Hauling car on a trailer

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48fordconv

Senior Member
I was at a car show today and a few guys say that when they haul a car on their trailer they tie car down but leave car in neutral and parking brake off. They say if you leave it in gear you can ruin the standard trans. I had never heard of this.
 
I'm not sure I should say this but I have a bit of experience trailering our car.

We always tie it down, chock the wheels, put the parking brake on, and leave it in first gear (and make sure all the doors are shut). If it tries to roll backwards, the engine will fight the wheels turning. Just My Opinion.

-VT/Jeff
 
Its funny this topic is here today. Just got home after bringing my dads 29 woody (on our car trailor) halfway across the state .My 16 daughter "drove" it on the trailor . My dad and I chained/strapped it down, an we all went on our way . I hit the mass turnpike and noticed it seemed the front wheels were turning on there own ,,,very slightly,,and it hit me,,,we didn,t put it in gear !:eek: My daughter didn,t know too ,we both blamed ourselves for not thinking of it. I hit the first reststop and put it in gear an gave it one more click tight .I always have ,an allways will ,trailor a chained vehicle "in gear". I wonder what mister state trooper would say ? I,m sure there is some bylaw/article on this .there seems to be one on everything else in this Great Commonwealth !
 
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I have always trailered cars in gear with parking brake on and whatever else I could do to assure it would stay there. If what the fellow said about ruining a standard transmission by leaving it in gear while being towed is true, I would rather ruin a ****** than lose my car!
 
My late father used to race speedway in Australia. Raced all over Australia. He always trailered the racecar with hand brake on and transmission in neutral, and chained forward and backward to each corner of the trailer. I think he had flywheel bolts loosen on a long interstate trip, and blamed the car rocking in gear a little back and forward. A loose flywheel isn't good on a race engine!!. Anyway I have always done the same thing when towing, but you do have to make sure you have strapped/ chained the car securely whichever way you trailer.
 
You can chip and/or break the teeth on the transmission if it's left in gear. If the car gets loose, the car will move around against the transmission gears. It doesn't take much movement to cause damage. It's best to tow it out of gear. How you strap it down and leave the brake on is your choice....
 
azmodela said:
You can chip and/or break the teeth on the transmission if it's left in gear. If the car gets loose, the car will move around against the transmission gears. It doesn't take much movement to cause damage. It's best to tow it out of gear. How you strap it down and leave the brake on is your choice....
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What he said.
Not much chance of damage if in direct but a real chance if in any other gear.
 
I transported a Matfiord-Ford woodie from France to UK earlier this year with the transmission in neutral, park brake on and all four wheels security strapped down...never moved an inch!
Colin
 

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"If the car gets loose, the car will move around against the transmission gears."

If the car gets loose, what happens if it is not in gear? With the parking brake on I do not see how it can rock against the gears. Also The engine does have some give. It is not rock solid. I think this is just the last line of defense. Should not make a difference.
 
Unless it was 40 degrees below zero i would not think it would make a difference. Think back when we were young pups. Dont you remember reving the engine to 1500 rpms or more and dropping the clutch and nothing broke, most of the time. LOL Well it seems to be the same difference. If it breaks hauling it, it was going to break when you drove it.
 
Frank Miller said:
"If the car gets loose, the car will move around against the transmission gears."

If the car gets loose, what happens if it is not in gear? With the parking brake on I do not see how it can rock against the gears. Also The engine does have some give. It is not rock solid. I think this is just the last line of defense. Should not make a difference.
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If the car gets loose, you have a lot more to worry about than transmission gears.
One should pull all FOUR, yes FOUR straps down as tightly as possible on the sprung weight of the car. In other words, strap above the springs. You want to reduce / eliminate any possible spring oscillation of the chassis.

Yikes, I saw a guy two weeks ago towing a Tahoe on an open trailer. He had one ******** the left front corner and one on the left rear corner. That Tahoe was bouncing all over the trailer.
Now, I figure when the truck flies out of control and this guy gets killed, oh well, Gods way of thinning the herd. What I would hate to see is some innocent person get hurt because of the idiots negligence.
 
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Im my opinion, having the car in gear will do very little if the straps break. Putting on the parking brake will help some if straps break. But properly strapping down all 4 corners is what will keep it from moving/bouncing and securely on the trailer.
 
It's just silly to think that having the trans engaged while tied down on a trailer will cause the gear teeth to break...if the car should move slightly the engine will resist but it will turn. If the car is not tied down properly and it comes off the trailer what the hell difference will it make if it is in gear or not? If the car is tied down properly it won't move anyway unless there is a collision from front or rear.
I use over the tire strap tie-downs and strap ties on the differential when I tow. I have trailer towed cars all over the country for forty years...not say'n it can't happen but haven't lost one yet...
 
Lines of defense:

  1. Straps
  2. Parking Brake
  3. Gear

Like the others have said, if the car is moving around enough to break the teeth off the gears you've got bigger problems.
 
You can chip and/or break the teeth on the transmission if it's left in gear. If the car gets loose, the car will move around against the transmission gears. It doesn't take much movement to cause damage. It's best to tow it out of gear. How you strap it down and leave the brake on is your choice....
Click to expand...

And just how would you chip a gear if the gear is engaged? Are you telling me that rocking back and forth would put more strain than accellerating under load??

You chip teeth by grinding them while they are spinning, you can't chip a gear that's not moving.
 
Four point tie down, in gear, brake on AND safety chains to the front.
Paul in CT

Now to open a can of worms: Do you cross the rear straps?
 
WOW, WHAT OPINIONS,
I always tie the car down using four straps and cross the rear straps. And pull all four tight!
I also have always put the car in neutral.
My thinking is that the trans doest have much lube moving when being trailered.

Amazing how many thoughts we all have....rbi ;-)
:eek::)
 
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