Flat towing vs trailer

[MR P-BODY]

I went from driving my car to the track to getting an open trailer. I raced every weekend and I got tired of driving to the track, changing my tires, racing, changing tires again, then driving home... but changing tires in the rain Sucks. The rain-outs were the deciding factor.
Sure, tying a car down to the trailer in the rain isn't much fun either, but I only had to do that a couple times. Usually, I would either beat the rain to the trailer or wait for it to stop or lul.

...the next step in the evolution would be to get an enclosed trailer, but to me, that requires more than a half-ton truck.

I hauled a 26' enclosed trailer for a few years with a 1500 ram... you just need to keep
the brakes adjusted on the trailer... use the trailer brakes more so you dont push the truck...
now I have a 43' inclosed with LQ and pull it with a 95 Dodge dually and a 6 speed stick cummins
and its great once I hit the X-way.. in town it sucks the fuel but on the X-way I get 18mpg if
I keep the revs to 2000

[squirrel]

If you're racing on a regular basis, and you're competitive, then a trailer is the only way to go. But if you just race your street car occasionally, it's possible to set it up so it will drive to the track ok, take minimum prep to run, and make it home alive. I saw an old gray Nova do that on DW a couple years ago

[Deaf Bob]

I love my car trailer...
Makes things so easy..
Wife's 94 Century broke down 30ishy miles from home.. Texted my son, and he was there to get us in 35-45 min.
We can push cars on and block the wheels for brakes..
One thing I wanna do is put a hinge on the fender on the driver's side so I can fold it over and open the door to get out..
Climbing out like the Duke boys is not for me.. Derby cars, we go out the passenger side windshield, over the hood..

[yellomalibu]

I hauled a 26' enclosed trailer for a few years with a 1500 ram... you just need to keep
the brakes adjusted on the trailer... use the trailer brakes more so you dont push the truck...
now I have a 43' inclosed with LQ and pull it with a 95 Dodge dually and a 6 speed stick cummins
and its great once I hit the X-way.. in town it sucks the fuel but on the X-way I get 18mpg if
I keep the revs to 2000

Oh, I know it can be done, but if racing on a regular basis, I would MUCH rather be over trucked than under trucked.
In a panic situation, the heavier truck is much safer.

[anotheridiot]

I disagree they are very heavy, and they can be very picky about the size of your tow truck.

Is this about the uhaul? man, the one I had was mostly aluminum, awesome trailer brakes, we towed a 81 Delta 88 from my uncles after he died, it was like it was not even behind us.

The other question, if you flat tow, does the vehicle have to be street legal?

[Russell]

Is this about the uhaul? man, the one I had was mostly aluminum, awesome trailer brakes, we towed a 81 Delta 88 from my uncles after he died, it was like it was not even behind us.

The other question, if you flat tow, does the vehicle have to be street legal?

Yes about the Uhaul the one I used was way over built steal, very heavy, it was a load without the vehicle loaded. One time tried to rent one the wanted to know what truck I was using, what car I was going to move, they wouldn't rent it to me because the trailer / car (tbird) combo to truck (f150) ratio was not good enough.

I love my trailer pulls great, I need to replace a tire flat spotted one at some point. That being said I sold my 3/4 ton truck because I rather drive to the track than load the car. The truck was nice to be able to lock up tool etc.

[SpiderGearsMan]

A trailer is like a little mansion in the pits

[Matt Cramer]

Thanks for all the responses! Considering that...

1. The goal for the Dart is a turbo motor that won't need to rev much past 5,000 to 5,500 RPM to make full power.
2. I've got larger brakes on the Dart than the truck.
3. The truck has been a reliability nightmare.

I may very well have more cases where I end up flat towing the C10 with the Dart!

[TheSilverBuick]

They always say you know you have a problem when your tow vehicle is quicker than what it's towing, lol.

[CDMBill]

Back a million years ago when I was in college and had no money but still went racing I flat towed my Mustang with a 76 Monza. Yes the prettier Vega with a four cylinder and a stick. I made my own tow bar and mounts. I used what were called tow hubs, a little bolt on set-up so that the trans stayed in park and the bearings in the tow hubs carried the weight on a set of old stock tires on steel wheels. At track I'd jack up the back undo the tow hubs and wheels as I had hole sawed the stock wheel in one spot to get to the tow hubs lugs and bolt on the race tires. All that to go 13"s, wheee. I'm pretty sure the SBF 67 Mustang coupe out weighed the Monza but we lived through it.

Now I have a lightly used sold-to-the public version of the Penske rental auto trailer that is short, tows perfectly and has surge brakes so no complicated electric brakes to deal with. I've towed the silver barge all over the country with my F150 with no issues. Add two pop-ups from the swap meet and its just like down town. I put my collapsable drag week trailer in the bed of the pick-up to go to Drag Week.

[ss427]

Uh, towbars are to pull the kia behind the Class C...