CYA When you ship a car

Seems like a tough one. What exactly do you take pics of etc. and when? What about an unload and reload along the way? Even if you had extensive pics I could still see a guy saying tough, you want your car or not? Then it'd be off to court etc. trying to prove it after you paid to have your car released. BTW, the knowledgeable guys strap around the tires and know better. Good point though.

 

You guys need to use better shipping companies

www.HorselessCarriage.com is one of the best!

 

Not only are they the best but they are the transport company for Ferrari to their dealers. If its good enough for Ferrari it should be good enough for us!

howard musolf
1981 Ferrari 308gtsi
Maserati spyder

 

Good advice Rick.
About a year ago my BMW had to be towed and the driver said he just went through a school put on by BMW and Porsche teaching them how to secure the cars correctly.
Seems a lot of tow companies were bending the aluminum suspension parts when strapping the cars down to tight on the flatbeds.

 

Sorry for the repost, but on subject,

Choose wisely grasshopper
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You should see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDDLL2rywYk&feature=related

 

oboy,someones going to get fired

 

You should never tie a car down by it's suspension. You should tie it down by securing it's wheels. You should also always leave it in neutral.

 

+1---The few times mine has been transported--The securing was done at the wheels....

 

I generally tie cars down by the frame if at all possible, try to pull the car down against its suspension a bit to keep it from bouncing around. Only a moron would wreck a car tieing it down. Suspension, tires, frame, it all works if you have a fricken brain between your ears. Its when some idiot keeps ratcheting things down after they already reached maximum load.

They haul millions of cars around the country by open car carrier, all the new cars from all the manufacturers. They arent ruining all of them. Its the fly by night companies that offer private owners car transport that have idiots working for them. Find a good company recommended by a car dealer and its not a big deal. I cant count the numbers of Ferrari's I have seen shipped on open car carriers that were snugged down all nice and happy by the frame. You really think a car carrier is going to run down the road very well with a dozen cars all jiggling and moving around like jelly from only tying them down at the wheels? They would have you changing lanes and barely able to keep it on the road. They have to be snugged down better. Just use common sense. I know its a stretch these days, but it still works.

 

In Transporters and in Airplanes we've only tied down by the wheels. Nothing attached to the chassis period.

 

Correct Tie Down.
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IF you run straps through the rims like that photo, it can polish the rim in one spot and you will have a hard time making it look right. I allways go over the tire on the tread.

 

Can you imagine the loads being placed on the steering linkage and rack & pinion as the two front tires are being FORCED to toe in toward each other? I HAVE seen tie rods pretzeled doing that, as well as torn out of the inner socket, depending on the direction working against the tie rod. And once the fronts break loose and the car rolls, the remaining ties can fall off, and nothing to stop it rolling backward.

Sorry, but I would never tie down a car like that, even if you paid me a lot of money.

 

oooouch..that is pretty terrible..

 

+1
My Ferrari 348SS and my mom's Jag XJSV12 and both were done without a single issue.

 

I don't like tie downs through the wheels, although sometimes that's all you get

A buddy has a car hauler with tie downs that go over the wheels, and that works very very well

What drives me ballistic is the 300lb fat **** that thinks he's going to shoehorn himself into an F40. Not!

 

Touchy subject.

I had my 348 transported on the back of a truck from Mount Isa to Townsville in November 2005. Around 1200 mile return trip.

He tied my 348 down through the wheels. When he loosened the straps in Townsville, they had left "marks" on my wheels.

All 4 of them, and they also damaged the Ferrari centre badge in the wheel.

But, I was too concerned about it because I was going to refinish the wheels anyways. But next time, we will throw some towels or something over the wheels to strap it down.

 

And I thought this was common sense. Never assume....

 

The best two choices are a specifically designed center nut with tie down loops that replace the center nut/KO for transport.
This is what the high speed MB Transporter used.

Another very good one is the one you describe which is a web that fits around the tire and has straps for tie down.
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It is a touchy subject when the pros tow. I think it best to use transport points like cutouts in the chassis designed in by the factory when pros tow. Of course they need to know how to preload the suspension when they use the factory points. That's how they are secured on the boat ride over. For the rookies who do things like tow to the track the best was is to secure with straps lightly but lock the car down from moving even a bit by using wheel chocks on both sides of one wheel with bungy cords to pull the chocks into the wheel. The bungie cords are critical because that makes the unit self tightening over the bumps in the road. You get no movement of your car that way and you get no damage but you still have the security of 4 tiedown straps. I can tow from LA to Laguna Seca with straps just finger tight and the car will not move at all. Of course tow with handbrake optional and in neutral.

 

When my cars have been shipped, I noticed they tied them down by the tires. Not through the WHEELS, but with straps that are designed to go over the tops of the TIRES. They then crank them down really tight against the tires. No straps are touching anything, except tire.

Seems to work ok, certainly doesn't damage anything on the car, as there is no contact with the car other than the tires.