bracing under dragster in trailer during transport

[LaneM]

Ok this may have been addressed somewhere before but I cannt see it..so being new to dragsters..I have a 200 inch fed..I have a 24' trailer that has the dovetail in it..when I transported this ride from Indiana to Utah I simply loaded and hit the highway.When I got to Utah and unloaded I noticed I had floor damage from the ribs in the tranny pan bouncing around off the floor on this trip. Now I know it is a very bad thing to let this happen which can lead to damage..perhaps part of my frame gremlins..so I have heard of inflatable things but they pop..so what is a good thing to support this while in transport and where do you find it..also I heard it is best to support chassis where rear engine mount is..is that correct. thanks alot

[JrFuel Hayden]

Lane, we use a wood board under the rear motorplate, and it straddles the motorplate. The belly pan comes up to the motorplate but it doesn't cover it so the motorplate just comes to the bottom on the lower frame rail. We just screwed two pieces of wood onto a wider piece so there is a gap to straddle the alum motorplate. The wood support has a shallow hole in the bottom, and a bolt that it centers on and that bolt is in the trailer floor.  This description may not be clear, but hopefully it has you thinking until I can take a picture for you. When we have the wood support in the trailer then we use our racecar dolly [ check included picture] to get the dragster in the trailer and when car is in the right spot in the trailer we just lower the car onto the wood support with the dolly.
We have been towing it this way for 15 years with not chassis issues. The car did get loose in the trailer a couple of times when we had only one tie-down strap on each rear slick, we run double ties now. We have heard of the blow-up bladders leaking also.
I'll take some pictures when we load it up for the Hot Rod Reunion next Wed.

Jon

[Totally T]

We use the stabilizer with no issues. My neighbor uses wood under the midplate. He has boards cut to length with a piece of aluminum plate fastened to the edge of the boards that will "lock" in between the frame rails and keeps the board from sliding out.

[BK]

After my chassis broke I use wood blocks under motor plate, tie the slicks down and just in front of the motor. No breakage since. I only ran 4.5# of air in the slicks and found the straps came off less at 6# and over. I think the idea is get the car attached to the trailer and let the trailer take the bumps.

[ricardo1967]

Anyone here with trailers using STi Air Ride Suspension (http://timbren.com/sti-air-ride/?

They sure look really nice, but it's probably my pay grade.

As a poor-man's alternative, I chose a 7.5K# trailer instead of the more common 10K# due to its softer axle springs.

[GlennLever]

I have used Mac's Chassis Stabilizer

http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/product/256/Dragster

For five years, with only one problem. On the way to Milan the stabilizer came out from under the dragster. I believe this happened on the road right before we arrived. It was extremely rough, to the point we traveled at 15 MPH for 3 1/2 miles.  On the way out we increase the tire pressure in the rear to 10 pounds and it did not move.

There was a discussion here not long ago where Roo Man talked about hold the dragster down also with a strap over the top. That makes sense and we will be looking into a way to do that.

[LaneM]

ok the wood idea sounds common and I think Im gettn the idea...we are simply adding a support(solid)under the frame so when slicks are tightened down it won't let the car flex rather the trailer will bounce and car is firm with trailer..I run a double row strap on rear tires and mac's bonnets on front..call me parainod but I hate a loose ride in the trailer. thanks for ideas

[JrFuel Hayden]

Lane I forgot to mention, we put about 12 lbs of air in the slicks for towing to help keep the tie-downs tight.
We don't use anything on the front tires, just don't seem to need any.
However, everytime we stop to pee or get fuel we check inside the trailer, it's not only the racecar that can get loose.

Cheers,
Jon

[GlennLever]

I got the Drag Pack

(2) Rear Dragster Nets
(2) Front Dragster Nets
(4) Anchor Plate Assemblies
(4) Recessed D-Rings
(4) Backing Plates
Mac's Padded Black Bag







Not my dragster.

http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/product/260/PackageDeals

And the stabilizer

[LaneM]

glenn that looks like the same set up I have plus I have those rubber boots on front wheels where they sit in those..not sure what they call them..I too put more air in tires to help keep them from bouncing around as much..thanks

[dreracecar]

I have been using a drum/keg cushin, what they use to drop the drums on out of the truck, does not need air, I just wedge it under the frame, 18 years without a crack

[George]

I use boat docking buoys. No problems in 5 years.

[JrFuel Hayden]

So, Bruce and George, do you guys just have a couple of guys lift-up the chassis and put your "frame savers" under the motorplate or just the frame rails ?

[George]

We load the back end of the car forward to have room for the golf cart. So before I let the front end of the car down with the dolly a crewman slides the large buoy under the chassis. The buoy is under a tube that is from one bottom frame rail to the other and not much in the front of the engine. Also we air the rear tires to 10psi and strap all the tires down with a setup pictured on this thread. Loading with the dolly lets me get the rear end around the trailer's inner fenders and allows me to move the front end close to the wall. On flat ground two of us can load everything without a winch. George

[RacinJacin]

If you can bear with my crappy video, here's what I've had good luck using to stabilize my chassis during towing.
The video is on the entire trailer, but if you skip to about 30 seconds in you can see my chassis saver.