Live From The Fram Autolite Nationals

Michael Pliska · 07-18-2010, 08:50 PM

Toby,
Thanks for the photos, it's great to see close-ups of the action!

Your trip down reminds me of my trip to the inaugural Sonoma national (1988). I stopped for fuel in Grants Pass, and on my way up the uphill on-ramp I hit a HUGE drop in the pavement from construction (it was dark so I didn't see it). The car behind me started flashing his headlights and pulled up next to me yelling "your car fell off the trailer!" I pulled over and sure enough, I was dragging the car by the rear tie-down. I used semi-truck cable tie-down winches to secure the car, and the front was hooked to a piece of chain on the car which had a hook on either side which was secured by two 7/16" bolts with grade 8 markings. When I hit the bump both bolts on one hook broke. In the rear I had a cable hooked over the rearend brace, and it stayed attached but was now stretched to the rear instead of to the front, so the car was dragging along with the rear tires on the ground and the fronts on the trailer. It trashed a brand new pair of slicks, had a real fun time getting the car up and over the folded-over ramps and back on the trailer. Ever since then I have run 2 safety chains in addition to the tie-downs.

07-18-2010, 08:50 PM	#34
Michael Pliska Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Happy Valley, OR Posts: 260 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Live From The Fram Autolite Nationals Toby, Thanks for the photos, it's great to see close-ups of the action! Your trip down reminds me of my trip to the inaugural Sonoma national (1988). I stopped for fuel in Grants Pass, and on my way up the uphill on-ramp I hit a HUGE drop in the pavement from construction (it was dark so I didn't see it). The car behind me started flashing his headlights and pulled up next to me yelling "your car fell off the trailer!" I pulled over and sure enough, I was dragging the car by the rear tie-down. I used semi-truck cable tie-down winches to secure the car, and the front was hooked to a piece of chain on the car which had a hook on either side which was secured by two 7/16" bolts with grade 8 markings. When I hit the bump both bolts on one hook broke. In the rear I had a cable hooked over the rearend brace, and it stayed attached but was now stretched to the rear instead of to the front, so the car was dragging along with the rear tires on the ground and the fronts on the trailer. It trashed a brand new pair of slicks, had a real fun time getting the car up and over the folded-over ramps and back on the trailer. Ever since then I have run 2 safety chains in addition to the tie-downs. __________________ Michael Pliska 643 S/G