towing question... - Honda Prelude Forum

phunky · 08-11-2011, 11:08 PM

so i'm planning on towing the lude about 70 miles, and going to rent a uhaul auto transport:
http://www.uhaul.com/reservations/im...sportLarge.png
the problem is that the rear springs on my truck are pretty weak and am thinking that i might have to load it backwards to take less strain off the truck. is this a good idea?

Honda4Life · 08-11-2011, 11:38 PM

Link doesn't work. If it's a tow dolly that only picks up 2 wheels off the ground then no you shouldn't do that. You want the drive wheels not moving (off the ground) when towed.

If its on a flat bed with all 4 wheels off the ground then it's no problem.

phunky · 08-12-2011, 12:21 AM

sorry, it's this one:
U-Haul: Equipment specs

it just seems like from the car having a little extra weight on the front, it might put a more strain towards the front of the trailer. i'm getting the car on the trailer tomorrow, so if the truck doesn't squat too much with the lude facing forward, i'll roll with that. but if it squats too much, should i back it in rear first, so the bulk of the weight sits on the axle of the trailer? do you think it would pose a problem, safety-wise? i know there's a lock on the hitch, but i didn't want it to pop off the ball and i'll lose the trailer.

usmcmarc · 08-12-2011, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honda4Life

If its on a flat bed with all 4 wheels off the ground then it's no problem.

He answered that question

Kronn 98SH · 08-12-2011, 09:23 AM

If the truck squats at all, you have the wrong size drop hitch.

Rycon · 08-14-2011, 05:40 PM

Wouldn't it be the Struts that are weak and not the springs? If the struts are blown.. you probably really don't wanna do this.. even if it doesn't squat the truck. If you hit a bad bump and start doing a bunch of bouncing, you could possibly loose control of the trailer.

Also, make sure the weight of the tow does not exceed the weight of the truck.. or else this happens:

FVA- Car Tow Fail - YouTube

phunky · 08-15-2011, 12:27 AM

that video was hilarious! well in a failblog kinda way... ok, here's an update. first off, it's an 02 dodge ram 1500 4x4. i think my leaf springs on the truck were extremely weak because being the knucklehead that i am, i always hauled as much as i could, boasting "that's AMERICAN engineering"- bad excuse, i know. all those years gradually caught up with me and my springs were shot so bad that the camper top (~250lbs) had to be removed. in short, years of abuse = no more payload.
back to the story. i rode the lude front facing on the trailer and the truck squatted dangerously low. i called the uhaul guys and explained my problem to them and they said it was ok, no issues with warranty. so i turned to car around the backed it up and low and behold- BARELY any squat. I secured all the straps and away i went. The drive up was nice, the truck struggled a little going uphill, but stayed steady and made the entire trip with no problems.
On the way back to return the trailer was another story. i didn't see it, and bounced into a huge dip in the road, it seemed like the trailer's emergency brakes engaged, snapping at the truck and engaging my transmission light. there is a contraption on the trailer that you need to ensure is in a down position before towing, so i pulled over to check it. the contraption was down, so i thought i was good. while taking off, the trailer jumped and made a lot of noise, and seemed to jerk back at the truck every time it went forward. i was still about 60 miles from home, so i figured even at the expense of my transmission, i was going to get this POS trailer back. i had to take the rest of the trip in 4th gear because 5th was useless with the trailer brakes on. slowly but surely, i finally made it back to town and returned it. ideal over.
long story, so here are the cliff notes:
-the prelude can be backed up into the trailer no problem, even with a weak payload truck.
-see if those uhaul guys can disengage the emergency brake system on the trailer to avoid transmission overheating in a situation like this one.

thanks for everyone's help in this. now time for a head gasket change... hooray...

caaraa · 08-15-2011, 02:08 AM

make sure the weight of the tow does not exceed the weight of the truck.

Rycon · 08-15-2011, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caaraa

make sure the weight of the tow does not exceed the weight of the truck.

What did I say something stupid?.. lol.. or am I captain obvious..

Kronn 98SH · 08-15-2011, 01:11 PM

You still need to tow with the proper drop hitch.