possible to winch z06 onto trailer with t-hooks?

[SCCA_Z06]

Ok,

gearing up for my haul to Atlanta for the SCCA National Tour & ProSolo

Buying a 26' Haulmark enclosed trailer. Got a 93 3/4 ton cummins turbo diesel. Weight distributing hitch & sway control.

Bought the t-hooks from AW Direct. Bought 10,000 lb S-Line straps. Going to buy wheel chocks to use in addition to the e-brake & straps.

Car isn't lowered yet - I hope to resolve that in Atlanta.

Question is: Trailer has a nice winch with a long cable with the remote. Is it possible to rig something up with a tow strap through the t-hooks in the shipping slots to winch up the car? I saw in a search that it is recommended to put a tow hook on the car to winch up the car, but I'm only going to be using the car for AutoX & some DE track days and don't really want to put a tow hook on.

I suppose my other option is to get some boards to drive up on. Or as a last resort I climb out of the car.

I don't particularly see why I couldn't run a tow strap through the t-hooks. The force needed to get the car to roll up the slight incline should be minimal. Been a while since I took Statics though. The load would be shared between the 2 shipping slots. I'll pry open my Statics book tomorrow at work to see what force I would actually be applying to the car.

Thanks

[ELF Z06]

Pulling the car onto the trailer is not going to take a lot of power. The "t" slots are just behind the front wheel, this is going to make the angle of the cable at best rub the inside of the front tyre. Perhaps you could make up a short strap that would go between the the t slots and then pull with the cable in the middle of the strap. Keep in mind you must still tie the car down to the trailer floor using the floor rings. The cable is not made to hold the car during transportation. We do have tow eyes on our car and with the clutch we are using we have to tow the car into the trailer, but we tie it down in all 4 corners. In the front using the t slots and the rear over the lower a arm.
Tony #54

[Subdriver]

As Tony said, I believe the T-hooks and their attachment point on the frame will be strong enough. If they can hold the car bouncing around on the trailer they should be safe to pull the car up with. But, also agreeing with Tony's assessment, not sure how you can do this geometrically.

Most SCCA T1 guys that winch their cars into a trailer have a tow hook on the nose. Those that don't drive into the trailer and climb out the window.

[Mark Olson]

What I made for mine was a stainless steel tub and rod that went from skid hoop to hoop across the front. With splits in the tub at about 3/4 inch with washers from the skid protectors to keep the clip in ti-down straps from sliding to the center.

I will try to get a photo of my setup. I have used this system for the past 3+ years and over 80k miles of halling in the trailer with know problems. It also made it easy to hook ti-downs on the front.

But I also almost always drive up into the trailer.

[wtknght1]

I got my trailer made with a 3d door. So I can just drive the car into the trailer, open the door, and get out. It works like a charm. If you don't want to do that, I'd recommend a front toe eye. It's cheap, strong, relatively easy to install and makes loading really slick. Joe and the Phoenix guys have these and any decent welding shop can install it for you.

With my 98 vette ( before I got this trailer), I'd attach a tow strap to the aluminum framing in the front of the car directly under the engine. It's the part that supports the suspension and engine. It's a strong, temporary fix for your problem without jumping thru too many hoops.

[SCCA_Z06]

Originally Posted by ELF Z06

Keep in mind you must still tie the car down to the trailer floor using the floor rings. The cable is not made to hold the car during transportation.
Tony #54

Yeah, I know... bought 10,000# straps to tie it down. I've done some research, just a little apprehensive since the only thing I towed before was a small tire utility trailer with a LS1 Camaro.

Thanks for the help guys. What I think I am going to do is buy a tow rope and 1 10,000# hook. run the rope through the t-hooks and have the 2 eyelets on the tow strap come up the front. Now too keep the rope from rubbing on the wheels I'll run both sides of the rope through the tow hook and wrap it once so it won't want to slide forward on the rope towards the winch.

Then once I got the car in position. I engage the e-brake. undo the rope from the t-hooks, strap down the front in a cross, release the e-brake, strap down the rear in a cross with the t-hooks and engage the e-brake. After that I'll also throw wheel chocks in front of the fronts and behind the rears. I really don't think the car will be bouncing around much. The oval track guys said with the tor-flex axles and weight distributing hitch they've left drinks on top of the car and they were still there when the got back from the track. And this up north here with all the potholes.