My road trip setup

[Gary Horneck]

All ready to roll first thing in the am for a SCCA RallyCross event. This is my tow setup. The one good thing about the diving board - its tough. I have hauled the car all over the AL, TN area this year competing in AutoX's and RallyCross's. Tows great @ 70mph. With my van, hardly know its there (except for the 10mpg). My crew looks disappointed when I said, "its race car guys, you have to stay here tomorrow".

[Nsquared97]

That's a pretty sweet tow setup, did you fab that up yourself?

On an unrelated note, What size are those tires? I am looking into getting a set, have had a set of Hankook and General each on different cars in the past and love 'em.

[Gary Horneck]

Those are... 185/70/14 iPike's. I went with a -1 size for dirt and some clearance. I was using old Tiger Paw's @185/60 but they had no sidewall bite. The course is Alabama clay, so I think something undersized a bit might power through the dust that builds up. Find out tomorrow.

That is a $200 tow bar from Amazon. Brackets bolt right into bumper shock plate. The shocks have been drained and pinned. Its a stout setup.

[Fusion]

I've never seen a car towed like that. Do you lock the steering wheel?
I'm not really sure about the two vertical bolts. Is the metal really going to hold up?

[Gary Horneck]

You see them a lot here in the south. Behind Motorhomes. Quite popular and called dingy towing. Steering wheel is not locked. It just tracks happily along behind. There is no movement, as in jerking, if there was, I too would be concerned that the metal might fatigue. Grade 8 bolts and fender washers on the inside secure the brackets. The car weighs around 2,400 lbs and the braking with my Van is way better than a 2-axle 5,000 lb trailer, with the car on it. There is no weight on the ball/tongue at all since the bar pivots at the bumper.

[Erik]

Awesome setup! I will someday have a setup like this.

[Gary Horneck]

Was a fantastic day for racing. Another 325e showed up, with two drivers, and it was setup almost exactly like mine. We E30's were putting on a great show. All wheel drive Subaru's... ha! I took 1st in RWD, and we E30's were fastest of the competitors. I compiled some video from yesterday. My car is the #54.

http://youtu.be/InYJnWN3gGU

[irish44j]

nice setup. I would be interested in seeing more information about the car as well, since I"m putting together a rallycross e30 myself. Got a build thread or anything?

[Gary Horneck]

I use it for both AutoX and RallyX. There were some compromises in my setup. Can't lower it as much as I would like for AutoX, or I loose too much ground clearance for RallyX. For RallyX I use Hankook iPike snow tires @ 185/70/14.

No build thread as I put it together before I was a member here, this past spring.

'87 325e

• H&R Sport Springs
• IE 22/19 bars
• Bilsteins
• IE fixed camber plates
• IE Strut/Shock braces F&R
• M3 CAB's
• Powerflex TAB's & differential bushing
• New rotors/Hawk AutoX pads
• Stainless brake lines
• FleaBay short shifter
• UUCDSR
• Dinan Chip
• K&N Filter
• All new engine sensors
• 400 lbs of dead weight to the dump
• Cipher racing seats

In the garage to be installed in mid Dec.

EU 323i intake
Holley 4160 4 barrel
EU 323i Distributer
325i cam, springs, arms in eta head
'95 M3 rack
MSD ignition
FleaBay headers & racing muffler (side exit)
400 lbs of useless ECU, manifold, injectors, ect to the dump

[bastianshaw]

i like

[Charlie]

Those are... 185/70/14 iPike's. I went with a -1 size for dirt and some clearance. I was using old Tiger Paw's @185/60 but they had no sidewall bite. The course is Alabama clay, so I think something undersized a bit might power through the dust that builds up. Find out tomorrow.

That is a $200 tow bar from Amazon. Brackets bolt right into bumper shock plate. The shocks have been drained and pinned. Its a stout setup.

Interesting, which bar off amazon is that, the reese?

Do you disconnect the shaft or just neutral tow it?

-Charlie

[Gary Horneck]

I neutral tow it. Bentley gives an OK for that. All my OT venue's are about 100 miles away.

That is the - Master Lock 2939AT Heavy Duty Adjustable Tow Bar with 2" Heavy Duty Coupler, and some cheap Harbor Freight tow lights. Works great, just don't get in a situation where you have to do a u-turn at full lock (drags the front tires). And, no backing up, it just jackknifes.

[Charlie]

I neutral tow it. Bentley gives an OK for that. All my OT venue's are about 100 miles away.

That is the - Master Lock 2939AT Heavy Duty Adjustable Tow Bar with 2" Heavy Duty Coupler, and some cheap Harbor Freight tow lights. Works great, just don't get in a situation where you have to do a u-turn at full lock (drags the front tires). And, no backing up, it just jackknifes.

Sweet, you got any more closer pics of how you've got it mounted?

-Charlie

[etxxz]

i've always wondered about flat towing... lots of off-roader guys do it.

Pro's and Cons anyone?

i basically rent u-haul single or double axle utility type trailers and use my 06 Xterra (6sp ~ 13mpg on 4900ish lbs car/trailer/gear) If i could save 1600-1800lbs on the trailer not only would i get better mileage, but also save on renting the trailer, and be safer (no brake controller, chances of jacknifing my e30 close to non). Tire wear who cares, i tow at most 3hrs each way. Tire wear is minimal with respect to wear at the track.

[Dave]

Pro's and Cons anyone?

Tire wear who cares, i tow at most 3hrs each way. Tire wear is minimal with respect to wear at the track.

I've kicked around the idea of a tow dolly - and this actually has the same disadvantages, with maybe a little less PITA factor.

If you get a mechanical, sure you are fine, but any kind of incident that renders the car non-free rolling, and you are fooked.

And as far as tires, I'd rather not subject my R compounds to the potholes, risk of nails, debris, etc. If you are rolling on balloony snow tires like the OP, that is different. Works a little better for a rally car, though I suppose the chance of damamge maybe is greater?

So, for me, I'd still be having to swap tires at the track.

Mid Ohio is a little under 3 hours from me and Putnam is a little over two.

I'll stick with my "little red wagon" HF trailer until I can do it right. No disrespect to the thread starter. I applaud his work.