how to transport 996 track tires to track

I drive my car to the track and want to drive rain tires (Brigestone SO3) and take dry tires (like PZero Corsa) with me, but there's no room. Any solutions out there? I also can't lift easily, so I'm not sure a roof rack would do. Thanks.

I had asked this same question a while ago, most tow it in a tire rack, one at rennlist carries his on the roof rack (porsche roof rack cannot stand the weight), some actually put two tires in the rear seats (with the seats folded) one in the passenger seat and one in the trunk (remove the spare tire, all wrapped in garbage bags, note deleting the spare may affect frontal crash impact).

Where do they attach the tow? Thanks

Jeeva, How do I find the thread to your earlier inquire? I am unable to locate it. Thanks

i think it looks terrible to take 4 tires with you on a trailer behind your 911 some guy in my town thinks hes the ultimate porsche racer, he tows 4 tires behind his carrera, (decked out in fake GT3 garb, complete with logo) which usually takes up 2-3 parking spaces, and tells people he races porsches on the weekend, you can see his car from a mile away, it has many obnoxious stickers covering his car, mostly from companies that are unlikely to be sponsoring him. i saw him up at limerock once, he doesn't even participate, just tells people he is some sort of factory sponsored racer, and solicits a bunch of 'nice car' looks.

I'd get some tire covers or large heavy duty garbage bags and use them to cover the tires. You can take out the spare and put one tire in the trunk, on the passenger seat and two in the back. How do like the Corsa's?

Get your friends who have a trailer to take the tires for you or pay somebody to take your tires .

Click on my avatar (not my name), and then click on all THREADS STARTED, he fourth in the list. It has links to pictures showing how to carry in the roof rack, I personally cannot get myself to tow anything on a porsche either, so I may settle on R-compounds and use it on streets as well, when I am ready I most likely will get the P-zero corsas.

"How do I like the Corsa's?" I haven't driven on them, I'm only considering them. They were recommended by Kelly Moss Racing as a good DOT legal track tire to drive to the track. But they are not so hot in rain, so I'm hesitant to drive them to the track without a rain backup. In the past I've used the SO3's, which are great at the track in the rain, but until the tread is quite worn, they are not so great on a dry track, due to their deep tread which wobbles on the curves. The suggestion to get help taking tires to the track from someone with a trailer may be the best bet, as I'm having a rear roll cage fabricated and may not be able to put 2 tires in the back. Thanks for the ideas.

I wrestle with this issue mayself...at the nearby events (100+- miles) and if its not raining, I just ride up on my R Compound tires (Sport Cups). Next week I'm driving up to NoCal (Sears Point) (400miles) for a two day event. Unless big rain is forecast, I'll just go up on my Sport Cups, otherwise street tires. I'm also trying to find someone going up with a truck who can take the tires. (anybody know anybody?) ...at open track days I see many tire trailers behind smaller cars such as miatas and S2000s. They work well and have room for tools and a jack. I've never seen a tire trailer behind a carrera. Wouldn't the exhaust system get in the way of the hitch? Would 4 tires fit in the car? What about the jack floor? My CD collection? The smell?

Then you may also want to consider the P-zero corsa "system" which I understand has deeper grooves and better for rain.

Speeddread- I have a small track trailer that hauls everything...jack, wheels, toolbox, cooler (for refreshments) and fuel. It may be funny-looking, it is simple to put together and fits in a standard garage with the car. Purchaing a tow vehicle and trailer is more than I want to spend, and then not have a place to store it. I have directions and photos for how to put it all together.

Hotbasco, Your first post is an offer of help, way to go!, and welcome to rennlist.

Hotbasco, I second jeeva - nice advice for the first post! You know... the whole time I was auto-x'ing my Miata I used a little track trailer to carry my track rubber, tools, and a cooler. Although many people though it was funny looking (a miata with a trailer) it was really no big deal.. a track trailer really isn't that much weight... and to my way of thinking much better than using the roof rack (eek !!) or messing up the inside of the car. The miata had some nice structural points that made it easy to mount a tow hitch to (and several manufactuers made a Miata specific unit), which the 911 does not have (not really that much room back there) - but I heard someone make a little ball hitch that screws into the rear tow hook mount. Anyway, what's the big deal about towing a track trailer? It's not that much weight... if you can tow one with a Miata you can tow one with a 911..... t

Tom, I know a few guys who transport thier tires, tools, etc.. this way its not about the looks its about getting back and forth to the tracks safely.

i have the EVO trailer hitch on my 911. (puts flame suit on) and it doens't look *that* bad. you can always uninstall it after your track day when youre done and go back to stock. real easy. 4x8 flatbed trailer from northern tool weighs less than 200#, so towing weight would be very light. sorry, towing 300#'s on the back of a 911 isnt going to damage your chassis.

How far are you going? Blackhawk, Elkhart? Since track events are much less fun in the rain, it may make more sense to just drive on the dry tires and not go on rainy days. I've driven lots of miles on true race rubber and found it managable. Wouldn't it make sense to mount the tires and try them around home on a rainy day before deciding its unworkable? If long distance is the problem, I retract my comments, since it's more difficult to predict weather and you may want your rain tires handy. AS

Penquinking I gather the hitch is designed to work with our cars's rear engine setup. Its a pretty tight set up under there already....Is EVO the outfit in Pheonix?

theres a 993tt around here, that uses a roofrack to transport his track wheels/tires. looks kinda funny, but it works. i'm rarely more than 300 miles round trip from most venues, so i drive to and fro on my r-dots...but then, rain is hardly a concern in so. ca.

Thanks for the + response...1st timer in RennList. I'll post some photos when I can reduce their file size. It is a simple and inexpensive track trailer. Have used for thousands of miles to/fro DE's and track events. Very convenient....and it attracts attention due to it simplicity. Have it hooked to my SLK32AMG right now...but am in process of mounting hitch to 996. More later when I can get some photos downloaded. This is the trailer but I picked myine up locally to avoid the shipping. Saved $40 off the price too. http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...Id=7262&R=7262 The hitch and power converter were 3x as expensive.... comes with the territory.

Another alternative is to ship them ups/fed-ex A prepaid return label will get them back home. Perry

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-forum/166275-my-car.html

Moogle, I've seen that dude, what a joke!

Nice solution Addict. About the same as mine...I like your Kart and bigger trailer! But do you track your 911...or sasve the beating for your Kart (Shifter?)

Thanks for the offer. How would it attach to a 996?

Two choices: bolt direct to bumper through two holes drilled behind license plate....one on each side of the tow hook. Second choice, which is what I have done, is to fabricate or buy a hitch mount that bolts to the two aluminum bumperette mounts. If done correctly, these two mounts are sufficient for a small trailer with low tongue weight. This last point is very important, much like addict's trailer, it must be well balanced with low tongue weight on the hitch. Excessive tongue weight increases the shearing loads on the hitch mount, and thus the bumperette mounts. I'll get some pictures posted wehn I get back from Europe...

Buy a trailer and tow the car, tires, spares and tools. An enclosed trailer (20' - 25') would be best. Runs about $5000.00 give or take a grand. You car pick em up used for $3500-4500. An open trailer (not aluminum) will run a couple of Gs. You will need a tow vehicle. Pickup or large SUV. Now you can go to the track. Don't forget the Bar-B-Q, beers and the scooter.

Here's One Way...

I and a number of other Boxster & 996 owners use and are very happy with the Willwood hitch. It can also support a bike rack or luggage carrier. See http://www.willwoodsystem.com/ . --- Tom

This is Boxster owner Ad Sach.

The hitch looks good. Where can you get a small trailer, maybe just big enough for 3 tires? I figure I can get only one tire in my passenger GT3 seat (once installed), and my roll cage will eliminate the back seat I think, (once it's installed). I tried putting a tire in the front 996 trunk, but the lid wouldn't shut, and I want to keep the spare in the trunk, since aparently it's part of the crash system. Hotbasco offered pictures of a trailer, but I guess he's not back yet.

speedread, I'm using a hitch on my 2000 C2 without a problem. If you have a MENARDS (discount hardware) they sell a small hobbykit trailer for about $150. Same one is shown on Northerntools.com http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...Id=7262&R=7262 Keep in mind the shipping can be as much as the trailer itself. If I can figure out how to get my pictures to be small enough for this site, I'll post a shot of my trailer.

Okay, who can tell me how to get a photo file size small enough for this site? Speedread, if you PM me with a external email address I'll send you photos of the trailer AND how I put together a hitch system. Takes some time and a few tools....but no special skills. trailex in Ohio has a slick little aluminum track trailer. But it was priced a little high for what I wanted to pay at the time. Decided to do it myself.

If you want to transport 3 behind the car and 1 in the car thats your choice, but its not much difference to transport all 4 and tools, etc behind the car, all I have seen is 4 and 5 tire trailer setups.

The tire trailer I have is this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=35967 . It and the SouthSport trailer (I believe no longer sold) are the ones I see most often. Mount a 3/4" marine plywood floor on it, then a big plastic box from WalMart, and cobble a mount for your 4 wheels/tires. I used a couple of beveled 4x4's that the tires rest between. A couple of steel plates bolted to the side rails with cutouts to support a 1" square rod that goes through the plates and wheels with a padlock on each end locks the tires to the trailer. --- Tom

Here is the link that inspired--and directed--me to fabricate my own hitch. http://www.pca.org/hcp/de_trailer.htm Did a road test of it last week before the big snow hit. Now I just need to transfer my brake light booster from my AMG over to the 911. Sorry about no photos, still learning about how rennlist functions.

Here's another approach I ran across in a thread. I called Todd, but was unable to speak to him at the time. The person at Evo I spoke to said the hitch is not being sold. It is screwed into the tow screw mounting hole behind the llicense plate. (The tow screw that comes in our tool kit). That seems to me to be an excellent mounting point rather than under the rubber bumperettes, but I'm not sure from the picture if there is also some attachment under the bumperettes. Anyone have any experience with mounting a trailer hitch this way on a 996? I'm not sure if I inserted the image correctly, so here's where I got it: "Supercharger", post # 22, from the 996 board on 9-10-03.

No it didn't work. How do you corectly insert an image that I successfully uploaded onto the rennlist upload?

speedread - the hitch i use is the one Todd sells (or used to sell) from EVO. pretty easy to install. i may be selling it in february.

Penguinking, how does your hitch install? I'm guessing that the only mounting point for the hitch is the tow screw hole. Correct? Any safety issue with your hitch? It also looks like in the picture that the lisence plate has to be mounted higher than normal. Does it? I was thinking the screw-in-hitch could be made to fit right in the lisence plate spot, and a flip down bracket then be used for the lisence plate, so that when the hitch was unscrewed the plate would flip into the normal position. Would this work for your hitch?

i bet you could make something to do that. right now in the "rest" position the license plate rubs against the hitch so i had to mount it higher up, as seen in the picture. you are correct about the hitch, except that it extends to where the bumperettes attach, though those attachments are more to make sure the hitch stays upright and not tilt to the side. so far no safety issues - when installing the hitch i tried to imagine an emergency situation where i'd have to slam hard on the brakes, and it looks like it can handle it. my camera is broken now so i can't take any new pictures of the hitch unfortunately. from what i can recall, EVO doesn't advertise the hitch on their website but call and ask for Todd and i think they still make it.

thanks for the info. I did call and they don't carry it anymore.

Check out the Feb 05 issue of EXCELLENCE magazine, page 126. There's a picture of a flip down lisence plate with a hitch in the center of it while the plate is fliped down. It's on a 928. (I'd post the picture, but I don't know how copyright works here on rennlist, and I can't seem to post a picture using the "upload photo").

I have some pictures here for you. The hitch actually made a great bumper, the only reason I have these pictures is because some stupid kid ran in the back of my car. I had an old tire trailer (the one described by McCullough in the previous post) I have since then bought a used southsport trailer. The hitch is from Willwood . Not cheap but almost nothing shows when removed. I will now attempt to post my pictures..... https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...id=39797&stc=1 DCP_0928.JPG https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...id=39798&stc=1 IMG_0406.JPG https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...id=39799&stc=1 IMG_0534.JPG https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...id=39800&stc=1 IMG_0538.JPG https://rennlist.com/forums/attachme...id=39801&stc=1 IMG_0544.JPG 1 st pic. is the old trailer (tongue too short, couldn't backup) 2 nd trailer is southsport, still in business but hidding out in . the rest of the pics. are what the hitch looks like and how it mounts. It did a fine job puncturing a toyota radiator, the only pleasure I had that day. I have a jack in there and everything else you need, but remember., you still have to change 4 tires and will usually be one of the last people to leave. If you carry the tires in the car-You will be the last guy out. take forever to load the wheels in there.

The Southsport tire trailer is very nice. ~ 1K new IIRC. See a few being pulled by 986 and 996 (and one by a Cayenne!) I had one before I jumped into the deep end (20' enclosed aluminum trailer). It's been sitting around for a year. If anyone is interested, PM me (It would be good to find it a home)