I don't leave in gear and most race cars don't have an e brake. Steve (CTR)

Okay, just thought of another question about strapping a mini to a trailer. Is it better to leave the mini in gear while on the trailer? And how about the park brake???

Malsal has interesting insight:  Nowadays, carmakers, especially the Koreans, have people at truck stops checking the car tie downs on carriers.  It must be all wheel bonnet for their products.  Chains and load binders are savagery.  Note, this isn't an attempt to have a flame war with a guy in Ontario, his is a totally redundant thing.  I once saw a Pantera come off a trailer and the doors no longer fit because of the load binders.

As for wheel bonnets, there are many places that will build custom ones for your mini, ask a trucker or tow truck dude.

I haul all sorts of cars and have been tying them down since I was a child.  I have a Featherlite 3110 open car hauler.  I use great straps intended for car trailer use, not tying loads down, so they have latching hooks.  Axle straps are in my kit, as are a set of very cool tie downs made for side by side ATVs.

There have been a few threads on this topic:  I personally tie minis down almost the same as Malsal, but you need to do what is right for you.  Talk to people.  Try stuff, check it every 25 miles or so for the first while.  Act like a professional when you haul any trailer.  Check the lights before you drive away every time you  couple the trailer.  At night, look for their reflection on the road as you signal, etc.  Carry sufficient tools to fix a light problem should one arise.  If your trailer is old and shifty, go through it some Saturday and fit all new lights, building a sealing a new wiring harness.

Don't lend your trailer.

One of the hardest things is to tie down a bare shell.  Take time to build points to bolt to the shell:  Rear subframe trunnions are a great start.  I hauled a shell across Canada this summer and it tried to get free all the way across.  They just don't have any weight.  

Regardless of what size strap I use or have used in the past, (because I use/have used various size straps throughout my life) I always put a safety chain on the vehicle and padlock it to the trailer.  Even if a strap breaks, the chain will keep the vehicle on the trailer.  Also, it is very unlikely that all 4 straps would break at the same time.  I have had narrow straps break as well as wide straps, but never more than one has broke at a time.  One key to safe towing is that everytime you stop for gas, a pee, or just to stretch, you check the straps.  Not just a glance to see if they are still in place, but a good looking over.  FWIW, I haven't lost a vehicle off of my trailers, nor have I come close.  I have transported many, many, Minis and other vehcles over the years and have yet to damage one, much less have one come off the trailer. 

Zip, I think the part you are missing is that I don't thread the hooks thru the wheels.  I separate the strap from the rachetting mechanism and thread only the strap thru the wheel.  I then put it back in the rachet assembly and then I have a hook on each side of the wheel.  I then hook both hooks onto my built in metal tie-downs on the trailer.  Works great, and the straps don't scratch up the wheels either like a hook would.  Hope this helps you visualize how I do it.

What ever straps you use, make sure they have a load rating label on them.

 

I use a 2 ton 2" ratchet strap, with the loop that goes round the back of the wheel, for EACH wheel.

Thats 8 tons of strap against 1500 lbs of mini.

Maybe we can talk about this. I have had 1 inch straps ( purchased years ago ) made of high quality thick material. All the straps ( to include the 2 inch ) at HF or Horthern are made of very thin material and I won't buy them. I make up chains with the screw together links and work with them. It is always nice to crawl under the trailer and find the car you just loaded has attachment points installed. This starts me thinking I should work something out for the sub frames I'm having powder coated. Knock on wood, they often come to me on a trailer and get to drive home. Steve(CTR)

I had my own car hauling business for quite a few years and learnt a lot about tying cars down. It used to be that you always used chains and pulled the car down as hard as you could to stay under height with the 8 though 12 double deck car haulers, nowadays most car haulers are using straps and wheel bonnets as there is less risk of damage. I use my trailer to tow other cars so it is not specifly set up for Mini's. I will say a Mini is one of the quirky ones to tie down and i use the front tie rods or lower arms out to the corner of the trailer but the rear i cross tie it as the rear being so light has a tendency to bounce around on bumpy roads all done with 1.5" / 2.0" straps.

I guess I should stay out of this. I have owned 16 and 28 ft enclosed trailers. Yes, they were both tandem and for a good reason. I purchased a mobile home axle assembly with wheels and tires when building my mini trailer. I shortened the axle and dropped it 6 inches. The wheel bearings are huge and rated as such. The tires are rated as 36 ply. In 39 years I have suffered one flat and was hauling a spare. The car jack made quick work of the change.

I'm thinking if you tie to the wheels more less you are attaching to the sub frame. That's why I use chains and allow the car to float a little. I don't jack down the suspension. Thank goodness I have yet to lose a car while towing. It may be that there is no one correct way. Steve (CTR)

ditto that Malcolm- I saw Hugh tie down my moke with them,can't believe they would stand up to a real strain- I use the yellow 2 " nylon straps with a ratchet binder-

BIG AL

Zip, Hugh uses one inch ratchet straps and probably threads the loose end through the four slots in a standard wheel then insets it into the ratchet mechanism. I will only use 1.5 or 2.0 inch straps similar to the ones in your pic Zip i have seen too many one inch straps fail.

Hugh,
Maybe I'm just being dense. I cannot picture any strap with a hook or eyelets passing through the opening in the standard 3-1/2" wheels..... If you know of one, please share a picture.

Zip, even steel wheels have openings in them where you can put a strap thru them.  I know that I certainly did this thru the 10" steel wheels on my Moke when I trailered it to California.  I would never hook anything to the subframes on a Mini, and particularly not the rear one.  I have seen way too many rear subframes distorted by folks that don't know better.  In addition to possibly messing up the subframes, if you tie the Mini down by the "body" (and I mean, anything that sits ontop of the suspension) you risk the straps coming loose or breaking when you hit bumps and the car naturally bounces up and down on the suspension.  If you tie down the wheels this is not an issue...the body will float naturally and the wheels will stay in one place.

Steve-

If you have a tandem axle and you loose a tyre or a bearing , you can "Keep on Truckin"to the next stop to get help-

 

Or with a tandem axle and if you have a flat, you don't need a jack, just run up one tyre on the bad side, on a piece of 2x4, change the tyre, roll it off the 2x4 and Bobs' your uncle!!!

Little tricks you learn along the way and also, buy a cheap set of trailer lites with magnetic base and if your eletrical system fails, just strap these babies on, plug em in and you are good to go-Harbor Freight sells them, Pep boys etc-

BIG AL-

A couple of good things about a two axle trailer is if (when) you have a tire blowout it is a lot easier to control with three others still on the ground and loading/weight distribution is not as critical as it is on a single axle trailer.

Al, if I may ask why would you say tandem is the only way to go? I built my single axle 39 years ago and have trailered at 100 mph with out issues. Here tandem axles require brakes on on one axle. More tires and things to go bad. Steve (CTR)

A slight hi-jack alert-

I have two mini trailers for sale- both for single minis- custom built with storage boxes on each and one has a power winch, the other a manual winch- Both are tandem axles, the only way to go-

These are both open trailers-

 

Please contact me for price details-

 

BIG AL-

[email protected]

Wheel nets are the best way to avoid damage to the car.  My trailer is a 6' x 10' aluminum deck and I use steel chocks from Harbor Freight at the front...two holes in the deck for these, one set up for round nose and one for clubby.  I bought these nets:
//www.ebay.com/itm/Double-Adjustable-Wheel-Net-w-Twisted-Snap-Hook-Cam-Buckles-/260957082896?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_100&hash=item3cc2411510&vxp=mtr#ht_1422wt_910

They adjust nicely for 18" tires or any other size.  One extra strap horizontal from the Mini's tow eyes to tension the tire up against the chocks and for extra safety.  No downward presure on this extra strap.

Also bought 8' arched ramps with 3000lb. capacity to drive onto the trailer without bottoming out, and the side rails and fenders on the trailer are low enough I can open the door and get out.  Kinda hard crawling out a Mk1 sliding window.

All this so I can load and unload by myself with a running car.  Next step is a 12 volt winch with a remote for rollers.

Each strap (one kit) is rated for 800 pounds, so I figure one on each wheel is pretty much sufficient. Plus, even though you do have to drive over the chocks, once you've got them in the right place on the trailer, it really locks the tires in place. I painted some guide lines on one side of the trailer bed that I can see when I'm pulling on so I get the tires lined up in the right spot first time. I'm actually confident enough since I've pulled this setup for hundreds of miles without any trouble, that I'm considering removing the rearmost chock and just strapping the front wheels and using a couple of rachet straps on the rear. 

BTW, this place has a clearance price on two-packs of the straps: www.sportsmansguide.com

Gary, I feel your pain!! Can't imagine watching the mini take a header off the trailer and into the woods!!! YIKES!!

 

Brian,

Fastrap looks like a reasonable solution but the maximum is 800 lbs. Do they mean per wheel? If that is the case....you would use them front and rear....correct??

I am happy to hear all these different methods. Because there is no logical method that these cars were built with! I guess they never were intended to be trailered?????