Picked up a 16ft open trailer. What kind of tie down straps should I get? I've seen over the front tire ones and the rachet type. How many should I get? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

-Mark

 

Four rachet straps. This type lets you loop around suspension(reinforced).Notice the hook has a clasp so it would not fall off if slacked up.

 

+1 for hook & I always go around the rear end on both rear tiedowns, and then around the control arms on both front tiedowns.

 

Both over the tire and the tie down should be ratchet. Either or is as good as the other.

With the over the tire style you should use 4,.. one over each wheel.
With the tie down style you SHOULD use 2 in the rear and 1 up front. Odds are if your in an accident you'll be the one to hit something and the 2 in the rear should stop the car from breaking loose off the trailer.

You SHOULD,.. also use a separate safety chain up front,.. or any other type of securement just as a backup in case your single front ratchet fails.

Some trailers with a winch,.. they use the winch as a single tie down up front and then 2 safety chains on the rear and use the tension of the winch against the rear safety chains to hold the car in place. And again,.. a dedicated safety chain should be used up front in case the winch comes lose.

As for how to hook to the car. The around the tire straps pose the least stress on the car,.. but certain types of the over the tire straps have a tendency to come loose as the car rocks back and forth on the trailer. If you choose this style,.. you want the ones that have an adjustable loop and wrap around the tire and have a ratchet on only 1 side of the strap. 2 in the front for each tire toward the front of the trailer,.. then 2 in the rear for each tire toward the rear of the trailer. The style that locks to the trailer behind the tire and then goes over/around the tire and then clamps to the trailer again are the type that come loose.

I personally just use regular ratchet straps to D-rings on the bed of my trailer. They make T-hooks that lock in the frame,.. these are good if you have a strong piece of frame for them to lock into,. Mustangs have good T-hook slots. The other style like what I use is to just to loop the strap around a piece of the suspension,.. A-arm, axle or anything strong,.. clamp it to itself and then ratchet the car tight. I've never had my cars come lose. The regular ratchets can also be used to hold down things like lumber, plywood, kitchen appliances, jet skies, pallets of cinder blocks or anything else you might want to load on your trailer.





Hurst

 

Thanks guys. But my trailer doesn't have any D-rings to secure. It has those boxed type mounts on the side of the trailer.

If you look on the front right corner of this trailer you can see what I was trying to describe. Mine is like this one minus the D-rings.

 

Go to Tractor Supply Co & purchase a set of D Rings for under $20 and have them welded up

 

I always grab the edge of the tounge channel.... It really doesnt matter. I have a wood plank trailer. I also dont see very many that X thier straps in the rear. This will keep car stable in an emergency. 4 straps on a straight pull wont

 

Ask Muldoon.... he's got the perfect method.