How do I strap my TJ to a trailer?

Don't loan out tie downs or the trailer they go to or with or near. Not sure why folks tear up trailers that don't belong to them but every time I've loaned one even to someone I would normally loan most anything to, it still comes back worse than it left.

When I was a kid my parents jointly owned a livestock trailer with another family. Every time they used it something came back broken.

It got to the point the wiring diagram was scratched into it in order to install a new plug after their nearly every use.
 
Then I leave it to you to provide the numbers. ;)

I do straight straps because the load is dynamic and I want the maximum capacity available, I also chock and will soon side block, i’m not willing to give up any of the WLL. Unless you have load cells at each strap you really don’t know how much of the WLL the preload accounts for, plus the reduction factor, plus braking and acceleration forces that can’t be quantified. If none of that is a concern to you that’s fine but just because you have been doing it for years, doesn’t make it the best way to do it.
 
If you happen to be using plastic chocks to restrict fore/aft movement, don't. I accidentally pulled my 2k lb trailer over one and smashed it flat like it was never there.

I had the Jeep in first gear and the emergency brake on. So I don't think it was an issue.

Perfect is the enemy of really good.

4 wheels blocked, a chain, two 4" straps up front and an emergency brake later and we were good.

Don't skimp on your straps with HF crap or add 2 more. Either way works. The pros can hook up fast, the goobers fast, the cautious slow with too many tie downs.
 
When I was a kid my parents jointly owned a livestock trailer with another family. Every time they used it something came back broken.

It got to the point the wiring diagram was scratched into it in order to install a new plug after their nearly every use.

I was partners with a gent because I didn't have a place to store it. The deal was he stored and was able to use it and I got it the few times I needed it comparatively. I never once went and got it that I did not have to fix something. The dragging of the trailer plug for miles that ground it completely to oblivion are what got me to my favorite trailer connector which are the double ended coil versions. Put truck side receivers on both truck and trailer, plug both ends in when you use it, throw it in the truck and tell fucktard to buy his own when you drop the trailer off.

I got it back one time with every single wire underneath it completely gone. What happened I ask. He said he had to go drag an old car out of the weeds............a mile's worth of weeds and brush................................3 feet high...........................backed the trailer in to knock them down so he wouldn't take out his radiator.........................or punch a hole in his oil pan in case there was a rock he couldn't see.
 
I do straight straps because the load is dynamic and I want the maximum capacity available, I also chock and will soon side block, i’m not willing to give up any of the WLL. Unless you have load cells at each strap you really don’t know how much of the WLL the preload accounts for, plus the reduction factor, plus braking and acceleration forces that can’t be quantified. If none of that is a concern to you that’s fine but just because you have been doing it for years, doesn’t make it the best way to do it.

Your solution is just fine, but I doubt you have true inline...nearly everyone I see has been angled to some degree so you have already lost some of your maximum capacity. Luckily in our application we are nowhere near a redline regardless of methods. I use the cross method simply because I have seen it work in a near worst case scenario and I like how I get broader coverage from external forces.

I might add for all the "miraculous suddenly self destructing single ratchet strap" theorist's, I have always used a winch to load/unload in and on trailers. That winch cable stays connected anytime the vehicle is on/in the trailer. I have not driven a vehicle onto or into a trailer in many years...stopped that silliness long ago.
 
I was partners with a gent because I didn't have a place to store it. The deal was he stored and was able to use it and I got it the few times I needed it comparatively. I never once went and got it that I did not have to fix something. The dragging of the trailer plug for miles that ground it completely to oblivion are what got me to my favorite trailer connector which are the double ended coil versions. Put truck side receivers on both truck and trailer, plug both ends in when you use it, throw it in the truck and tell fucktard to buy his own when you drop the trailer off.

I got it back one time with every single wire underneath it completely gone. What happened I ask. He said he had to go drag an old car out of the weeds............a mile's worth of weeds and brush................................3 feet high...........................backed the trailer in to knock them down so he wouldn't take out his radiator.........................or punch a hole in his oil pan in case there was a rock he couldn't see.

That is nuts! Some people have zero respect for other people's stuff and somehow think it's OK to do stuff that they won't to things they own.

Back in school days ... I had a 50cc scooter and an old road bike. Neither were super nice or anything, but they were very serviceable and I kept them in good shape. I used to ride that bike a lot before I got the scooter and I would be careful with it, since it was all I had for transportation. I would work very late in school, late enough that buses would stop running. So I would take my bike every day and ride it back home. Eventually I got a scooter which made life so much better. I still kept the bike since I would ride for exercise and still take it to school when weather was nice.

Had a buddy who wanted to borrow my bike for a few days since his ultra beater car threw a piston and he had to scrap it. Told him .. "don't lose it please and I want it back with nothing missing" since bike theft was rampant. "Few days" becomes 2 months and he eventually returns the bike. I did not notice it initially .. but when I rode it a couple days later, I realized both wheels where bent. I get that fixed and then run into guy a few days later at the grocery store. I ask him what happened and he says, "oh, the wheels got bent over time as I was riding, I wanted to fix but I forgot". I am surprised since I rode that thing for years every day and never once bent a wheel. It's not like I am going super fast or anything anyways. He says "oh it happens you know, our roads aren't great". OK, whatever. He gets another car, cheaper and crappier than the previous one. And it breaks down at a very inconvenient time for him. He comes begging to me asking to borrow my bike again, and and the idiot I am .. I give it to him. Few days later .. I see him riding my bike on other side of the road .. on the sidewalk .. and I see him just intentionally ram the front wheel onto a curb trying to get over it. Got the bike back few days later, bent front wheel of course. This time I made him fix it .. and he was not happy.

Stopped loaning my bike out to people after that experience.
 
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Vehicle to trailer tie down kit. 😁

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I don’t own a trailer so I borrow a friend that I know from my in laws. I always make sure it is returned in as good a shape as I picked it up.

He had bought brakes for the second axle and new lights and new tires. We installed all of it for him since he was willing to let us use it.
 
For starters rigging calcs are for dead loads not dynamic loads and second your numbers are wrong. A 45 degree angle 2 leg bridle has 1.41 x .5 x load on each leg.

I waited for the correct values, but have not seen yours as of yet. I said there was about a 30% loss of capacity of a strap at 45 degrees in relation to fore/aft pull. I just split the difference to 45 degrees...in reality most uses on our trailers are more like 30 degrees. You stated my numbers are wrong...what figure did you come up with?
 
I waited for the correct values, but have not seen yours as of yet. I said there was about a 30% loss of capacity of a strap at 45 degrees in relation to fore/aft pull. I just split the difference to 45 degrees...in reality most uses on our trailers are more like 30 degrees. You stated my numbers are wrong...what figure did you come up with?

Not that it will change anything.

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The quotient multiplied by the WLL is your reduced WLL.
 
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DOT made crossing straps or chains illegal years ago because it was as smart as running chains over the tracks on an excavator. The regs also state that one chain with two binders is still considered only one chain (do not try to understand that one). DOT regs for tying vehicles 10000# or less is a minimum of two tie downs and that their combined WLL is more than 50% if the weight of the object being tied down and that they restrain the load vertically, forward and backward, and side to side. So in theory you could use just two 5/16 S7 chains and binders if you want to be a moron and wrap them around your axles you would be legal.
 
That is nuts! Some people have zero respect for other people's stuff and somehow think it's OK to do stuff that they won't to things they own.

Back in school days ... I had a 50cc scooter and an old road bike. Neither were super nice or anything, but they were very serviceable and I kept them in good shape. I used to ride that bike a lot before I got the scooter and I would be careful with it, since it was all I had for transportation. I would work very late in school, late enough that buses would stop running. So I would take my bike every day and ride it back home. Eventually I got a scooter which made life so much better. I still kept the bike since I would ride for exercise and still take it to school when weather was nice.

Had a buddy who wanted to borrow my bike for a few days since his ultra beater car threw a piston and he had to scrap it. Told him .. "don't lose it please and I want it back with nothing missing" since bike theft was rampant. "Few days" becomes 2 months and he eventually returns the bike. I did not notice it initially .. but when I rode it a couple days later, I realized both wheels where bent. I get that fixed and then run into guy a few days later at the grocery store. I ask him what happened and he says, "oh, the wheels got bent over time as I was riding, I wanted to fix but I forgot". I am surprised since I rode that thing for years every day and never once bent a wheel. It's not like I am going super fast or anything anyways. He says "oh it happens you know, our roads aren't great". OK, whatever. He gets another car, cheaper and crappier than the previous one. And it breaks down at a very inconvenient time for him. He comes begging to me asking to borrow my bike again, and and the idiot I am .. I give it to him. Few days later .. I see him riding my bike on other side of the road .. on the sidewalk .. and I see him just intentionally ram the front wheel onto a curb trying to get over it. Got the bike back few days later, bent front wheel of course. This time I made him fix it .. and he was not happy.

Stopped loaning my bike out to people after that experience.

At least now I know not to loan my bike if I ever get one to your buddy in India.
 
I don’t own a trailer so I borrow a friend that I know from my in laws. I always make sure it is returned in as good a shape as I picked it up.

He had bought brakes for the second axle and new lights and new tires. We installed all of it for him since he was willing to let us use it.

That is the reason I stopped borrowing trailers. I got tired of fixing lights, welding the light guards back on that were folded forward around busted up tail lights, tying up wiring and rewiring far too many lights, trouble shooting and fixing non-working trailer brakes. I just want to borrow it, not rebuild it.
 
I got it back one time with every single wire underneath it completely gone. What happened I ask. He said he had to go drag an old car out of the weeds............a mile's worth of weeds and brush................................3 feet high...........................backed the trailer in to knock them down so he wouldn't take out his radiator.........................or punch a hole in his oil pan in case there was a rock he couldn't see.
This is ass whoopin material, just saying. That pisses me off….and I’m just reading the story.
 
I’ve borrowed and have loaned out my trailer. But there are only certain people that I would loan a trailer to so when I’ve needed to borrow one, I only ask the people that I would loan mine to. Mine sits pretty high for a car trailer, so it’s a pain to get cars on but with jeeps and trucks it’s really nice. I also like it as high as it is since I’ve never dragged the tail going into out out of camp sites.
 
some people neglect maintenance, mostly the "if it ain't broke crowd".
this is why i never made Moab this yr. i was willing to rent a trailer, but not willing to risk my rig on someone else's diligence or lack of.
 
That is the reason I stopped borrowing trailers. I got tired of fixing lights, welding the light guards back on that were folded forward around busted up tail lights, tying up wiring and rewiring far too many lights, trouble shooting and fixing non-working trailer brakes. I just want to borrow it, not rebuild it.

For a while, every time I picked it up he would say “don’t go buy a trailer you can use mine whenever you want”.

I don’t have anywhere to store a trailer HOA life. So it works out.