So I'm picking up my new '89 RS tomorrow and a thought occurred to me. When you trailer one of these cars that isn't running, what is a good point to hook a cable to so that I can pull it up onto the trailer?

 

Best way to load a 3rd gen is by using long ramps, putting it on the trailer backwards & putting blocks under the front tires, to keep the nose from dragging.

If you put it on nose first, it can be a real pain if the car isn't running, to hook up a cable & avoid damaging the nose.

 

bring/use wood ramps, most trailers are not low enough, and the car will drag the nose no matter how you load it.

Its best to pull it ontot he trails rear first, since its easier to keep the cable off the body. The best place to grab the car is buy the holes in the bottom of the rear LCA body mounts. there are oval holes there for use with recovery hooks, and they are just about the lowest part of the car as well.

you could also wrap around the axle, if the car is not terribly low.

definatly bring wood ramps of some kind, 2x8's, 2x10, ect

 

hauling them backwards can also cause you to loose the hood louvers. something to think about if your car has them. fyi

 

really? never heard of that. I would think that the wind over the car would miss the louvers

 

Unless the car is engine-less, why would you ever load it backwards?! Depending on how long of a trailer you have, all that weight past the rear axle could cause the trailer to sway. Just take some time to remove the front gfx and place it in the car if your worried about it.

 

As if "just removing the gfx" is a simple process. On 'birds, it is a molded in piece & not even removable with anything less than a jigsaw. Even on Camaros, it isn't like it is just a 5 minute job.

Yes, the car would need to be loaded as far forward as possible for weight distribution. But as I said above, for 'birds gfx removal is not an option.

 

you do realize that the weight distribution of the car is not something like 80/20, its closer to 60/40 ish, so it makes little difference which way its on the trailer.

Like i said though, it depends ont he trailer/truck. if they have long enough ramps, im sure you can drive the car right on, but thats not always the case.

 

EXACTLY... Think about how you typically see PROFESSIONAL wrecker drivers hauling them on flat beds... best to load engine first... have someone stand on the cable if need be to keep it from pulling up on your nose and use long long boards

 

Mine got loaded on backwards, the last 2 times (and only 2 times) it got towed to a shop. And it wasn't with me asking. They simply loaded it that way.

And if you think....
#1 that a +- 200lb person is gonna to load down a cable pulling a 3000lb car very much
#2 that a tow truck driver (if using a tow truck flatbed) is going to allow that, he's not

 

doesnt matter what its pulling... you stand on the cable... and that pushes it down... multiple inches... 4-5 atleast... but what do i know ... we've only owned a towing business for idk 30+ years now... as for the backwards load... everything gets loaded front for us... mainly bc its easier on your suspension and steering

 

thats what i was going to post. my car has been towed twice on a flat bed/roll back for various reaons, both times it was loaded rear first simply because there is NO WAY to pull a 3rd gen bird onto a trailer without contacting the nose with the cable. You have nothing to hook too either, the air dam is in the way of the "tow hooks", should be the same with a camaro. I cant find any good pics of the underside of the car in the front, so i cant make any nice 8x10's with circles and arrows and a paragraph describing them to show you guys.

as far as the cable, it its taut, pulling a car, i dont see how simply standing on it will do anything.

 

just curious, what gets stressed?

 

iv pulled both of mine from the front, both the camaros iv owned werent running and i just hooked to the tow hooks since there wasnt an airdam and pulled it up, i had no problems with the car hitting, but both of mine didnt have GFX either so that might have helped aswell.

 

when you load backwards you put the majority of the weight on the rear and behind the rear axle... not too hard on the leaf springs but isnt too friendly on the the front half actually.... ever seen tractor trailer flat beds with the giant steel coils? the coil weighs about 30k and they load dead center ... it is just easier on your equipment... anyways this is a battle of opinions and thats ok... but im out of it now to the OP no matter how you load just be sure its secured and be careful

 

im following what you are saying here, i understand how to properly load a trailer with weight like that, i thought you were refeering to the front suspension on the car you are towing in your previous post about strain on suspension and steering parts. my bad

 

na its cool... i know what you mean in the end its all personal preference really

 

Ive towed many a 3rd/4th gen and fieros which are even lower than Fbodys

First park your trailer on the most level ground you can find. Next, block the tongue jack and lift the tongue (truck still hitched) as high as possible before lifting the rear wheels off the ground. This lowers the rear of the trailer/ramps to a minimum height so the nose doesnt scrap and the GFX dont bottom out. Only car Ive needed boards for was a slammed Fiero that drug floorpans over speedbumps

If this is the cars last ride to the crusher, hook your straps anywhere up front. Theres two holes in the frame rails made for this

If you dont want to damage the car then hook as low as possible. My tubular K-member hangs about 2" lower than anything else so I usually wrap around that or one of the A-arm holes

Once the car is up on the trailer and weight fully on the axle(s) step back and eyeball if the trailer is sitting level or tongue/tail heavy. Too heavy on either will greatly affect towing

 

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. What I ended up doing was pulling it nose first up the ramps and rolling it as far as possible towards the tongue (my flatbed is weighted oddly, so its better to make it nose-heavy) and used the shipping loops from the manufacturer to attach short chains that ran to the front of the frame. I used large ratchet straps looped through the rear rims and hooked them to the rear frame to tension the car backwards. It worked very well and the car didn't move at all in our hour+ drive over Osceola Co. roads on a heavy equipment trailer. I'll post pics soon of what I did to keep the nose from dragging; photobucket is down for maintenance right now.

 

I just Flat towed my third gen by hooking the tow bar through the front bumper inlets to the front impact bar, easy as pie

 

I've trailered and loaded many Camaros over the years, and have gotten some good advice from firends with more experience than me.
1) Always load the car front end first for weight distribution
2) Pocket is 100% correct about using the tongue jack to lower the rear of the trailer.
3) Try to pull on the crossmember if possible or the lower control arms.
4) I built some tie downs for the lower control arms using flat bar attached to the shock mount holes, and welded a forged chain link to the bottom of it. This is a perfect attachment point for loading as well as to tie the car down.
5) IMO the car should never be tied down to a body part. As the car springs compress and rebound this acts like a hamering effect on the body structure
6) For the rear, check these out:
http://www.rickscamaros.com/camaro-l...1982-2002.html
They attach to the rear lower control arm bolt and can be permanently left in place. Everyone who has tried them has installed them on all their Camaros.