so never towed a car on a trailer before, whats the best way of strapping said car to trailer.
Am i right in thinking you should always strap WHEELS not body (ie unsprung)?

seen this kit, be ok wont it?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=200307816020

any advice?

Thats what I use to strap my cars on my trailer,one around each wheel,never lost a car yet

[Edited on 19/05/04 by PAUL FISHER]

They will easily hold you car.

You have a choice on strapping, either wheels only and the car suspension moves or strap down the chassis really hard so the suspension is under compression and cannot move.

Its really a suck and see thing, depends on how good your trailer suspension is, personally I pull the car down solidly as I find I can go faster as the trailer is more stable.

Also car position is important, always pointing forward (I believe its a legal requirement anyway) with the car a little forward of the trailers centre of gravity. Again you can experiment to find the optimum, get it badly wrong and the trailer snakes. Also anything like jerry cans not on the cars seats or footwells but low on the chassis bed.

For myself as its my trailer I have chains at the front and one ratchet strap at the rear to pull down with, when you have the car positioned where you want it set the chains to this length and it will always be correct afterwards.

The secret of going backwards is slowly, allow yourself plenty of time, after a while it becomes natural and you can speed up.

Regards Mark

i used to work in the recovery game and they are they sort of straps we used,there is a right and wrong way to use them tho,gis a shout on sunday and ill show you how to do it the right way

I think it dependson wht type of car you are trying to strap down.

An overweight tin top needs all the help it can get.

But a 7... a couple of bungees will do..


David

I know of somebody who had lost his tie down straps so cable tied his race car to the trailer to take it to Pembrey - he used about a 100 ties apparently!

I always strap the wheels down. I only use 2 one my trailer. My locost doesnt move anywhere.

I us straps similar to the ones in your link. The strap goes behind the wheel with the briging strap accross the front of the wheel. Before i got the bridging straps i used to put the strap behind the wheel and feed through the spokes to the front so it held nice and tight. Handbrake on hard and in gear. Never had a car jump the straps yet.

[Edited on 14/2/09 by Danozeman]

I used straps on the wheels when taking mine to the SVA with no probs. My mistake was to cover the car with a tarpaulin (SVA in Oct so lots of bad weather) which ended up rubbing through the paint. T cut sorted it (just) but make sure you pad out anything touching the paintwork.

Gary

thanks for all the advise, very usefull

I also strap the wheels.

The tie down point i have arnt great, two over the a-frame in the middle at the front, and to right in the back corners two feet back from the back of the car.

What i do with is, with two 15000kg strips, go one round the front wheels and back, and then one round the rears, crossed over, and back.
- Crossing the rear one to give sideways contraint. Otherwise it tends to migrate sideways over time.
- Then becuase the rears are at such a shallow angle i and a third link which is 800kg strap doubled over a few times. Just as a check line in the case of a crash situation.

Im sure, actually, i would make 20miles fine without any straps at all just wiht HB on. But basicaly there are two things your trying to do.
- Stop it migrating around, moving 5mm every bump till it falls off.
- And two, making sure that should the very worst happen, you car/trailer dont make the situation worse. For you or others.

Somthing like this. (if you excuse the mess)




Daniel

yeah that makes sense, thanks

picked up the trailer today, tows fine unloaded. hopefully its ok with the car on.

ordered a set of those straps from ebay, look like the best cost vs function option.

cheers for everyones advice

Mark

quote:

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Originally posted by Meeerrrk
picked up the trailer today, tows fine unloaded. hopefully its ok with the car on.

ordered a set of those straps from ebay, look like the best cost vs function option.

cheers for everyones advice

Mark

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if anyone is interested, i purchased a set of the straps in the link above & used them today for the first time. What can i say, WOW, they are fantasic, very heavy duty and easy to use. puts your mind to rest that the car isnt going to move. best £30 ive ever spent.