about towing, luckily what little brakes hadn't been cooked managed to keep the speed steady at 80mph until it leveled off.

Over here you need a trailer license to tow over 750kg, that may be part of the reason, as it means people who do tow know how to tow safely.

well i assume it has a trailer brake, i don't care what the car is rated to tow i can't envision the stopping distance would be very good without it.

There are 2 people I regularly see at the track with a Nissan Titan towing an open trailer + race car. Should be fine for Nor Cal given we don't have many hills or harsh weather. Just keep an eye on tranny oil temps, engine oil temps and coolant temps. You can probably do that through ODBC and ScanGauge.

If you don't have space or funds to buy and store a trailer, FJM in San Jose rents some nice open ones.

Tie downs through the wheels or over the wheels are my preferred method of securing the car. Check out Mac's Custom Tie Downs and their videos.

Fair enough. I can understand in that scenario.


At a recent NASA event, I saw a bunch of BMW weenies towing their BMW street cars w/ street tires in their Range Rovers and X5s. I know the ones I chatted with lived within an hour of the track. They were running HPDE2 and 3. I call that poser.

While I don't have an RX7 any longer, I do tow "a" vehicle to the track which is similar in weight to the RX7. I use a FJ Cruiser for towing and I have a Maxey 18 ft wooden deck trailer. I have to say I'm skeptical about some the trailer weights mentioned as I looked into 18 ft steel deck trailers and pretty much all of them were around 2200-2300 lbs. Anyway, the FJ is not the best choice, but I needed something that my wife could use for her and my daughter's Girl Scout outings and for myself during the winter. A few things I would recommend if you are towing with a smaller less powerful vehicle:

* Make sure to install a transmission cooler
* The trailer must have brakes (you'd think this was a no brainer, but...)
* Use a weight distributing hitch
* Take your time ;)

The FJ does ok, but it's real problem is with it's range. It has a tiny fuel tank and it gets crappy gas mileage (even without towing) so the range is small. Add in towing and you won't get anywhere without stopping for gas. I'll be looking into an auxiliary fuel tank to assist on the towing trips.

I have a friend who has a diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee. He races Spec Miata so his car is smaller/lighter and so is his trailer. However, he averages around 18 mpg towing and sometimes higher if he's not in a rush.

As for tying the car down, I go through the wheels. This way it doesn't compress the suspension.

Get off your high horse. Did they show up and race their car? Then who cares. If I had the luxury of towing any car everytime I wanted to go to the track I would. Then I can remove all worry of getting home and drive the tires off the car without worry.

On topic:
V8 4th gen 4runner to tow my 7. I usually rent or borrow a generic car hauler. Making due with what I've got.

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Just a word of caution I have experienced.


I was towing a FD a few years ago with the stock wheels and used that method, about 1 mile before my destination (only a 20 mile trip) the strap was cut due to the slightly raised edge of the stock wheels. Luckily I heard the strap break and saw it in my mirror so I was able to stop without issue and re strap the car.

That should be just a general overall safety check to make sure the straps aren't rubbing on something that will cut them (not only wheels).

I bought a 2000 F350 dually, 7.3 diesel, crew cab, utility bed with 185k miles for $5000 to tow my dumbass street car to track days and shit. It's big, ugly, and realistically, overkill BUT it gets real life calculated 15mpg, loaded, unloaded, city or highway. It simply does work and will continue to do work for probably another 200k miles. Longetivity is the advantage of using the correct tool for the job. Not saying a Range, half-tons or whatever else you're tow vehicle is won't do the job, it's just how well and how long they will last doing it. If you ever get a chance to drive a diesel truck with a load, do it for comparisons sake. It's night and day. I towed my FD with an 03 Tahoe a couple times. In hindsight, it sucked.

My FDs parking space is an all steel 18ft flat bed with 4ft dove, dual axle trailer. Plenty of space. Can fit spare wheels/tires, cooler, chairs, pop up tent... everything I need for a weekend, on the trailer.

Sure, I could drive the FD anywhere but at the end of a track day, I want ac, cushy seats and a damn auto trans.