Will be taking my Tiger to a trackday soon. I will be hiring a trailer for the day.

The guy renting the trailer said to reverse the car onto the trailer as the engine is at the front. (weight distribution)

Anyone else heard or agree with this ?

Ta

I would tend to disagree. Reversing up trailer ramps has its own problems as there is more chance of the wheels spinning so as long as you can get the nose weight right for the towcar, I'd say put it on forwards.

er,.. not in my experience. The absolute worse situation is a tail heavy trailer. The trailer will wag the car!

A twin axle trailer is less susceptible to this, but still worth loading engine to the front,. just try and balance it the best you can.

Really depends on the positon/layout of the trailer axles but I'd be very surprised if if reversing on gave a correct balance.

You want some weight on the drawbar but not too much, most towbars have a maximum downward weight limit of around 75kgs, if you are using a single axle trailer then if you can just lift the trailer on to the ball hitch by hand then you're in the right zone.

If you're using a double axle trailer it's a bit trickier, you need to have the ball hitch set at approximately the right height to start with and as long as there is weight on the drawbar but the car/van isn't dragging it's arse along the ground you'll probably be OK.

You really do not want the trailer trying to lift the rear of the vehicle, this gives you a very unstable trailer.

Cheers
Davie

Basically, it all depends on the car and trailer.

With a seven and, in fact, most cars, forewards.

[Edited on 21-6-12 by designer]

i drove mine onto a twin axle trailer and it towed perfectly.

I had my doubts about what I was told.

From what you've all said I'll go on forwards and see how I get on

Cheers for the replies

Just another thing and I certainly don't want to sound patronising, but if you're not used to loading your car onto a trailer and the trailer has a winch, use it! Even more so if it is wet as trailers tend to be very slippy! One spin of the driving wheels and you could do some damage. Using the winch gives you time to winch it on a bit, have a look round, and then winch a bit more. Check underneath too as it's very easy to catch the under side of the car as the trailer levels out as the car rolls onto it. Using the winch also lessens the chance of the ramps slipping.
Good luck!

Having seen some silly actions in the paddock, one actually drove right over the trailer into the tow car!!I always winch my car on, front first.

The trailer I'm hiring has a manual winch so might do that

Second what has been said above about using the winch.
ALSO when the front wheels are over the end of the trailer check to make sure your car isn't going to ground out on the trailer tail half way up - it might be necessary to lift the front end of the trailer using the jockey-wheel (should really use longer ramps but it's not as if the car weighs a ton).
Niggly point - your licence does cover you for towing doesn't it?
HTH.
Cheers, Pewe

quote:

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Originally posted by pewe
Second what has been said above about using the winch.
ALSO when the front wheels are over the end of the trailer check to make sure your car isn't going to ground out on the trailer tail half way up - it might be necessary to lift the front end of the trailer using the jockey-wheel (should really use longer ramps but it's not as if the car weighs a ton).
Niggly point - your licence does cover you for towing doesn't it?
HTH.
Cheers, Pewe

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Most sevens are evenly balanced and light enough that it makes bugger all difference which way you load them.

I thought it was illegal to load with car loaded the wrong way around, certainly not advisable.

It should face forwards, if nothing else the reflectors etc are correct so lessen the chance of being struck.

I scraped the sill of my Avon on a trailer when loading up for IVA. Then had to repair the GRP.

I now raise the jockey wheel as high as it will go (lifting the back end of the two car up). Then use a couple of wooden planks under the ends of the ramps. This has the effect of flattening the incline the car goes up.

I've always driven on to the trailer forwards and had no issues. Easier to check that the wheels are on track. Also, an Avon is narrower at the front, so once the front wheels are on the trailer you need to get out and move the ramps out a bit for the rears. Opposite when unloading.

Enjoy.