[Dabjbr]

Originally Posted by Msquared

They aren't that close. The exhaust flow isn't restricted at all. I just added the shields in case the heat would stream back into the outside tires during a highway drive.

Good to know. I'll likely first go without the shields and see what type of heat it's putting out.

[Msquared]

Originally Posted by Dabjbr

There is a stealth version out there but IIRC it's like $800. More than I care to spend.

the one I know of is from Leroy. It's pricey, but I'm not sure it's that pricey. However, although it's rated for the same 200lb tongue weight (again, going from memory), a cargo carrier put's a lever load on the hitch instead of a straight-down load like trailer tongue weight. It's very different. The stealth hitch has a removable portion, and the only way I would run a carrier with it would be with the use of a stabilizer strap. So far, I haven't figured out a way to attach that strap without jacking up the trunk lid or whatever.

[cdrptrks]

Originally Posted by N Camarolina

I'm routinely putting 3 wheels in the back seat and one in the trunk. There still room in the trunk for jack, 2 stands, and a relatively small tote for essential tools and quart of oil. But little room is left for clothes tote, helmet, and cooler. Those all go on the passenger seat and passenger foot well. Doable? Yes. Fun packing and unpacking? Nope

Clothes go in a duffle / gym bag with a shoulder strap that is flexible enough to pack inside a wheel haha. I've packed almost 2 weeks worth of clothes into the car along with 4 wheels with tires mounted multiple times. Wheel in the trunk goes face down so you can pack spare boxes of brake pads or other stuff inside. Line the wheel barrel with cardboard or a foam square to protect it from the stuff you pack inside.

Lunchbox with 3 frozen ice packs in the built in zipper zlots holds 2x 28oz Powerade bottles, 4x 20oz water bottles, and a sandwich and stays cool all day if not in direct sunlight. They used to be stocked by Walmart but it seems that Bed Bath and Beyond is the only place to get them now. There's probably other similar ones available from different brands. It easily fits in a wheel but I prefer to keep it by my right elbow so I can access it while driving on the street.

Helmet goes on the 1.5 ton aluminum jack where the handle would normally go. I pack it last near the trunk opening with helmet near one side of the trunk in case I get a flat and/or need to show my helmet for tech before unpacking the car.

It does take about an hour to pack it all back up and it needs to be done in a specific order but the car fits a surprising amount of stuff if you pack it well.

Wheel on the passenger seat blocks the side mirror in my experience...great way to have an accident before you even arrive at the track event.

This 18 gallon tote fits nicely on the passenger seat without blocking the side mirror and holds tons of spares. I would recommend a slightly smaller tote if your wheels are any wider than stock SS 1LE wheels. It is too tight of a fit with the ZLE wheels in the car but I can just squeeze it in. Don't forget you can pack stuff in the passenger footwell but you might have to rotate or remove the tote to get it out at your hotel.

A box with a padlock on it might signal to a thief that there's something valuable inside. If the thief can grab the locked box and steal it they will have plenty of time to find a way around the lock later somewhere where they don't look suspicious doing it.

[cdrptrks]

I already posted this in another thread but this is how I pack 3 wheels in the back without removing the back seat. The passenger seat does have to go very far forward.

First pic is from the driver's side. Second pic is taken just behind the passenger headrest looking at the driver's side.

[N Camarolina]

Originally Posted by cdrptrks

Clothes go in a duffle / gym bag with a shoulder strap that is flexible enough to pack inside a wheel haha. I've packed almost 2 weeks worth of clothes into the car along with 4 wheels with tires mounted multiple times. Wheel in the trunk goes face down so you can pack spare boxes of brake pads or other stuff inside. Line the wheel barrel with cardboard or a foam square to protect it from the stuff you pack inside.

Lunchbox with 3 frozen ice packs in the built in zipper zlots holds 2x 28oz Powerade bottles, 4x 20oz water bottles, and a sandwich and stays cool all day if not in direct sunlight. They used to be stocked by Walmart but it seems that Bed Bath and Beyond is the only place to get them now. There's probably other similar ones available from different brands. It easily fits in a wheel but I prefer to keep it by my right elbow so I can access it while driving on the street.

Helmet goes on the 1.5 ton aluminum jack where the handle would normally go. I pack it last near the trunk opening with helmet near one side of the trunk in case I get a flat and/or need to show my helmet for tech before unpacking the car.

It does take about an hour to pack it all back up and it needs to be done in a specific order but the car fits a surprising amount of stuff if you pack it well.

Wheel on the passenger seat blocks the side mirror in my experience...great way to have an accident before you even arrive at the track event.

This 18 gallon tote fits nicely on the passenger seat without blocking the side mirror and holds tons of spares. I would recommend a slightly smaller tote if your wheels are any wider than stock SS 1LE wheels. It is too tight of a fit with the ZLE wheels in the car but I can just squeeze it in. Don't forget you can pack stuff in the passenger footwell but you might have to rotate or remove the tote to get it out at your hotel.

A box with a padlock on it might signal to a thief that there's something valuable inside. If the thief can grab the locked box and steal it they will have plenty of time to find a way around the lock later somewhere where they don't look suspicious doing it.

Thanks for the packing tips! I like the idea of utilizing space inside the wheels (inside of trash bag to protect from brake dust).

And the helmet on the jack in the trunk sounds interesting. I'll have to try that if I can re-jig how I use the trunk space around the 1 wheel that's in there. But there's a number of things to play musical chairs with [jack stands, wheel chocks, wheel lifter dissasembled (helps save my back), air compressor, folding camp chair]

[N Camarolina]

Originally Posted by Dabjbr

There is a stealth version out there but IIRC it's like $800. More than I care to spend.

I too hope the fixed hitch isn't too horrible looking. I intend to spray paint so that it blends into the rear apron, maybe flat black?

Anyway, I just pulled the trigger. $187 for the hitch and $90 for the carrier. That's very reasonable. Plus, not having to wrap my tires in totes while keeping the interior smell free will be worth the impact to looks... at least I hope so!

Where specifically did you purchase the hitch and the carrier from to get those prices?

I ask because it looks like the carrier costs $197 (MSRP?) at Curt and not sure how much the Draw-Tite hitch can be had for.

[JamesNoBrakes]

I got this one, there's a sleeve you take off to use it 1.25". I haven't used it yet, since it's not season yet, but I plan to use it like as previously described, two wheels strapped down.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/CURT-300...8110/205631483

My hitch is OEM.

[Msquared]

Amazon Prime has the carrier for $108. I know I got my Draw Tite hitch from E-Trailer.

[Dabjbr]

Originally Posted by Msquared

Amazon Prime has the carrier for $108. I know I got my Draw Tite hitch from E-Trailer.

Same. I bought the carrier for only $90 used from Amazon. I’ve bought a couple used items like this and often it’s just an opened (but unused) box. It arrives Sunday. I’ll share my experience.

[N Camarolina]

OK guys. I don't have much knowledge of trailers, hitches, and the like; So I called Draw-Tite and spoke to a technical support rep, specifically to ask about the tongue weight when you have a carrier rack hooked up to the receiver (3 of the OEM 1LE wheels plus the Curt rack totals 207 lbs).

The tech rep told me that the 200LB tongue weight limit on the Draw-Tite hitch is designed for a straight down (vertical) load, such as would be applied by a towed trailer arm. He said a carrier rack is totally different and applies a lot of it's load in torqued manner (bending downward, like the hand of a clock going from 3pm to 6pm), and as such, it would reduce the tongue weight limit on the hitch to something closer to 100LBs. Thus, putting 3 OEM 1LE wheels on the 30 LB carrier rack would essentially be 2x the safe carrying capacity of the hitch, and likely would result in failure at some point. I know track wheels (18 or 19" Apex etc) will probably cut weight by 10-15 LBS per tire, but you'd still be well above a 100LBS total. He mentioned that support straps, to counteract the torque vector effect would help greatly to bring the limit of the hitch back to 200 LBs, but no idea if any racks have those or where you could tie those into the trunk without panel/paint damage.

I know Matt mentioned he has transported wheels this way for 3 years with the Draw-Tite hitch and Curt rack setup without any problems/failure. Just curious to Matt and others that have been transporting wheels with this hitch/rack setup:

-How many total miles have you driven with the rack having 3 track wheels (~ 200 total LBS) on it?

- Any thoughts about this failure risk that the tech rep is raising?

[Dabjbr]

^^^ Hmmmm. Definitely makes me wonder.

The carrier weighs 30lbs and each wheel/tire is 50ish lbs.
So that’s 180lbs with 3 wheels or 130lbs with 2 wheels.

I may just decide to run 2 on the carrier, 1 in the trunk and 1 in a tote bag in the back seat. That would still provide plenty of storage, room for a passenger, less hassle loading and a tad more safety. It would also allow laying the wheels flat (with 2x4’s underneath) on the carrier. That should lower the tweaking force with the lower center of gravity and make it less prone to movement. (Edit: or would it increase tweaking force?! lol. Not an engineer)

My setup hasn’t got here yet but I’ll be trying different setups soon.

Lastly, if one really wanted a safety strap, you could install a zl1 rear town hook for another connection point. Although, that would require cutting the bumper which I don’t want.

https://*****************/shop/chevy...-gt4-tow-hook/

[Msquared]

Originally Posted by N Camarolina

-How many total miles have you driven with the rack having 3 track wheels (~ 200 total LBS) on it?

I've probably put at least 2000mi total on mine.

- Any thoughts about this failure risk that the tech rep is raising?

I always have thoughts about this! I agree that the load a carrier places on a hitch is different than the tongue weight of a trailer. When I bought the hitch, I specifically asked ETrailer about this, and I specifically used the example of three 50lb wheel/tires plus the 30lb carrier. They explicitly said that Draw-Tite hitch doesn't need a strap for that use. They published my question and their answer on their website, which I printed to PDF and saved. I still have it. However, I just went to their site to get the link for everyone, and it appears that my question and answer are no longer on there! So...that's a little suspect. Hmmm. Maybe I should only load two wheels on there from now on, or figure out a way to mount a strap.

To that last thought of making a strap holder, keep in mind that the stabilizer straps I've seen have a flat, rubber-coated hook intended to hook onto the leading edge of a trunk or lift gate. No way in hell I'd ever do that on my Camaro (for multiple reasons)! Maybe the answer is to do a rear-mounted tow hook installation like this guy did it, and then use the tow hook as an anchor for a stabilizer strap? If it's strong enough to tow the car out of a berm at a track, it has to be strong enough for a cargo carrier strap. Hiding it behind the license plate like this would also be the impetus I need to stop being lazy and mount the rear plate to the carrier when I travel with it. I'll have to get outside and measure this layout and maybe order some parts.

[Msquared]

Originally Posted by Msquared

Maybe the answer is to do a rear-mounted tow hook installation like this guy did it, and then use the tow hook as an anchor for a stabilizer strap? If it's strong enough to tow the car out of a berm at a track, it has to be strong enough for a cargo carrier strap. Hiding it behind the license plate like this would also be the impetus I need to stop being lazy and mount the rear plate to the carrier when I travel with it. I'll have to get outside and measure this layout and maybe order some parts.

Well, did the measuring and that's not gonna work. A center-mounted tow hook and strap/cable will interfere with the center tire on the carrier. I can use it as is with only two tires on the carrier, so there's no point in that. However, there might be another way. If I get ambitious enough to try it, I'll report back.

[N Camarolina]

Originally Posted by Msquared

Well, did the measuring and that's not gonna work. A center-mounted tow hook and strap/cable will interfere with the center tire on the carrier. I can use it as is with only two tires on the carrier, so there's no point in that. However, there might be another way. If I get ambitious enough to try it, I'll report back.

Thanks Matt. Please keep us posted if you find a strap solution.