Towing an Esprit S1

[ElEsprito]

Hi there,

my S1 doesn't seem to have a towing eye/device in the front. How does one go about towing the car? I'm afraid to damage the front spoiler lip.

Thanks

Dennis

[andydclements]

What equipment do you plan to use?

Rope (I assume not)?

Bar?

A frame?

[simonb]

Same problem with my S2.2, how to winch on to a trailer.

It is a Lotus, so someone must have visited a recovery lorry at some point

[ElEsprito]

Well, re: equipment: it's only for 8 miles, so a towing rope with a hook or something was my choice indeed

My initial thoughts: rope around the front suspension. But will it clear the front spoiler? If not, can it be removed, it looks like it can't

I was told some S1's did have a 'towing eye'

Simon, I recently rented a trailer to move the car. We loaded it onto the trailer backwards, so we could attach the hoist to the rear suspension

[simonb]

That is what i have done previously, but it is not really ideal

[freshcut]

Hrm, I was always under the impression that the "ideal" method of placing a vehicle on a trailer was to have the engine as far forward on the trailer as possible....in the case of mid/rear engine, the vehicle should be backed onto the trailer.

[andydclements]

With a car on a trailer you need the correct nose weight for the trailer so that it sits on the car correctly, so that could be backing it on, or not, depends on the length of the trailer and where exactly the axle is. If it's a double axle then generally you want to get the centre of mass (which for an Esprit isn't far off middle of the axle lines) near the middle of the trailer's axles.

Back to towing.

You can use the front suspension arms (assuming you mean the lower ones, but on an S1 they don't have the same strength as post '85 cars which have two pivots to the chassis per arm. If you want to do it that way, consider putting a rope/ chain/ whatever from one side to the other on those arms (as near the chassis pivots as possible) and then the tow rope can slide along that rope, and both sides carry the load.

[ElEsprito]

OK, will try that and watch if/how the ropes interfere with the spoiler/airbox

BTW: the 'trailer' I used was actually a lorry with a flat bed

Thanks

Dennis

[GavinT]

Funny, I was asking the same question a day or so ago. I did a search of the forum and came up with this thread...

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