How do you strap your car down on a trailer

[kolosy]

Picked up an 18’ dovetail last week, and it came with ratchet straps that are too long to tie down fully on the front. The rears are ok (although just barely).

Two questions — should I cross the fronts to get the length I need? I assume that’s not ideal for holding the car down. And then axle straps though the wheels like I did this time, or something else?

[kolosy]

I didn’t think of this at the time but I guess I can just loop the ratchet strap itself through the wheel to get more length and hook both clips to the d ring…

[GeorgeH]

I point people to this video when asking about cross strapping.

I personally strap through the wheel and essentially straight back/forward to a D ring. I flipped the hooks on my ratchets so the hook points "up" and allows the ratchet to sit move flat against the trailer deck. And I use an 8' lasso strap to keep everything short.

https://www.everythingtiedown.com/pr...4103c361&_ss=r

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by GeorgeH

I point people to this video when asking about cross strapping.

https://youtu.be/TIC7URvAqmM?si=X4M1rC4PqxqzNSef


I personally strap through the wheel and essentially straight back/forward to a D ring. I flipped the hooks on my ratchets so the hook points "up" and allows the ratchet to sit move flat against the trailer deck. And I use an 8' lasso strap to keep everything short.

https://www.everythingtiedown.com/products/2-x-8-red-diamond-weave-lasso-strap-with-d-ring-4-pack?_pos=10&_sid=64103c361&_ss=r

Thanks. I did some more googling after posting this, and bought a set of Vulcan lasso straps. The more I read the more it looks like an 8 point over the wheel setup is best, but my trailer only has 4 d rings so it’s not an option, and I’m not super worried about possibly marring the track wheels, they see worse.
And yeah, cross strapping seemed gross without googling even, so I wasn’t going to go that route.

[F4rmost]

I have 4 D rings in each corner of my dovetail as well. They are in-set D rings welded into the steel deck trailer. I also do not have enough space to go straight on both ends of the vehicle, so I unfortunately have to cross the rear straps.

I am also going to get some lasso straps for the trailer and run them like the picture below. If I cannot, then I am going to try and find or build some ramps with a built in wheel chock at the end. This will also save the front splitter I just installed.

[bigjae1976]

I had two d-rings added on the back and tie to the front post, straps through the wheels.

I have concerns about strapping the car down and messing up the alignment. I've done before and after checks twice with no measurable shift. Now, the after alignment may not be as accurate since I'm doing a string alignment outside.

I don't cross straps either.

[GeorgeH]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

I have concerns about strapping the car down and messing up the alignment.

I've always wondered about this too as it is the old wives tale. I've asked professional transporters that do it this way and no reported issues.

I would think that banging the car off curbs would be more concerning towards the alignment than strapping like this, but love to see some data either way.

I found a picture of my strap setup.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by GeorgeH

I've always wondered about this too as it is the old wives tale. I've asked professional transporters that do it this way and no reported issues.

I would think that banging the car off curbs would be more concerning towards the alignment than strapping like this, but love to see some data either way.

I found a picture of my strap setup.

Cool that’s pretty similar to my layout.
How tight do you go on the straps?

[Space Horse]

Here's our 24 hours of Lemons car. These chains are overkill but here is an option. You can change how tight you want them to be.

Attachment 3895145

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by Space Horse

Here's our 24 hours of Lemons car. These chains are overkill but here is an option. You can change how tight you want them to be.

Attachment 3895143Attachment 3895144Attachment 3895145Attachment 3895149Attachment 3895150

Not sure if you noticed but there's a little dent in your rear bumper

[GeorgeH]

Originally Posted by kolosy

Cool that’s pretty similar to my layout.
How tight do you go on the straps?

I don't get too carried away, snug, but certainly could go a couple ratchets tighter if I had too.

I always place the 'D' portion of the ring on the sidewall like that, I found to far back and it'll hit the rim, to far forward and it will loosen as it'll pull the 'D' ring "forward."

So when I start ratcheting I watch how tight the strap is and how much pressure the 'D' is putting into the sidewall.

[F4rmost]

Originally Posted by Space Horse

Here's our 24 hours of Lemons car. These chains are overkill but here is an option. You can change how tight you want them to be.

Brother, if that car was off the trailer with those "straps" then you would have much larger issues.

[Ximian]

I wrap the strap around the inside of the wheel in a way that there is no force on a spoke.

Then, I attach diagonally from each wheel tothe D ring so if one strap or ring fails, the movement of the car is still limited.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by Ximian

I wrap the strap around the inside of the wheel in a way that there is no force on a spoke.

Then, I attach diagonally from each wheel tothe D ring so if one strap or ring fails, the movement of the car is still limited.

are the diagonals in addition to a straight back, or are you crossing?

[M43ver]

I use the through-the-wheels tie down method and have had no issues using this technique for almost 15 years. It’s fun watching the dampers control the sprung mass motions of the car I’ve seen too many people use the lower control arms to strap down the car but I’d be concerned about damaging control arms/bushings.

[Ximian]

Originally Posted by kolosy

are the diagonals in addition to a straight back, or are you crossing?

Diagonally with the straps crossing over, unless I misunderstood.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by Ximian

Diagonally with the straps crossing over, unless I misunderstood.

Gotcha. Everything I’ve read seems to wag its finger at that style of strap down, hence the clarification.

I think the concern is two fold — longer leads mean more room to move around, and more importantly that configuration relies on all 4 tie downs continuing to function. If one fails or loosens, you lose control of the whole rig.

[Ximian]

Originally Posted by kolosy

Gotcha. Everything I’ve read seems to wag its finger at that style of strap down, hence the clarification.

I think the concern is two fold — longer leads mean more room to move around, and more importantly that configuration relies on all 4 tie downs continuing to function. If one fails or loosens, you lose control of the whole rig.

I see and even in the first video linked above shows how diagonally attached straps can cause the vehicle to shift off when a strap fails. However, if you put the strap through the wheel so there is quite a bit of a diagonal instead of attaching the strap to a tire wrap or somewhere on the suspension or axle, the geometry works a bit more favorably.

If you want to be safe, attach to more than four points on the car and use both the D rings and E-track.

[Ab28]

I have been crisscrossing my tie downs for as long as I've been tracking. Cinch down hard enough to move the car a little. (through the rim not over the tire like a Uhaul)

Never had anything happen to alignment specs.

I also attached the winch line to the tow hook for added safety.

I'll try and find a picture later.