Having a truck and a trailer to transport a car to the track goes a long way in making this hobby more enjoyable, but what does your dream tow setup look like?
Is it a plush home on wheels to carry the car, driver and their supporting crew and family in comfort?
Is it more of a pure hauler for …
Not having one at all...
I like my current setup : crew cab 3/4 ton, gooseneck trailer with roof top tent.
Deep down I really want a Ramp Truck with 4 doors (to bring friends to the track) and a sleeper/camper unit. Must be classic body for looks, air ride a big plus, modern engine/drivetrain for MPG.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out:
I'm not so picky about the vehicle doing the work, but my ultimate tow setup has somebody else driving the rig.
In reply to Cactus :
I love the idea of showing up to the track, getting in the car (your crew does the prep for you), driving it, getting out and then going home.
I've said it before, but my dream towing setup involves buying one of these old Uhaul ramp trucks, putting the car on top, and either towing a travel trailer or bring a friend and tow another car behind on a trailer. If you're doing a one day trip the you don't have to mess with a trailer, it's a little more compact than a standard ramp truck, it has more storage for tools, and it would be rad as hell.
My "ultimate" would be a stacker with a full crew :-) ... having said that, we are using an Aerovault with a Ford Lariat F150 -- even with the smaller setup, the Aeorvault causes "paddock envy" -- the Aerovault is perfect for weekend warriors like my wife & I -- BMW M235iR, spare tires, and some "kit" -- the Aerovault is shiny and doesn't rust --
Cheers y'all //
After 20 year of SCCA/NASA/Chump/LeMons/karts, I finally settled on this
All I can say is that I should have done it decades ago. Being a true GRM'er, I got the RV for a good deal, needing some love before it was roadworthy. Was far cheaper than any truck I could find worth towing with. Also staying at the track from start to finish has greatly increased the race weekend enjoyment.
In reply to gt40guy :
The Aerovault certainly turns heads, doesn't it?
For those interested, we did a video on the Aerovault for Classic Motorsports:
Kodiak and a 1.5 height trailer with two cars worth of space and a small kitchen/sleeping aread in the front. Or having somebody else move the cars for me which I would do over that if I had the cash and time.
Well apparently at the moment this is it. The single axle trailer fits well on the slab on the side of my house. Additionally the trailer will also fit in the garage which works out well for early morning local events. I can load the car and just store it in the garage. The van gives me a place to change and sit and eat my lunch. I've stayed in the van when I'm solo (it has a bath).
A newer van would be nice but beyond that I like my current set up.
Tom1200, your set-up looks great to me ..... this is all I can afford! Modified Harbor Freight trailer. The wheel support posts can take four wheels and tires, also room for the toolbox, spares plus jack. Fortunately it doesn't rain too often in Arizona!
In reply to Manxman :
I actually love that. I dig minimalist set ups.
We are into the Van for 9K (after 15yrs) and the trailer cost me a cool $500. I did have to put tires on the trailer though. :)
Probably looks something like an extended cab, long bed 6.6 gas GMC HD with a 24ft or so Featherlight bumper-tow enclosed with some camping and climate control accessories built-in. Would solve most of the (very mild) gripes I have towing a 22ft steel enclosed with a 6.2.
Big fan of the Cayenne towing the 911, but I can't afford that so I'll be using a Macan to tow my Miata!
I would love a second W116 with a bigger engine to dolly tow the W116 racecar. Not the best towing, but it would be neat.
Realistically my next vehicle will be powerful enough to tow a 3000lbs car on a tandem tow dolly.
Dream would be a daycab semi tractor based RV bumper towing a 25' enclosed. Ain't no kill like overkill!
In reply to Colin Wood :
A Jaguar hauling a Jaguar. I recently bought this 1972 XJ6 I'm going to turn into a XJ12 ( it will just slide right in). I'll put a trailer hitch on it and build a liteweight (500 pounds) single axle trailer.
The Jaguar I'll tow will be the V12 XJS group 44 tribute car. 
I keep going through used trailers to find a steel 8x16 with a rack and in good shape for my budget but come up empty most of the time. Crossing my fingers itll happen in the next year or so.
Have truck, need trailer. 2021 F150 XLT 2.7L Supercrew with the trailer package. Works great so far.
The ultimate tow set for me is one I can't afford to have AND race. I'm on my third tow vehicle and second trailer...
First rig was our Odyssey towing a dual axle open trailer .. worked fine to drag up the road to the local track but always worried about the trans...
Switched to a F250 6.0 diesel on the open trailer and it was a great improvement and could go out of town with no worries, but hauling the all the spares in the bed and car was a pita...
Switched the open trailer to a 24' Haulmark enclosed I got from a friend that was upgrading, insulated with electric and added a generator and mounts for toolbox, plenty of room for tents and fans, fuel and spares.. etc then the fam wanted to come to the track and I had a base 2dr truck...
So I got a 2500HD 03 Chevy quad cab so I can bring the fam, diesel tax priced me out but the 6.0 gas is ok enough until I have time to upgrade again or put an SC and built trans on it for going into the mountains more often.
The only thing better I can think of would just be a little more truck and trailer or a toter home but both are sending the budget through the roof. I'd need to commit to racing another 10yr to justify it. Not sure I care that much!
I'm really pretty happy with my current setup.
2015 RAM 3500 with a 24' enclosed trailer.
Once or twice a year when I race at tracks like High Plains where there are no hotels near the track I think I'd like a tow setup with living quarters. Something along the lines of this trailer that a buddy of mine used to own.
I thought I had it. 1 ton diesel ram, 28' enclosed trailer so we could fit car, spares, and golf cart for the track, or in a pinch two not large cars. But it sucked to park, sucked to get in and out of my driveway, sucked to refuel if there were no truck stops or larger stations with truck pumps. It just sucked overall, except being able to carry a bunch of E36 M3 we really didn't need. Couple that with racing way less than I anticipated and getting back into street cars, I sold the big trailer and got a rusty old 18' dovetail car hauler. For me, it's ideal minus the upkeep of a E36 M3ty old trailer. Plan to build a nicer one before the rusty one falls apart
Ideally, someone else would do it. Big rig, among a few other race cars, and some mechanics so that when I arrive at the race, all I have to do is focus on driving.
Otherwise, it's understanding your compromises and making the best of them. Ours would be to not own a full sized truck, and we would be pulling a 2400lb car with a 700lb trailer. With enough spares for whatever we were doing.
If you can have a full size truck, towing is probably a whole lot more comfortable.
There's a divergence where the ideal tow vehicle stops being a good choice for the household truck.
I think I want a Transit or Sprinter from the heavy end of the range, which should be enough to tow with while not being too stupid to run to the home improvement store and park in the lot. It would also work well without the trailer for motorcycles and similar.
Box van is one step better and worse down the same path, with a side order of having to try harder to keep it neighborhood-presentable. I keep trying to figure out how to have a removable "RV insert" so it can do that but I don't have a kitchen or bath or nice floor in the way of hauling stuff all the time. A plain van makes a pretty rudimentary set of lodgings, and an RV makes a terrible truck.
EDIT: of course if we just don't address other concerns and want the ultimate setup for towing a race car to the track, it's got to be a bus-based RV with a suitably large and well-appointed trailer.
I've got a 2019 Ram 1500 Crew Cab with the 5.7L and a hitch. In the ideal world I'd do a 2500 with an enclosed trailer but that's not in the budget...
Jesse Ransom said:There's a divergence where the ideal tow vehicle stops being a good choice for the household truck.
I think I want a Transit or Sprinter from the heavy end of the range, which should be enough to tow with while not being too stupid to run to the home improvement store and park in the lot. It would also work well without the trailer for motorcycles and similar.
Many professional enduro riders have Sprinter van based RVs set up so that the bike fits down one side of the van.
At some point I may redo my small trailer so it has a deck for the rare occasions I need to haul big stuff but at this point in life I tend to have the big stuff delivered.
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