I saw many great trailer and towing rigs in Celina, but I guess my case
is a bit different. For three years I towed my Amphi with a tow bar and
all four wheels on the ground. I was pretty nervous at the time, but two
cheap to purchase a trailer. I rarely pulled it more than 30 miles and
sometime disconnected the speedometer. Also, I never drove over 55,
wouldn't have been able to even if I wanted to (see below). I hear of
others towing Amphies like this over long distances without trouble. The
only trouble I ever had was on two occasions, after pulling onto a highway,
at a sharp angle, an oscillation built up in the front steering assembly.
The only way to make it stop was to come to almost a complete stop. Pretty
scary but no noticeable damage. I always wondered if I was wearing out some
seal or bearing in the transmission but everything is still good. I still
find the testimonies of others who have towed like this comforting.
Two years ago I bought a single axle trailer rated at 3,000 pounds. A
double axle would be so much better but my towing vehicle, an Isuzu Trooper
II, is only a 2800 V6 and has 200,000 miles on it. Even new, its maximum
gross towing ability was 3,000 pounds, and a double axle trailer would be
too heavy. The light weigh trailer is also easy to move around in my
backyard. This marginal rig works great for the local trips I make but was
woefully inadequate for traveling across the NC mountains and on to Celina.
Next year I'll rent something.
Finally, about tie downs: I was too afraid to secure my Amphi by tying
off on the axles or from wheel assemblies. I saw many people doing that at
Celina, but I worried about stressing something expensive or difficult to
replace. I never want to replace any of that stuff again. So, I built two
right-angled braces and anchored them near the front of the flat bed for
each of the front wheels. I push the car up against them and use S hooks
with straps to fasten over the two car jack braces. These straps are
brought forward and secured on the front of the trailer and retched down
tight. The car jack brace was the only thing I could find that looked
strong enough and not too delicate. I'm sure that will hold the car
securely, but I also secure chocks behind the real wheels just in case.
Tire straps seem like a good idea but don't work well with my steel grate
decking.

Arnold Hite
Johns Island, SC




        
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