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Trailering A Healey

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I'm hoping the Consortium of Intelligentsia can give me a few ideas. Trailering a Healey may seem like a simple task but it can have it's challenges. The last I trailered my Healey was about 20 years ago. When I brought it home as a derelict. At that time it was a barn find an I was not worried about where I tied the straps too. I remember that I removed the rear seats and put straps around the rear axle. In the front I put straps around the lower control arm between the spring pan and the lower ball joint. Now my Healey is restored and I will again trailer it in the not too distant future. I believe I can again put straps around the front lower control arms without doing any damage. But in the back, I'm at a loss. I do not want to put straps around the rear axle for fear of damaging the brake line. And I am afraid that the straps will foul against the rear aluminium lower roll pan as I lead them out to the attachment points. I have just bought a new trailer that has no anchor points in the decking so I plan to install some. But how should I hold down the back end of the car without going around the rear axle. Thanks for the help.
 
You could get some of those trailer wheel nets for either two or four wheels. You also could use a couple of straps from the front of the car, where you do have tie down points that you like. When towing a car on a trailer, it's also not a bad idea to screw some blocks to the trailer deck (if it's made of wood) to stop the car from moving forward, backwards, or sideways.
 
Another vote for the wheel bonnets (I've heard transport drivers call them that) and if you're going to put your own anchor points on the deck, you'll be able to make an optimum choice of their position.

And remember, tongue weight is your friend!

On newer cars, specifically BMWs, you DO NOT want to use a front/rear suspension link; they're part of the whole energy absorption/save the passenger cell & body structure. As such, they're intentionally soft, and can be bent easier than you think.

But the reason I really posted, was to tell you to never ever tow your Healey with the transmission in gear, always set the handbrake and leave the xmsn in neutral. Don't believe me? I have a pinion gear with a single tooth broken away__if that had happened at road speeds, it would've been pretty obvious! The car had been running fine at an autocross in Shreveport, Louisiana back in the mid 80s, but after trailering it home, some 6-8 hours before I-49 connected it to Lafayette, there was a pronounced whine from the rear end. After pulling out the center section, the broken tooth was found in the bottom of the housing.

Towing the car in gear, the gentle rocking fore and aft put that continious pounding on that single tooth, until it had enough. I still have the tooth in my trophy cabinet (the pinion gear is undoubtedly somewhere in the shop, as it's gentically impossible for me to throw something like that away...).
 
The easiest solution to the trailering issue is…drive the car!:wink-new:

…however if you really have to trailer it use the 'straps over the wheels' method.
 
Hi All,

Derek, I am not sure I understand what you mean by "Straps Over the Wheels" method. Could you please explain further explain the method?

Thanks and all the best,
Ray(64BJ8P1)
 
RAC68 said:
Hi All,

Derek, I am not sure I understand what you mean by "Straps Over the Wheels" method. Could you please explain further explain the method?

Thanks and all the best,
Ray(64BJ8P1)
Click to expand...
4567_1_375.jpg
 
The straps over the wheels works well if they are the correct size. Most sold are too big for our cars. The excess straps can rub paint off! I prefer to put tie down points on all 4 edges of the car to anchor the car. No rubbing, no crawling under the car.
 
Thanks for responding everyone. I do believe the wheel nets/bonnets are the ideal way, but they also have their drawbacks. With a solid deck trailer the hold downs for the wheel nets has to be in exactly the right spot. I have had the Healey on the trailer and marked the locations of the wheels with the weight where I want it but with the wheel nets, if you have to reposition the car later there is no adjustability.
My point about hooking to the lower A arm right at the ball joint I believe is valid because it does not try to hold anything that is "Sprung Weight". I understand the concern that the suspension pick up points or the suspension arm could be a week link but those points are going to take the stress no matter how the car is tied down. Also, as shown in the Moss link about the front tow eyes. It should be known that for any long distance, high speed towing with a vehicle on a trailer you should not tie the car down by attaching to the body or frame of the car. That is the part that is still suspended on the springs and as such the springs give up and down this causes the car to bounce and can ultimately loosen the straps.
Randy, that is an interesting point about breaking the pinion gear. I have towed long distance in the past on trailers and have never experienced that but, I have always tied the vehicle down via its axles and not the body or chasis. I believe tieing it down via the axles or wheel nets keeps the vehicle from moving on the trailer, no rocking when gripped down tight.
Derek, next summer will be the long trip on its own wheels. This time I need to get there faster with no hic-ups.
So having considered all your ideas, here is my idea so far. Although I may use the nets on all four wheels, I'll just have to put alot more hold downs in the deck. But here is my other idea. I will gripe it down at the front with straps around the lower A arms and attached to "D" rings at the front of the trailer, (that will be a solid no movement attachment) then at the rear, since I can't put anything around the axle I will compromise and put straps around the rear bumper irons and pull it to the rear "D" rings.
This rear arrangement may allow some bounce, but since the bump irons are firmly attached to the chasis I believe I will be pulling on a solid part of the car. Also I have checked that these rear straps will not foul around the exhaust tips. If I put the rear "D" rings fairly close to the car, within maybe 2 or 3 feet I believe the pull will be substantially downward instead of on a more moderate angle to the back of the trailer. Any other thoughts you have I certainly would like to hear them. Thanks again. Dave.
 
Do you by any chance have a Koni tube shock conversion? I have tied mine down as you plan in the front, by the lower A arms. In the rear I can hook the strap hook on the 1" bar for the lower shock mount that is welded to the bottom spring pan. This is low enough to allow the straps to clear the bottom of the rear shroud. This allows both front and rear straps to pull at around 30-45*. Works well and prevents any forward/rearward movement as well as holding it down firmly. I would not strap to the bumper irons or any other part of the chassis/frame for the reasons you outlined.
 
I went with wheel nets from Mac's Tie Downs.
https://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/category/WheelNets
They custom make the nets to fit your exact tire size. My set up in an enclosed, solid wood deck trailer is a 4' strip of E-track under each wheel bolted through the floor every foot. I bought wheel nets with a hook on one end, and strap for a ratchet on the other end. I put an eye in the E-track in front of the rear wheels and behind the front wheels and hook the wheel net to the eye. I place a strap idler on the opposite sides of the wheels. Run the strap end of the net through the strap idler and then to a strap ratchet. I have D-rings mounted to the trailer floor to hook the other end of the ratchet.
Total load and tie down time by myself using my winch is less than ten minutes. I do put a safety strap both front and rear for added peace of mind. Tow twice a year for 1100 miles each way, and after nine years, never a glitch.
Yes, gearbox in neutral.
 
Whether you use axle straps or wheel nets is up to you. The toweyes are not made for tying a car down and though I realize that new cars are apparently secured in this way when shipped from around the world it is not good to keep the suspension in compression. Secure the car by the axles/stub axles so the body can move on the springs and shocks.

Also, straps should be kept as short as reasonably possible and NOT crossed. Though it might seem like crossing the straps would provide a more secure configuration, should one of the straps come adrift geometry will allow the car to easily move from side to side as a result of the lack of tension against the remaining strap.
 
Guys

The one and only time I trailered a Healey was when I was taking my old 100/6 up to John Chatham to see what could be done with the damage, I don't think that she wanted to go out of Hampshire - fell off the trailer just short of Southampton. Got it back on and after directing the traffic for a while we eventually got to Bristol.
We thought that we had it well and truly tied down but we didn't.

I remember visiting Bill Rawles and looking at the results of another trailer exercise that went horribly wrong, Bill had just finished a total rebuild of a race/rally car and the owner put it on the trailer and strapped it down - it was back into Bills place the same day having fallen off. :grief:

Be warned!!

:cheers:

Bob
 
Your so encouraging Bob. :smile:
 
Thanks for the additional thoughts guys. Since more than one of us has agreed that I can use the lower A arms in the front, I will concentrate my efforts on a method to hold the back. i do not have the tube shock conversion so that is out but it has given me some thoughts. I have a set of what was advertised as rear tow hooks for the Healey. I think I got them from Moss some time ago but didn't really like their arrangement when I saw them. They are a plate that is about the same width as the rear spring bottom perch plate and intended to be used in substitution to the leaf spring bottom plate. These are as wide as the original spring plate and about 8 or 10 inches long. The last few inches of the rear portion of the plate has a large hole in it to facilitate the attachment of a hook. To install them you would remove the rear leaf spring plate and install these plates but I'm pretty sure that you will need longer u-bolt/ shackle bolts to get them in place. Since I have a lift it wouldn't be that hard to install them after acquiring the longer shackle bolts. But the part that I don't like about them is that the end that has the hole in it is angled downward, presumably to help to facilitate the attachment of the hook. But it is downward enough that it is about more than an inch below the original height of the original spring plate. I consider the rear of the car to be to low as it is and didn't want to make anything lower in that area. Also once installed they are pretty much there permanently. Which means your going to have these holed plates running under the car lower than the spring plate permanently. So I never installed them. But red57 has given me an idea. Instead of going thru the hassle of remounting the leaf springs i may be able to weld an attachment appendage to the existing spring plate without removing it. Although... after having said that, I believe it will be hard to do a good job and get a good weld joint with good penitration without removing the plate. I will have to look at this area and see if something can be done here. Thanks again. Dave.
 
John Kusman, I could not get your link to macscustomtiedowns to open up but I understand your method. It sounds very effective. I don't know what e-track is but it appears that you must drive over it and the car sets on it while towing. The method is to be considered. This trailer that I bought is pretty light weight but still rated as a 7000 lb trailer. But the wooden deck is only attached by large self tapping screws. I would not trust the attachments to just the wood. I am planning on putting in some flush mounted, hinge up tie down eyes at the rear of the trailer since the back of the car will be some distance from the very rear end of the trailer. But to do this I intend to remove the wood surface to weld in some angle bracing to attach the hold down eye to. I am presuming that if I were to use e-track I would also have to put some metal bracing under the deck. Thanks.
 
John Kuzman said:
I went with wheel nets from Mac's Tie Downs.
https://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/category/WheelNets
They custom make the nets to fit your exact tire size. My set up in an enclosed, solid wood deck trailer is a 4' strip of E-track under each wheel bolted through the floor every foot. I bought wheel nets with a hook on one end, and strap for a ratchet on the other end. I put an eye in the E-track in front of the rear wheels and behind the front wheels and hook the wheel net to the eye. I place a strap idler on the opposite sides of the wheels. Run the strap end of the net through the strap idler and then to a strap ratchet. I have D-rings mounted to the trailer floor to hook the other end of the ratchet.
Total load and tie down time by myself using my winch is less than ten minutes. I do put a safety strap both front and rear for added peace of mind. Tow twice a year for 1100 miles each way, and after nine years, never a glitch.
Yes, gearbox in neutral.
Click to expand...
John, For The Win!

As I read Vette's comment about repositioning the car (or carrying other cars/cargo) the thought of E-track popped into my mind. The stuff is actually more economical than I had expected (maybe they get you on the attachments, but still, it's so versatile).

https://www.uscargocontrol.com/Van-...l-Galvanized?gclid=CLTi8Iek2s8CFQsRgQodSCACUA

I think John's was the best idea yet. and I also agree with Michael about letting the body of the car float on its suspension (and about NOT criss-crossing the fore/aft straps).
 
Randy Forbes said:
John, For The Win!

As I read Vette's comment about repositioning the car (or carrying other cars/cargo) the thought of E-track popped into my mind. The stuff is actually more economical than I had expected (maybe they get you on the attachments, but still, it's so versatile).

https://www.uscargocontrol.com/Van-...l-Galvanized?gclid=CLTi8Iek2s8CFQsRgQodSCACUA

I think John's was the best idea yet. and I also agree with Michael about letting the body of the car float on its suspension (and about NOT criss-crossing the fore/aft straps).
Click to expand...

Sounds Good. Good Info from everyone. I will investigate these E-Tracks. Dave.
 
After you get your tie down method sorted out you need to make sure you can properly tow the trailer behind your car. I purchased a new enclosed trailer last year and thought I could easily tow trailer and Healey with my Tahoe. To make a long story short, you need between 10 & 15% of total trailer w/ Healey loaded weight on the towing vehicle. I had my trailer with Healey weighed at a scale, disconnected from my Tahoe, and took that figure as total weight. My Tahoe tongue weight was maxed out and actually 50 lbs too much tongue weight. I didn't want to tow with an overweight tongue so upon buying a half ton new pickup truck I felt I was safe. Considerations must be given to tongue weight loaded and how the trailer and tow vehicle sit...are they level? I ended up purchasing a weight distribution towing hitch and everything was now good plus the fact during a hard braking situation the trailer would not dive downwards thereby lessening the front end weight, and lessening the front braking power.
 
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Patrick, Your points are valid and technically accurate. Please don't let my comments sound snooty because I have to tell you that I come from the school of "If It Works Do It". Unfortunately in our current culture today of 'No Risk', 'Liability Conscious' Ambulance Chasers your method will keep you out of more trouble. In 2008 I bought a brand new Nissan Titan Pick-up Truck. Towed anything I wanted, especially my 19 foot Bass Boat around most of the NE States. Unfortunately I really wasn't a 'Pick-up Man'. So I traded it in for the 1st Year, 2008 Nissan Pathfinder V8. Same engine and trans as the Titan Pick-up truck but with IRS. Tow rating is 7000lbs and the Manufactures stated tongue weight capacity is 700 lbs. PreWired for 7 pin trailer jack with brakes. If that doesn't keep the Feds off my back I'll go drive it off a cliff. Previous to that, I towed my bass boat, a 19' StingRay day cruiser and a car-hauler trailer with an MG Midget on it with a 1994 Chevy, S-10 Blazer. I built the rear leaf springs up for the Blazer and it was strong and stable. No body ever bothered me about tongue weight or any weight. It worked beautifully, like I said if it works do it. There are too many Arm Chair technocrates writing specification by committee. Unfortunately eventually they will win the day. Just like in our courts and in our politics. Hopefully not be before I'm done with my toys. When they win, as they are now, we can all sit down with our I-phones an tell ourselves how exciting our day was. Bye the way, you can adjust the tongue weight by repositioning the load front to back or back to front. Ya know how you tell if your tongue weight is right, when the trailer tongue stops bouncing and trying to jerk the hitch off the back of the vehicle. I took the Midget to Boston one time. The Midget was too narrow to go on the open track trailer that I had at the time. So I bought 4 sheets of 1/2" plywood and toggle bolted the plywood to the tracks of the trailer. Drove the Midget straight up on it strapped it down and towed for 8 hours at 70 to 75 miles per hour. No problem. I left the Midget in Boston and started back with an empty trailer. Got out on the interstate and the trailer tongue was bouncing like crazy trying to tear the hitch off the back of the Blazer. Pulled over, unbolted 3 of the 4 sheets of plywood and stacked all 4 sheets up near the front of the trailer. No more bounce, smooth as pie all the way home. Like I said, If it works.... of course pay a little attention to physics. Dave.
 
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