So how fast do you tow?

[ianselva]

Yes ,the ruts on the A34 which I use the most are a nightmare , another reason for going quicker so you can stay in the outside lane.Haven't found it so much on motorwaysthough.

[275 GTB-4]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Well I don't know about you guys but I was towing with a powerful Vortex V6 Blazer but I set the cruise control to 60mph and will not go above this (and I think that is 5mph faster than I should) but I was still overtaken by a few competitors obviously doing a lot more than this and after witnessing the terrible scene of carnage.

Al et Al....there has been at least one instance in this country of an expensive race car, tow car and trailer rolling whilst on "cruise".

Scenario: Long incline, tow car on cruise, water or greasy patch on road...

Cruise just keeps pressing accelerator harder and harder....so....sudden loss of traction on driving wheels...maybe one more than other...hmmm...lets send full power to the wheel with traction .....rig heads west into the boonies

Please keep this in mind when engaging cruise control.

One of the funniest things I have ever seen is about a 17 foot full clinker hulled speedboat accelerating straight down the middle of a lane on a freeway after its tow vehicle and trailer jack-knifed.

[Al Weyman]

The Blazer is also a 4 wheel drive model and has a mode that instantly kicks in the 4WD if it senses a wheel slip. I may keep it in that mode when towing in future.

[peter thurston]

Your all mad !! I tow at 45-50mph in comfort , listening to the cd and chilled. I wait until I get to the circuit to do my racing.I won't forget the accident I saw in germany when a classic yank came of the trailer and went over the big convertible merc towing it.Unbelievable!!! when the driver came out of hospital he went to prison.

[Al Weyman]

I make you 100% right Pete, to tow at say 50 to 60 instead of say 75 you will get to you destination in most cases what, 15 or 20 minutes later, so what big deal it is nothing in the greater picture and seeing that horrendous crash on the M4 with the boat, trailer and the Land Rover both on their roofs and facing the wrong way prompted this post. I knew someone and some here I know also know this fellow, ended up facing the wrong way in the Black Wall Tunnel while towing a trailer, worjk that out!

[R59]

Yes, but when did Pete last compete outside Kent.....

He could tow with a Massey Ferguson, and still get to the circuit plenty of time!

My next step is artic and that'll be 56mph on the limiter (unless I get a pre-86 wreck)

Rob.

[peter thurston]

Last year at mallory and it took me 4hrs with the massey ferguson cargo actually!

[Bob Pearson]

I've had a blow out in the rear tyre of the tow car and a trailer tyre ( not at the same time) at about 70 mph with no dramas. It's all in having the nose weight of the trailer right, plus of course using a four wheel trailer. I would feel extremely nervous towing a race car on a two wheel trailer. I must admit, most of you guys seem to be towing enormous weights compared with our single seaters. the all up weights of our loaded trailers are just under 750 kg which has to be on our side.

[David Towe]

Sydney to Mallala (South Australia about 1400 kms) 135 kilometres per hour with a Nissan Navara pulling a BMW 635 Group A Touring car, no problems.

[Tainan]

Originally Posted by Bob Pearson

I've had a blow out in the rear tyre of the tow car and a trailer tyre ( not at the same time) at about 70 mph with no dramas. It's all in having the nose weight of the trailer right, plus of course using a four wheel trailer. I would feel extremely nervous towing a race car on a two wheel trailer. I must admit, most of you guys seem to be towing enormous weights compared with our single seaters. the all up weights of our loaded trailers are just under 750 kg which has to be on our side.

I had a trailer tyre blow out on a 2 wheel trailer while on the M11 once. No dramas there either - I heard a bang, pulled over and wondered where the rest of the tyre had gone. I had a whole wheel come off my 4 wheel trailer once and didn't notice until I got to Silverstone some 100 miles later!

[JohnMiller]

If you never noticed, how can you be certain it didn't come off just outside the circuit gate then?

[275 GTB-4]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

I make you 100% right Pete, to tow at say 50 to 60 instead of say 75 you will get to you destination in most cases what, 15 or 20 minutes later, so what big deal it is nothing in the greater picture and seeing that horrendous crash on the M4 with the boat, trailer and the Land Rover both on their roofs and facing the wrong way prompted this post. I knew someone and some here I know also know this fellow, ended up facing the wrong way in the Black Wall Tunnel while towing a trailer, worjk that out!

Ummm...scuse me...its been quite a while....but...

Is it the Black Wall Tunnel or the Black Ball Tunnel

Lonnie was reasonably easy to understand (unlike some of his countrymen ) but I have always thought he sang Black Ball Tunnel

Signed wondering Australia

[peter thurston]

I had a rear tyre burst on the lorry at the end of last year in the outside lane at 70 and I can asure you laying under it to jack it up in the wind and rain and half dark with it just above my chest was not an experience I want to repeat which is why I've gone back to a trailer.

[SpawnyWhippet]

Originally Posted by 275 GTB-4

Is it the Black Wall Tunnel or the Black Ball Tunnel

Black Wall

[Al Weyman]

275 GTB-4 It is in fact a rather nasty tunnel under the Thames in East London, the original dates back to the horse and cart era I believe and consequently has a nasty sharp bend halfway down it and the roof is too low and lorries are for ever getting in it and causeing massive hold ups despite loads of warnings, I think the fine for getting a lorry stuck in it runs into thousands because of the disruption it always causes.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by 275 GTB-4

Ummm...scuse me...its been quite a while....but...

Is it the Black Wall Tunnel or the Black Ball Tunnel

I hate to be pedantic but it's the Blackwall tunnel.

[275 GTB-4]

Originally Posted by falcemob

I hate to be pedantic but it's the Blackwall tunnel.

Ohhh cointrare thanks for clearing up a 40 odd year old misconception....still....Lonnie had a great song there...

275 GTB-4 It is in fact a rather nasty tunnel under the Thames in East London, the original dates back to the horse and cart era I believe and consequently has a nasty sharp bend halfway down it and the roof is too low and lorries are for ever getting in it and causeing massive hold ups despite loads of warnings, I think the fine for getting a lorry stuck in it runs into thousands because of the disruption it always causes.

Ohhh dear, now eye see....tah

similarly, a lot of people don't realise that Sydney Awstralia has a similar tunnel....it once carried the main electricity cables from North to South (or vicky verka) and is located at one side around Balmain. Built by horse and cart technology the problem was a very deep fissure just before the Harbour Bridge that caused no end of trouble for the tunnelers of the day.

[fangio]

This is fun!
Do I beat any records with 180kph (112 mph) with a Mercedes 300TE towing a single axle trailer with my Lotus Elite in 1984 coming from Brands and having to catch the Harwich ferry in time...........
I won my race and the scrutineers went all over the car (finding nothing) but I left Brands far too late.

I remember a man in an Audi Quattro, who couldn't get away from me, telling me at a traffic light that I was " bloody crazy" . He was right! But I made it to the ferry just in time......

[Al Weyman]

Better to be late for the ferry than the late Mr.Fangio surely. There is always another ferry but only one life.

[fangio]

With a single axle trailer with big wheels it's not really a problem; the problem comes when you blow a tyre.....
But blowing a tyre on anything rolling at high speed is a risk.
In any case I'd rather do 180 kph with a trailer than 180 kph on a motorbike!

[Tim Draffan]

The best towing combination I have had was a transit and a two wheel BJ trailer, fast and very stable whilst cornering and braking. Also trailer very easy to manouver hitched up or by hand.

[Al Weyman]

Originally Posted by Tim Draffan

The best towing combination I have had was a transit and a two wheel BJ trailer, fast and very stable whilst cornering and braking. Also trailer very easy to manouver hitched up or by hand.

Blimey don't tell me that Tim I have just bought a Brian James Triaxle 6 wheeler!

[Gerry Taylor]

You know, in all these years I would have expected you young whippersnappers to have the latest anti-swaying-non-swinging-non overtaking type race car carrier type thingy's...but no! Your still the same crazy ""WE DOWN WE GONE!" types I used to meet on the way to and from the Circuits. And there's me trundling along in my ex-police Austin Westminster at Thirty-Five mph, no sway, Churchmans Number One in my mouth, The light programme on, string back gloves and forty yards of chequred tape along the side. Mr. Careful that was me. Maybe you passed me one time? ........yeah right. Gerry.

[R59]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

275 GTB-4 It is in fact a rather nasty tunnel under the Thames in East London, the original dates back to the horse and cart era I believe and consequently has a nasty sharp bend halfway down it and the roof is too low and lorries are for ever getting in it and causeing massive hold ups despite loads of warnings, I think the fine for getting a lorry stuck in it runs into thousands because of the disruption it always causes.

I've been through it in an Artic, dozens and dozens of times. The issue is one of height. So many drivers haven't got a clue how high their vehicle is in metric, and the signs are up there as 4m, not 13'4", and our older drivers still think in British Imperial measurements.

Still it's fun going around the bends scaring black cab drivers, giving them a squeeze (better be careful in case Richard Gane reads this!)

I've seen trucks reversing back from the Rotherhide Tunnel approach before now!!

You don't wanna go down there!