Towing the track car
 

I just picked up a trailer to tow my 86 down to VIR (about a 4 hour drive) and I have a question since I’ve never towed with a trailer that has a dovetail.

My question is, should I have my 86 centered over the trailer axles OR should I have it forward just enough to have the back tires past the slope of the dovetail?

Thanks!

The car should be positioned so you have the appropriate tongue weight on the tow vehicle.

Forward. The farther back the weight is the more chance for fishtailing if you have to to make a sudden move

This is truly the correct answer, however, I have found that the car centered over the front trailer axle gives enough tongue weight for a stable pull. YMMV

There's for sure some leeway. I run my car a bit forward as well and balance it out with my airbags. Too rearward is always bad.

So how do I tell what the “proper tongue weight” is?

you want to put the car where ~10% (up to 15%, but no higher) of the combined trailer weight is on the tongue. So figure that trailer there is say 1700lbs, the car as loaded is 2800lbs thats 4500 gross trailer weight.

So you'd want to set the car where you have 450-675lbs on the tongue. You can get a fancy tongue scale, or use a scale at a truck stop, or just use a little geometry some wood and a bathroom scale https://www.etrailer.com/faq-how-to-...ue-weight.aspx

Proper tongue weight helps to make sure you won't get a fishtailing trailer and also helps braking and handling of the tow vehicle, but the impact can be lessened by other factors to like a WD hitch, anti-sway hitch, anti-sway control in your truck, etc...

You'll end up with too much on the tongue using this calculation. With no load the trailer already has the 10% on the tongue, that's why you can tow the empty trailer unballasted. All you need to adjust for is the car, so 300 pounds is the target number.

Here's another way, assuming you have a 200 pound friend - hook up the trailer, and measure the hitch distance to the ground. Now have your friend step up onto the hitch and measure again. The difference is 200 pounds of tongue weight. Let's say it's 1". Load the car until the tongue drops 1 1/2" and you have 300 pounds on the tongue.

Adjust the multiplier as needed for the weight of your friend. If it's your wife, use the correct number for the measurement, but tell everyone it's "about 3" :thumbup:

The easy button to tongue weight is these - but they are a bit pricey
https://www.weigh-safe.com/

Proper tongue weight, as others have described here well, is very important. You also might want to consider an anti-sway bar, especially if you'll be going long distances. I towed a 10,000-pound trailer behind a motorhome for several years, but had a revelation one day when following a truck towing a travel trailer. I watched the trailer swaying back and forth and pushing the rear of the truck from side to side as well. In the next town I had an anti-sway bar installed. I found I could run faster and stay behind the wheel an extra couple of hours a day, since the rig moved as a single unit instead of two pieces hinged in the middle and pushing each other side to side. I had avoided them because I understood it was difficult to back up with one but I found it was no problem at all. I think you can get them for something like $75 to $125 plus installation.

You guys seems to load the towing hitch alot over there. In general here the tow hitches are normally rated to around max 80kg (about 175lbs, some have up to 220 lbs ).

if you will be using ratcheting type straps, be sure to have at least two turns/wraps around the spool mechanism.



friction is a thing.

Towing the track car
 

It definitely depends on what you’re towing with and the class of the hitch being used. The trailer tongue weight should be added into the GVWR of your vehicle to not exceed what’s safe so if you’re towing with a smaller SUV you may be limited on tow capacity and GVWR vs something like a HD truck (I have a RAM 2500) that can tow a stupid amount and a high GVWR that allows for more tongue weight and therefore more trailer.

Another thing not mentioned is trailer brake control. Trailers either have no brakes, surge brakes, or electronic brakes.

If electronic you’ll need a controller if your vehicle does not have one integrated, like a Tekonsha Prodigy, to ensure they work properly.

+1 on trailer sway bar and trailer brakes. Get the balance right and it's like driving a train. Oh, and you might upgrade the brake pads on the truck if you haven't already.