[DeTomaso] Trailering Tiedown Points

[Matt Merritt]

Good question, Rich.  Any Pantera I've owned had those hoops mashed down or
broken off.  If they're not rusty or bent up I guess they'd work fine.  Mike
Drew?  Anyone?

Matt Merritt

-----Original Message-----
From: hoppe1 [mailto:hoppe1 at cox.net] 
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 6:26 PM
To: Matt Merritt
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Trailering Tiedown Points

Matt
I still have the factory tie down hoops in the front of the car.  Why don't
you use them?
Rich
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matt Merritt" <mmerritt at EventVehicles.com>
To: <detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 2:43 PM
Subject: [DeTomaso] Trailering Tiedown Points


> Hi Rick:
>
> With apologies to Peter - I strongly disagree with his recomendation 
> on how to tie down your Pantera for towing.  I've hauled my Pantera 
> racecar all over the place and easily win the prize for most paranoid 
> hauler on the planet.  I'm also in the car business and have been 
> trained by the best.  Here's how to do it:
>
> Materials:
>
> 1.  First, to safely haul your car you need a trailer with tiedowns 
> that are at least a couple of feet away from the front and back 
> corners of your car.  A 24' enclosed trailer or 18' open trailer are
optimal.
>
> 2.  You'll also need four high-quality ratcheting tie-down straps with 
> spring-loaded hooks on both ends.  Do NOT USE OPEN HOOKS.  If a strap 
> with an open hook were to come loose it would just fall off the car 
> leaving your pride and joy rolling around in the trailer all by itself.
> A loose strap is much better than no strap at all.
>
> 3.  Get four axle straps.
>
> Placement:
>
> Load the car far enough forward that the balance point is well ahead 
> of the trailer wheels.  Panteras are lighter in front and need to be 
> loaded farther forward most cars.  Leave it in gear.  This is another 
> good reason to have a 24' trailer.
>
> Tie Locations:
>
> Front:  On each corner wrap the axle strap around the rearmost part of 
> the lower A-arm.  Slide the strap as close to the center of the car as 
> possible, below all other parts of the suspension, and then to the 
> ratcheting tiedown strap.  Then run the strap to the trailer's anchor 
> point.  Use the tiedown on the same side of the car.  Don't cross the 
> straps unless you have absolutely zero distance between the tie and 
> anchor ends.  If you need to cross the straps that's a sign that you 
> need a better trailer.
>
> Rear:  Wrap the axle strap around and to the inside of the forwardmost 
> lower A-arm, under everything else on the car, and down to the 
> corresponding trailer tiedown.  Some people alternatively wrap the 
> axle straps around the brace under the transxle (where everybody puts 
> those "DeTomaso" plaques) but this works only on early cars with just 
> a rear mount.  On later cars the side ZF mounts are in the way.
>
> Once you've got the straps on and snug take the car out of gear.  Then 
> go to whichever end you like and start tightening the straps.  Get 
> them evenly nice and snug but not insanely tight.  A little slack will 
> cause the car to move around in the trailer and will put a ton more 
> strain on the suspension than if it's tied down tightly.  Also, don't 
> forget to put the car in neutral to take strain off the transaxle.  I 
> also always put sand bags in front and behind one wheel for a little 
> extra insurance.  Lastly, after I've driven for a few miles I always 
> pull over and check to make sure everything is riding properly.
>
> Hope that helps,
>
> Matt Merritt
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