How do I strap my TJ to a trailer?

So the slight angles from us straight strappers also help mitigate some side to side action based on what you just said. Why would I still cross them then if my slight angle works to help reduce side movement if that would further compromise my fore and aft protection?



You keep mentioning how much load capacity being lost due to angles is minimal but you won't provide the math you use to come to this conclusion. The greater the angle of the strap the quicker that strap can reach its WLL. So why risk that if as you say the goal being to reduce your handicap as much as possible for all possible scenarios?

Since you have not read the entire thread I will offer it one more time. 45 degree angles net a 30% reduction. Lesser angles, lesser reduction. Most are likely losing somewhat because you rarely see true 90 degree inline strapping employed on a car trailer. Most quality straps will be well within the safety limits no matter the angle in our usage. If your goal is zero loss then your only recourse is to employ more anchor points...your call.

Life is full of compromises. Angles overlap one another...inline do not.
 
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Since you have not read the entire thread I will offer it one more time. 45 degree angles net a 30% reduction. Lesser angles, lesser reduction. Most are likely losing somewhat because you rarely see true 90 degree inline strapping employed on a car trailer. Most quality straps will be well within the safety limits no matter the angle in our usage. If your goal is zero loss then your only recourse is to employ more anchor points...your call.

Life is full of compromises. Angles overlap one another...inline do not.

I read the whole thing but I didn’t memorize it. Best of luck to you.
 
Guess you don't know many people, based on how fast you're making enemies here I'm not surprised.


I've seen several broken straps, and I know others have here as well. And it's not just the strap, hooks/ratchets/tie down points can all break as they age and fatigue.


Seems the biggest fools in life are the ones that are unable to have an open mind and learn from the multitude trying to help them, assuming they are smarter than all the others...

Nice to meet you... fool.

I tend to see straps on the interstate, on state highways. Where do they come from?
 
Something wrong with that story or the wording. If cross strapped properly you will never find a car inside a trailer that has shifted against a wall. See my previous post citing a wreck...the trailer was at a 35 degree angle when we opened the door to inspect the car and it had not shifted more than 1/2".

All I can report is what I was told. I'd assume the to lazy to check the straps part is key here.
 
That’s another good point a few on here have made about checking your setup after driving a few miles. More often than now if we are out on a dirt road somewhere no matter how someone secures their rigs they will tend to loosen. We always stop either just before or after hitting the pavement to retighten everything. We also check the couplers as well. And if we stop anywhere we check all that stuff again. I went into a store once to get some supplies and came back to find my coupler has been messed with by some asshole, since I checked if before going in
 
Yes but do you cross them?

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If you tow on a trailer, then you like the rest of us stop and check the straps after a few miles to see how they are doing. We would leave the lake bed and stop before the highway after a few miles of dirt road to check them. Regardless of how I tightened them, they were always looser to some uncomfortable degree. I always had to tighten one or more before getting on the highway.

The reality is under normal conditions, it really doesn't take much to keep the rig in place. I know this due to how mine is set up. I have side walls on the trailer and I suck the front tires up against a front wall and then go over the tires with straps that go through semi flat bed strap winches. On the way home, I tend to be lazy and not strap the rear tires down with over the tire straps. Not once have the rear tires moved to touch the side walls on either side and I've towed home like that many times. The grippy bed liner on the trailer floor may help with that but I always looked for it to move some and they never have.

Yes, I tow on a trailer and yes, of course I check them regularly since sometimes I drive 3-4 hours in stop and go traffic. They do loosen up. My point to HandOverFist was that sometimes, even though we check things regularly, shit happens and when your driving at 65mph, you can't immediately stop and miraculously take care of it. Plan for the worst; hope for the best.
 
stretching the axles out as far away from each other as is possible and then bouncing the rig down the road against all the control arm joints.

this is a point i considered but has not been mentioned until now. all this stress is held somewhere since the links are inline and strong if more than stock that almost makes them extensions of your rigging so now after they get tensioned the anchor is really your brackets, no?

i don't have a deck down yet and could easily incorporate multiple anchors into the frame work for those tire straps or nets, the appeal to me is smaller lighter rigging, and control at the wheels.........seems right to me since the whole rig is controlled by those wheels any other time.
i do plan to have a tire bump up front so i'm always loaded to the same spot, once i find where she'll carry best.
 
this is a point i considered but has not been mentioned until now.
I have mentioned it in practically every trailer tie down thread that I'm in where someone asks for the best way to restrain the vehicle.
all this stress is held somewhere since the links are inline and strong if more than stock that almost makes them extensions of your rigging so now after they get tensioned the anchor is really your brackets, no?
All of it is under the same load so it doesn't matter.
i don't have a deck down yet and could easily incorporate multiple anchors into the frame work for those tire straps or nets, the appeal to me is smaller lighter rigging, and control at the wheels.........seems right to me since the whole rig is controlled by those wheels any other time.
i do plan to have a tire bump up front so i'm always loaded to the same spot, once i find where she'll carry best.
I am a big fan of a headache bar across the trailer that the front tires roll up against at the mid point. It can slow down the rig coming to see you if you run into someone at speed and straps up from the deck and over the front tires to strap winches doesn't get much better as a way to tie it down. If you want to get fancy, get some 3 or 4" straps with winches.
 
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I went into a store once to get some supplies and came back to find my coupler has been messed with by some asshole, since I checked if before going in
I keep a pin lock or long shackle Master Lock through the latch on my coupler. I don't expect it to slow a thief down, but I do expect it to stop the casual fucktard from dicking with it.
 
I have seen more loose straps caused by simply not taking a couple of wraps on the ratchet drum before actually tightening the strap, I use straps through the wheels whenever I can pulled as straight as possible or axle straps. My wheel straps have a protective sleeve that lays against the wheels.
 
Yes, I tow on a trailer and yes, of course I check them regularly since sometimes I drive 3-4 hours in stop and go traffic. They do loosen up. My point to HandOverFist was that sometimes, even though we check things regularly, shit happens and when your driving at 65mph, you can't immediately stop and miraculously take care of it. Plan for the worst; hope for the best.

Your point does not really address the topic, but I will agree for the most part. One thing that is not going to happen is a broken strap in stop and go traffic no matter what speed you are traveling...never happened and not going to. You may experience a little slack from time to time, but that does not mean you are unsafe. A lot of slack means you have done something wrong. If a strap comes off for any reason that is on you, not the strap...open hooks are just an invitation.

"Plan for the worst; hope for the best".... why not then use a strap method that covers more scenarios?