LocostUSA.com

Chuck,

Years ago, back when I had a job, I worked for a major railroad. We had a contract with Toyota to haul the then new Previa vans from the L.A. port. We were tying them down on tri-level flats chaining the chassis down tight enough to collapse the springs. We wound up repairing a lot of Previa suspensions.

When I trailer my Locost on my second hand home built trailer I tie the wheels to the corner posts. It has never moved. Yet.

_________________
Larry in Seattle

Chuck

A little physics...Strap the wheels down and let the suspensions of the trailer and the car smooth out the forces on the straps and the system as a whole.
You are at the perfect point to beef up your strap down points or design a unique/quick strap down device. Love it.
Gale

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http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery ... emId=23737
http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery ... emId=28999

Larry and Gale, THanks for the replies.

I am thinking about using the lasso straps. In one application, they are inserted thru the wheel and tie forward and back. In a different situation, they loop over the wheel and either tie straight down to the sides of the trailer or go slightly forward and back at an angle. I'm not convinced on strapping straight down. I don't think there would be much fore/aft retention in an emergency stop (or worse!)

Any comments?

Gale, based on your comments, have you got suggestions for a unique/quick strap down device?

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

Hi Chuck!
Ol' James Earl has a neat setup on the trailer he uses to transport the Mustang. At the front end of the trailer he has these ratcheting tie down units that double as chocks. They're solidly attached to the deck (bolted? welded? IDK). A few feet back from that are recessed D-rings set in the deck. the distance between them is about equal to the tire diameter.

He drives onto the trailer until the front wheels bump up against the sides of the ratchets. Then the straps go around the circumference of the tire and straight down to the D-rings. Hook 'em up, tighten the ratchets and you're done.

I've asked him where they came from, he doesn't know. Came with the trailer he bought used...

I'll try to get a picture of the arrangement over the weekend.


JDK

_________________
JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Its going to depend on the wheels you're using. I have a set of axle straps that will fit through some wheels and not others due to the size of the D-rings at each end.

_________________
-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

That trailer should be plenty strong for hauling a locost. I was looking at buying a trailer to fix up for towing my locost last summer and based on prices for crappy old trailers that would need a lot of work vs. buying steel and axles, I decided to build my own. It's a simple tilt deck so I don't need to deal with ramps any more and I used torsion flex axles to get it nice and low. The axles are 5 on 4.5", so I use the winter wheels from my wife's car. All in I spent about $700-$800 to build it and about 12 hours of work. For strapping my car down I have tie down loops on the frame of the locost. I cross the straps from side to side and the car can still move around on the suspension. The other ends of the straps hook into the open frame ends of the trailer. The car and trailer ended up at 1825lbs.
Here's what the deck looks like.

The trailer tongue pivots on a bolt back at the axle and there are a couple tabs at the from of the trailer that I put a pin through to tow it.

Kristian

_________________
V6 in a book frame build. Now registered.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=7587
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That's a pretty light trailer Kristian! Looks like the deck is 12ft?

JD, I think I know what you are talking about. Pics might help. Since my trailer will be multi-use, I'm not sure if I will have the luxury of permanently mounting the ratchet device to the floor.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

12' it is. I just realized that the frame rail looks like it's bending from the car, but its not. I notched the rails to get the deck as low as possible over the axles and when I welded the axle mounts into the notches, it pulled like crazy. At least it goes the right way to be almost like a beaver tail. I think the outside of the frame rails are 69", so just wide enough for my car. The trailer empty is 525lbs, car is 1300. It seems plenty strong, I hit a massive hole in the road with it this summer and the car and trailer were fine. It was enough of a jolt that it broke one of my ratchet straps though.
Kristian

_________________
V6 in a book frame build. Now registered.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=7587
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=18172

Gale, based on your comments, have you got suggestions for a unique/quick strap down device?

Chuck I was hoping you would come up for some great idea I could copy
I am using floor mounted D rings with thru the wheel ratchet straps. There has got to be a better way.
I have a racer friend that uses heavy duty seat belts on the front wheels. Drive into chocks Just click em and pull the strap ... that's fast, but he still ratchet straps the rear.
Gale

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http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery ... emId=28999

Well, I have half an idea that would be quick and easy for a fenderless Seven (or other race car) It would require a front assembly for each tire that would laterally cross the tire at about 10 or 11 o'clock position. This would captivate the tire from rolling forward and hold it down to the trailer. Just pull in and you are done. Then in the back.......?????? I'm not sure just yet. The car would have to be ratcheted forward instead of rearward. Maybe into removable frames in front of the rear tires similar to the front.


An other idea will require modification to your existing lasso straps. That would require someone with an industrial sewing machine who could sew the heavy strapping (seat belt webbing) Add a ring or hook to the front lasso straps you are already using, one at the trailer end to replace the front ratchet and one about 2 ft from the opposite end. Hook the end loop onto some hooks/rings welded to the front of the trailer (or some other style of quick securement). Loop the opposite end thru the wheel and use a hi strength carabiner (or screw link or forged hook or ?) to clip the end to the steel ring sewn in the strap. Easier than lacing strap thru the tire and then thru the loop you do now. In the rear, you can use a similar sewn-in ring & carabiner for looping thru the wheel and ratchet it tight like you do now.

Just a couple of quick thoughts.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

Hey Chuck-
I think you said these wouldn't quite work for your trailer, but just in case, here's a picture of the ratcheting tie-down anchors I was talking about-They're bolted thru the deck. The end has a square hole that fits a 3/8 extension or ratchet. Pretty handy...


JDK

_________________
JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Ahhhhh! I've seen them They are very compact by comparison to the regular ratchets with handles. I never thought about mounting them to the floor like that. Only thought of them as being welded to vertical surfaces of the rails. interesting concept.

But, you are right. That approach would relegate the trailer to being a dedicated car hauler. I need the flat floor for 4x8 sheets of drywall, plywood etc.


Next problem to solve, I had planned on hooking the ratchet straps to the sides, front, or rear rails of the trailer frame. Now I'm thinking of securing to the 2x10's directly. Problem is, I planned on using decking screws to secure the 2x's to the frame. This is because the treated 2x's are not great on regular hardware. How close do I put the screws if this is my approach? the 2x's have to be secured to the frame as well as the car is secured to the 2X's. Maybe it is not a problem if I use bigger 3/8" hot dip galvanized carriage bolts? carriage bolts would have been easier if I had built with angle instead of square tube.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

I'm a little late to the trailer conversation, but have a look here: http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/files/trailer_for_europa/trailer.html

I'm tempted to build one similar.

Rod

Interesting Rod. My path to (re)building a trailer was partially due to Illinois DMV processes. If I built from scratch, I would have to go thru a homebuilt registration process. My last efforts, registering my Locost, was anything but quick. That took me about 6 months before I got my title which completed the process. By comparison, the title for this trailer was less than a week. The conversion of an existing trailer was the easier and quicker path, at least as far as the paperwork was concerned.

It is too early to say whether I made a mistake by taking this path or not.

I got the trailer painted yesterday and started the wiring today.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

I can definitely see not wanting to deal with registration stuff again. I'm lucky and don't have to worry about that stuff where I am as long as the trailer has a registered gvw of less than 1400kg (3080lbs). You just have to show your receipts and they give a registration and plate for a ubuilt trailer. I paid $102 (including $43 for annual insurance including $2,000,000 third party liability), showed the receipt for the steel and axles, and that was it. The best part is, with no VIN, I can now put the plate on any other trailer with a gvw under 1400kg. I think having to go through the registration and inspection process would have pushed me towards finding something suitable to rebuild too.
Kristian

_________________
V6 in a book frame build. Now registered.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=7587
viewtopic.php?f=33&t=18172