[Sunbeam Talbot Email List] transporting a beam,

Tue Jul 1 10:53:10 EDT 2008

Good input Seve. Frank

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From: staowners-bounces at sunbeamtalbot.info
[mailto:staowners-bounces at sunbeamtalbot.info] On Behalf Of
CotaLymepond at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 10:48 AM
To: staowners at sunbeamtalbot.info
Subject: Re: [Sunbeam Talbot Email List] transporting a beam,

Greetings All
Over the years I have seen some particularly scary transportation methods,
and not always from amateurs.
The problem is that people tie down a car and move it, have no problems and
think that that means it was properly attached . If you put a car on a
trailer, set the parking brake, and drive very carefully, you could take it
across the country with no tie down's on it at all and it would still be on
the trailer when you got to your destination. (that does not mean it would
be a safe trip) We do not wear seat belts to keep our butts in the seat
while we drive, we wear them in case something goes wrong. Same thing with
tie downs The idea is to tie the car down so that it will stay on the
trailer in the event that you're involved in an accident.
Which includes a blown tire, (trailer or tow vehicle) drifting off the edge
of the road, or a jackknife situation.
The best method is to use four ratchet straps, one at each corner. the best
attachment location is a spot on the lower control arms or the drive axle.
This allows the car to move on it's suspension when you go over bumps
without creating slack in the tie downs, Which is what would happen if the
straps were attached to the frame or the bumpers. As the car bounces on it's
springs, the straps would be jerked tight and loose against the frame as it
moves up and down.  For newer cars that have nothing to hook to underneath
(Porsche's etc.) the method used is to pass a strap through the slots in the
wheel and tie the tire down. This keeps the wheels firmly tied down and
allows the suspension to bounce around at will. this method doesn't work on
Sunbeam's as there are no slots in the wheels to pass a strap through. 
The problem with just looping a strap around a wheel in an X is that there
is nothing to keep the vehicle from sliding around if things get scary.  I
have also seen many brake lines pinched flat from having a chain wrapped
around the rear axle. be careful when locating straps so as not to chafe the
straps or do damage to the car itself. 
And Never trailer a car on an open trailer with a car cover or a tarp over
it. 
The cover will flap in the wind and scuff the paint.
I once took delivery of a model A Ford that had been trucked about 1000
miles with an expensive car cover on it. The entire back portion of the
cover had disintegrated from flapping in the wind and had worn right through
the paint on the rear corners of the body right down to bare metal. 
As always the best advise is just to use good old common sense.
Happy Trails  <> Steve Cota <>

In a message dated 7/1/2008 7:23:03 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
rhughes at actewagl.net.au writes:

Our car club has its own trailer that we members borrow - a twin axle job.
After positioning the car on the trailer so that there is a slight downforce
(100 pounds sounds fine) on the towball, and then ensuring the parking brake
is on and car in gear,  I use a heavy duty chain around the rear axle to
secure the car to the back of the trailer (greatest force is encountered
when braking).  Then I use two ratchet tiedowns at the front to 'tension up'
the load.  My last tow was 400 miles and the car didn't shift an inch -
relative to the trailer.  It did make the 400 miles home :-).

Cheers, Vic

----- Original Message -----
From: "George Simpson - Forums" <george.simpson.forums at neuf.fr>
To: <wes.stewart at sunbeamsaloon.com>
Cc: <staowners at sunbeamtalbot.info>
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 8:50 PM
Subject: Re: [Sunbeam Talbot Email List] transporting a beam,

> My last tow was over 500 miles in a day and I tow on a flat bed trailer
> with twin axles under the platform. I don't even have the bolt-down
> chocks for the wheels and just use two ratcheted tie downs for the front
> wheels. I pass the tie-down heavy canvas band behind the top of the
> wheel and then cross it over at the front so that at  the front of the
> wheel it looks like a  big X with about 8 feet between the tie-down
> attachment points on each side. With my wing (fender) mirrors, I can
> check constantly that the rear wheels have not moved and, of course,
> check about every 200 miles that all tie downs etc are in place and tight.
> Your set up seems more than adequate. As always, look for about 100 lbs
> on the tow ball.
> Cheers
> George
>
> wes.stewart at sunbeamsaloon.com wrote:
> > When I go to Galveston to collect "the beam", I will be taking my 22ft
car hauler trailer so as to flat tow the car back home. I have tie-down
rings at front and rear, and an adjustable wheel stop (4x4) that straps down
to push the front wheels against. I tow my Austin 1100 and Riley Elf with
ease and use 4 ratcheted tie-downs: one for each corner.
> >
> > Are there any particularly good or bad tie-down points on the car. With
a nice heavy-duty frame it would seem pretty much anything goes, but I
thought I would check with the "experience" pool.
> > WES
> > Fate, TX

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