OK Guys, I need to get a mini from Adelaide to Melbourne and need to know options for the trip.

My Priorities
1: A fellow Ausmini fanatic who is making the SA top Vic trip
2: Someone who can lend me a trailer
3: Transport companies who do car transport

Any help would be appreciated!

I've got a trailer I can lend you, but I won't be home for over a week.

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

OK car towing.... that far..... sounds dangerous.

pointers?

towing a trailer 600k's is no more dangerous than towing it 6k's - gotta be careful no matter what

When I bought mine we hired a trailer just one way, Adelaide to Sydney.

Just make sure you have the right tie down gear and know how to secure it correctly.

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

+1.

Don't just buy some silly little ratchet straps from supercheap and expect them to hold a car on.

I had two good quality 900kg ratchet straps , and we all know what happened to them

.

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My Dad bought his mini in Adelaide. He drove the company car V6 auto Mitsubishi Magna from Brisbane to Adelaide, Hired a rental trailer and brought it back up to Brisbane.

I'm sure Adelaide to Melbourne should be ok

I have done a lot of towing of cars on trailers over long distances over the years. There are a couple of things to take into consideration. Firstly its not a high speed 100 kmh dash betwesn the start point and the end point. Use common sense and be aware of the load behind you, the braking distances and other motorists around you.

Then we get to the actual loading. The car on the trailer must be secure in that its not going to move around on the trailer. That especially means backwards and forwards movement. Cars do fall off trailers if they are not properly secured but generally, jerking a car off the back of a trailer is not your greatest worry. Having it fly forward into the back of the tow car under heavy breaking (or an accident) is a far greater worry.

Tie-down straps are a relatively new thing to me, I have always used chains to stop backards and forwards movement and positioned properly they can also stop sideways movement from corners etc.

I have also seen cheaper tie down straps fail from UV effects and from those not specifically designed to restrain heavy loads. They can also stretch and once you begin to get movement its only going to get worse.

Now - there are two theories on the best way to tie down a car on the trailer. One is to pull the car down on its suspension but you need proper mounting points on the car to do this. Most modern cars come with tow hitching points.

The other theory is to tie it down via the suspension (or wheel straps) and let the cars own suspension ride up and down absorbing shocks and vertical movement as it was designed to do on the road.

As Simon said - apart from fatigue and concentration factors - towing a car on a trailer a thousand kilometres is no more dangerous than towing one just a few kilometres given common sense.

You also need to watch a few things on the car pulling the trailer - apart from braking distance and careful delicate use of the brakes - use the gears (even on an automatic) to go up and down a hill. Watch the engine temperatures and if it gets hot, pull over and let it cool. I have found that leaving engine running dissapates heat far better than switching a hot engine off and letting it boil away - dont let it get to the point of boiling though.

Check the oil levels and transmission fluid regularly. Towing a heavy load relies a lot more on compression than normal driving and that means more oil consumption.

The other thing is the legalities. The combined weight of trailer and the car being towed cannot exceed the weight of the towing vehicle. Lastly, make sure you activate the braking mechanism of the trailer so that the trailer does its own braking but remember to deactivate it if you are reversing.

Mike

Thanks guys, I have a trailer on loan from Bnicho. Looks like a light weight with single axle so should make the trip easier then a twin axle monster.

Towing it with a Kluger and taking a co-pilot so slow and easy will be the call and I plan to stop in Keith overnight on the return. Actually sounding like a fun road trip.

I have two 6ton straps from my factory to secure it and I will probable even take some chain as well.

anyone keen to bring a car up to Brisbane from Melbourne for me???

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

I regulay Tow 600km any time I take the Cooper S away.. I have tie down over the wheels, a good trailer, and set the cruise at 100- 105km-h. Slow down over bumps, and check evey 100km or so the straps...

tows very nicely with either the X1 23d or the X5d

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I'll add my two cents worth to what Mike and Simon in particular have said.
It's good that you're borrowing a trailer regularly used by a mini guy for mini's (and probably built as such) but with other trailers, also bear in mind to balance the load on the trailer so that it is more evenly spread. Driving it right to the front and making it front heavy is not always the best.

In my experience. Weight too far back and there will be too much trailer sway.

Weight too far forward and there is too much weight on the towball and more risk of something there braking.

I have lost two trailers off the back of the car whilst driving in my career - both times were those old style screw down hitches with the retaining pin, which worked loose. I refuse to use that style of hitch ever since (25yrs ago now).

the last big tow I did was a couple of years ago Sydney to Adelaide return for the Bay to Birdwood, but I agree with the comment that disaster can strike just going into the next suburb if you are complacent.
KB

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