[OminouSS]

I trailer mine. May I suggest an aluminum trailer, particularly if you are going to pull it with a 1500? I am making some assumptions here in that if you can afford GM's top muscle car then you will likely be able to make an investment in transporting it. I have an ATC Quest CH405. It is a bit on the extreme side but I think even their lowest model, the Raven or CH205 can be outfitted with the escape door and a plethora of other goodies. It comes standard with a beavertail. That last part is pretty important to me as I do not ever want to high-center this investment. I stepped up more to have the model with reverse beavertail. All come with 5000 lb d rings recessed. I'm not a spokes person for them, so you should go check the website. I am very pleased.


Oh, in addition, I would step up on the axles if you can. It's not all that much more to go with 6000lb tandems. Just make sure they're torsion. It's nice to be overrated and have options rather than going on the cheap early on only to find a new interest requires a whole new setup.

[Stoner]

It appears for the design of the trailer you will have some storage space in the nose of the trailer. But you may want to consider putting a shell on your truck and carrying some of the heavy item in your truck This will take away some of the weight your towing, and add weight and traction to your tow vehicle.

I would also check with the trailer company and see what they charge to add an additional properly placed side door to the trailer. If you can figure out where the door of your car opens, and have it match the side door in the trailer, might make loading and unloading much easier.

[cwebster]

Originally Posted by snackbar64

One must have for any auto hauler is a built-in winch to pull the car inside. Especially helpful if it's not operational for some reason. That is the best feature of my trailer. I have a 9000 lb rated winch that makes loading and unloading a cinch and eliminates the need to climb out the window of your Camaro.

That's a great idea. I'm definitely looking into that.

--Cal

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by cwebster

Mainly because the trailer will serve double-duty as a garage during Winter months. I never liked leaving my cherry 2014 SS 1LE outdoors. I aim to keep the ZL1 looking new as long as possible.

--Cal

That's not a bad thought process...but I want to be the Devil's advocate for a moment...

If you operate the car on a track - the paint on the front fascia, hood, and rear quarter WILL get f'd up...Rain/Snow/Whatever can't even begin to do the sort of damage that debris from the track will do at 100+mph. A nice $350-$400 outdoor car cover will offer a great deal of protection from the elements in the winter months.

(I was like you when I bought my 2012 ZL1...and the first time I got a rock chip pissed me off...which led to the first cone I hit, and popped out the fog light...after that I got over the "keep it clean" goal pretty quick. )

[ericedelman]

[QUOTE=cwebster;9439193]Looking at some other trailer makers, like TrailerShowroom.com, they're listing them as having brakes on both axles. That makes me feel better. How does an electronic brake controller work? How does it know how much pressure to apply?

It connects to your tow vehicle's braking system and they are proportional - you slam on the brakes in your truck, it slams on the trailer brakes. The proportional controllers are adjustable, so you don't lock up the trailer brakes while you are trying to coast gently to a stop.

What do you think in terms of trailer length. I was originally looking at a 8.5' x 24' but at 15.8 ft, the ZL1 would fit in a 20ft model too. Just worried about room for the extra stuff later, like tool box, compressor, generator, and tires.

If you buy a bigger trailer, you will fill it up eventually. A compressor and generator seems like overkill for track days to me. Tracks always have air, and a battery rechargeable impact to remove wheel lugs is more than sufficient.

Sometimes it's better to ease into the hobby than jump in with both feet.

[OldJedi]

Here is an idea for trailering your beautiful car around.

[cwebster]

Originally Posted by OminouSS

I trailer mine. May I suggest an aluminum trailer, particularly if you are going to pull it with a 1500? I am making some assumptions here in that if you can afford GM's top muscle car then you will likely be able to make an investment in transporting it. I have an ATC Quest CH405. It is a bit on the extreme side but I think even their lowest model, the Raven or CH205 can be outfitted with the escape door and a plethora of other goodies. It comes standard with a beavertail. That last part is pretty important to me as I do not ever want to high-center this investment. I stepped up more to have the model with reverse beavertail. All come with 5000 lb d rings recessed. I'm not a spokes person for them, so you should go check the website. I am very pleased.

Sorry, I may have given you the wrong impression. Even if I had money to burn I still doubt I'd pay that much for a trailer unless I planned on racing professionally and there was a business need. I'm a retired Marine (still working) and have waited 40 years to get this car. I have to put my hard-earned money where I think it's needed but right now I don't see one of those in my future. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful trailer and I'm sure I'd admire it if I saw it at the track. It's just not for me.

Originally Posted by OminouSS

Oh, in addition, I would step up on the axles if you can. It's not all that much more to go with 6000lb tandems. Just make sure they're torsion. It's nice to be overrated and have options rather than going on the cheap early on only to find a new interest requires a whole new setup.

Are you saying that the 10,400 MGVW might be insufficient to safely carry the 3600 lb trailer, the 3800 lb ZL1, and a couple hundred lbs of tools and such? Maybe you're looking ahead to the potential pro-mod dragster I might get when I tire of the ZL1. I'm pretty sure that whatever I'm taking to the race track will be under 5K lbs. I love road racing and the only other racer I could see myself in would be a lighter, open-wheel formula car. In fact, I'm going back to Bondurant Racing School for that very thing - fly around the track in their formula racers.

Why do you favor torsion over spring axles? I've read descriptions of both but I don't see a huge benefit for my use.

Thanks for sharing your viewpoint.

--Cal

[cwebster]

Originally Posted by Stoner

It appears for the design of the trailer you will have some storage space in the nose of the trailer. But you may want to consider putting a shell on your truck and carrying some of the heavy item in your truck This will take away some of the weight your towing, and add weight and traction to your tow vehicle.

That's a good point. I'll definitely consider the weight and balance options when I first load it up and test it. I may get a tonneau cover or shell anyway, to protect other things I might carry in the bed.

Originally Posted by Stoner

I would also check with the trailer company and see what they charge to add an additional properly placed side door to the trailer. If you can figure out where the door of your car opens, and have it match the side door in the trailer, might make loading and unloading much easier.

I appreciate the suggestion but I think I'll just roll the window down and maybe use a step stool -or- pull it in with a winch and adjust steering from the outside.

Thanks for the ideas!

--Cal

[cwebster]

Originally Posted by Mr. Wyndham

That's not a bad thought process...but I want to be the Devil's advocate for a moment...

If you operate the car on a track - the paint on the front fascia, hood, and rear quarter WILL get f'd up...Rain/Snow/Whatever can't even begin to do the sort of damage that debris from the track will do at 100+mph. A nice $350-$400 outdoor car cover will offer a great deal of protection from the elements in the winter months.

(I was like you when I bought my 2012 ZL1...and the first time I got a rock chip pissed me off...which led to the first cone I hit, and popped out the fog light...after that I got over the "keep it clean" goal pretty quick. )

I like the way you think... frugal. That's a good point. I still have a heavy-duty outdoor cover with soft inner lining from my 1LE that worked great after I cinched it up with clamps and bungie cords. But I'd still have to wipe it down and buff it up whenever I took it off.

The main idea for the trailer is to minimize the highway mileage and have a place to stow my gear while racing. Whenever I went to the drag strip or autocross with my 1LE, the limited gear I could carry would just get piled up somewhere.

I plan on getting a good protective sealant put on right away to help protect the finish. With the 1LE I bought the Zurichshield option but apparently that's really only an insurance policy - one that never paid off in my case. This time I think I'm gonna go with either "Klasse High Gloss Sealant" or "Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant".

After only 6 months or so I noticed that the "gills" in front of the rear tire wells had a number of 1/32-1/16" wear spots where it looked like abrasion from road dirt had worn the paint down to the primer. By the time I traded it in, that high spot was covered with these little white dots. The front facia didn't do too badly, with only a few spots. I waxed that car every other week, washed it once or twice a week, and wiped it down every day at least once.

I'll keep my ZL1 waxed up too and do whatever I can to minimize wear/damage to the finish. In the end, though, I'm buying this car to have fun with. It's not going to sit in a garage (or trailer) and only get pulled out to show off on weekends. I'm gonna drive the hell out of it. That's what it was bred for and what I bought it for, right? I went through my first set of tires on my 1LE in less than a year. I'll probably do the same with the ZL1.

Thanks for your insights and point of view. It's why I like this forum - keeps me thinking.

--Cal

[cwebster]

Originally Posted by OldJedi

Here is an idea for trailering your beautiful car around.

Woah! That's more like a showroom on wheels! Awesome! Is that your car inside? Sweet!

--Cal

[cwebster]

Another key question: What will I tie down to under the ZL1?

Even though my 1LE was pretty open underneath, I didn't see much to hang tie-downs onto. (see composite image below).

With the new chassis design and aerodynamic panels, I imagine there are fewer places unless purpose-built tie-down hooks or brackets are installed.

Anyone that already has your ZL1 care to comment? Are there any tie-downs or mount points for them?

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by cwebster

Another key question: What will I tie down to under the ZL1?

Even though my 1LE was pretty open underneath, I didn't see much to hang tie-downs onto. (see composite image below).

With the new chassis design and aerodynamic panels, I imagine there are fewer places unless purpose-built tie-down hooks or brackets are installed.

Anyone that already has your ZL1 care to comment? Are there any tie-downs or mount points for them?

Just so you know, that is the Gen 5 ZL1.

I thought the preferred way to tie a car down to a trailer bed is tire straps? (Don't do this often, so I only observe...)

EDIT: Found a crappy image of the Gen 6 ZL1's underside...

[cwebster]

Originally Posted by Mr. Wyndham

Just so you know, that is the Gen 5 ZL1.

I thought the preferred way to tie a car down to a trailer bed is tire straps? (Don't do this often, so I only observe...)

EDIT: Found a crappy image of the Gen 6 ZL1's underside...
Attachment 837153

Thanks for the reference image. I don't see anything under there that looks like a tie-down either. So you're saying you've seen others use heavy duty web straps run through the wheels? I suppose that's an option, so long as there's even pressure on all of them.

The 8.5x24 trailer I've physically looked at seemed to have the D-Rings inside the footprint of the car. I might need to go back and have another look. This would be quite a hassle to thread the strap through the wheel, then back around to the same D-Ring under the car. Then maneuver myself to cinch it down.

After some searching it seems that axle straps are also an option. Straps seem to be what most people are using so I'll just have to figure out the best place to put them.

Having spent most of my military career in Marine Aviation, I'm used to seeing tie-down rings, clevises, and hooks as an integral part of the aircraft and ground vehicles. Even my Chevy Colorado has to heavy duty tie-down rings attached to the front of the frame. Haven't really looked to see if there's a matching pair in back. I sure don't want to be welding any extra parts to my new car, though.

--Cal

[cwebster]

Are private car haulers required to pull into weigh stations on the Interstate highways?