Trailering a TC

[rstarkweather]

Going to go pick up a TC that I recently bought, and will be bringing it home in an enclosed trailer.

Where are the best place(s) to tie down the car? I was thinking the front springs or the front crossmember, but I am concerned about the axle strap rubbing on the front splash apron. The same is true for the back. Don't want to bend anything.

I am planning to check underneath a TC at a local MG club car show in a couple of weeks (hopefully there will be one there), but wanted to do some advance planning.

Thoughts?

[Steve Simmons]

You can put the straps through the front wheels or around the axle. In the rear, the spring trunions work well. Others might have alternate ideas.

[Rob Reilly]

Do not put your straps on the steering rods. They will bend.
You can put them around the front and rear axles but be sure not to crush the brake pipes.
They also sell strap webs that fit over a tire, which I have often seen used on more modern cars.

[robertscottcostello]

I did the front axle as Steve suggests, can't remember how secured the rear

Not the best picture, but it gives you an idea.

Note, if you are renting from U-Haul, my TC barely fit on the tracks, so you might measure the trailer first. It worked, but I had to be extra careful loading and unloading.

[Steve Simmons]

U-Haul are definitely tight. Here's a photo of the wheel straps. I put the rear straps around the rear axle towers.

[rstarkweather]

Thanks so much. I have an enclosed trailer, so do not need to worry about U-Haul, but nice to know that is an option. as I plan to sell the trailer soon.

[Duncan M]

Good points. To add, I would be nervous hauling the narrow wheel track TC very far on anything but a flat bed type trailer. The wheels are very close to the inner edge on the pictured trailers and you could drop a wheel into the void with the right bump and hop if the tie downs do not stay tight. I think U-haul calls their flat bed trailers "equipment" trailers, and will tell you they are not for normal weight cars. I have heard they relent when you tell them the weight of the TC. Tie downs with thinner straps are available that work well through wire wheels to hold down the bottom part of the wheels, to supplement the restraints, if the flat bed has built in tie down hooks on the floor.

A thing to remember is not to compress the suspension with tie downs. Always check the tie downs for tightness after a few miles.

[Steve Simmons]

There's a lip on the inside of the ramps so the car would have to bounce up several inches, and then over several inches, to fall off. So long as the straps are secure, there's no way. I've actually seen a TC towed on one of these trailers for an hour on the highway with no straps in the rear at all. I don't recommend it, but it worked out fine for that guy. I don't recall the U-Haul trailers even coming with rear straps actually, so considering the liability it must not normally be an issue.

[robertscottcostello]

I used extra straps on the front and back of mine. It was pretty tight even after a 120 mile trip. I also used the tire straps which come with the trailer, but I didn't want to rely solely on them.