waddisme

No to many people seem to like the thru the wheel staps. Why not? Seems easier and just as secure.

BTW - where is the best place to get the 10k straps with t hooks built in? I have found the wheel straps.

Thanks.

Z06 Bob

I use the T hook method. Bought from M&R Safety in Vineland NJ.

I have friends that use wheel tie downs for their P cars that don't have the holes in the frame like we do, and they are constantly getting loose. Not enough for the car to come off but never as tight as my t hooks.
Buy the hooks separately and the straps with hooks with a closure on both ends and the ratchet on one end.
Hope this helps.


Bob

Z07coupe

Try www.awdirect.com

davidfarmer

why would you want to risk hurting your wheels, tugging on your suspension, and having the body insecure (ie it can "float" on it's suspension) when you can attach directly to the frame and have both sprung and unsprung mass securely strapped to the trailer.

T-hooks are the ONLY way to secure a car IMO

JimbeauZ06

www.autohaulersupply.com

In addition to issues mentioned above, T-hooks are much faster and easier than using wheel straps.

sperkins

I got mine from:

Howard Hill Enterprises, Inc.
5338 Jeffersonville Rd,
Dry Branch, GA.
(478) 743-8406
Ask for David

He can custom make straps to any configuration as well. $80 for a set of four. These are 10,000lb straps that 8' long with a flat snap hook on the strap and a twisty snap hook on the ratchet end. You can have David put the T-hook on the strap, but I would just buy them seperately if you don't already have them.

Here are a few pictures:

L98Terror

I used the through the wheel method for years with no issue and never had it come loose. I don't see how it would hurt the wheel either.

I don't get the car bounces, I mean it bounces as you drive down the road & it's going to bounce when you strap it down (by the frame) also except the suspension is already compressed.

threewinmag

if you use the t hooks to strap the car down, and I know many that do without problems, be sure and buy straps that can handle the dynamic loads that are going to be placed on them.

When you tie the frame of the car down (with t hooks) you're trying to resist the vertical motion of the car itself without the aid of the suspension.

When you strap down the wheels (and I would recommend the wheel nets that cover the top of the tire versus straps through the wheels) then you have less dynamic load on the tie-down straps because the suspension is working and you're trying only to make sure the car doesn't change position on the trailer.

DON'T SKIMP on the load rating of the tie downs! Remember, dynamic forces are just that, dynamic. They change and they can far exceed the dead load of the object being held. Think of it this way, a rock climber isn't going to get a rope that is rated to 200 pounds thinking that that is all the climber himself weighs. He's going to get a dynamic rope that can handle many thousands of pounds of force because force equals mass times acceleration and that can total many thousands of pounds.

GettReal

I have 2 full sets of through the wheel straps (different brands) and have had to use them a couple times (because I forgot my T-hooks) but what I can tell you is I never felt my car was strapped as tight to the trailer going through the wheel vs t-hooked to the frame. This is NOT an area I went cheap on.. I googled the closest tow truck supply company to me and got 4 x 10,000lb ratchet straps and 4 t-hooks (should have bought a couple extra in case one or two go missing)

First time strapping my car down, I cut off the excess strap length allowing a few extra feet, heated up the ends to stop fraying and labelled each corner LF, LR, RF, RR. Once my car is on.. its TIGHT SECURE and a clean set up.

WOW, I just read what I wrote and I sound like some neat freak with OCD.

bearnest

Where do you hook the the t hook to??

GettReal

On the frame rails behind the front wheel and in front of the rear wheel, there are are 2 slots (most people use these to put jacking pucks when lifting the car. the T hook is around the same size and fits in the slot... but then it turns 90* and wont come out.

Bill Dearborn

It goes in the shipping slot.

This is the way the factory ships the cars. Maybe they know more about trailering a car than other people do. One thing I can say is by tieing down using the T Hooks the trailer handles better when going over bumps. When you tie down using the wheels the car bounces independently of the trailer. Using the T Hooks ties the two together better so the oscillations are not as bad. You ever hit one of those big bumps where the highway has sunken a couple of feet at 70+ mph and you will know what I mean by bouncing.

Bill

bearnest

This seems like it would be hard to do in my enclosed trailer. I take it that you have a open trailer??

sperkins

Here's how the transport company brought my car from TX to GA.

The Spark

t-hooks for me. easy to strap the car down.

I leave my front straps at a set lenght - hook the t-hooks in and let the car roll back. Then tighten down the back straps. Car in the same location each time.

waddisme

Seems like a pretty good deal and the preferred way to go. So for an 18' trailer, 4 8ft straps would suffice?

Thanks for all the input.

AU N EGL

Wheel nets or straps on the top of a tire give me the *******.

going though the wheel should be OK. If the car's suspension is moving up and down quite a bit then maybe some one is driving too fast on bumpy roads.

I use t-hooks

sperkins

Yep. Any more would be too long in my case. I also cross all 4 straps.

c4cruiser

One thing you may want to do is to load the car on the trailer and spot it in a position where you will have the proper weight on the trailer tongue.

"Tongue weight" is typically 10 to 15% of the weight of the loaded trailer. So if the car and trailer together weighs 5000 lbs, then the tongue weight should be at least 500 lbs. Check out this link to see how tongue weight is determined.

With the car on the trailer, roll it back and forth to get the proper tongue weight. Then with the car in that location, you can measure the distances from where the T-hooks attach to the car back to the tie-down points. Don't forget to cross two of the straps for measurements!

It's also a good time to attach wheel blocks to the trailer floor so that when you run the car up on the trailer, the front wheels will stop at the right place every time. I just used two 12" pieces of 2x4 and used bolts to hold them in place.

When I set my trailer up, I set my car back slightly from the point where I got my tongue weight measurement. I did this to allow for installing a tire rack to hold my race tires and a locking tool box to hold some equipment. All of that was at the front crossmember of the trailer and it added extra weight. So I deliberately set the car about 8" further back than where I set the original measurements.

The chances are that the centerline of the car's wheelbase will be just forward of the centerline of the two trailer axles. That will give you a good idea for a basic measurement for straps.

waddisme

Man - that is a lot of great info. That was going to be my next question or thread. I wasn't sure where to start as to where to put car on trailer. I will be pulling with a 8 cyl Dakota 4X4 with towing pkg for a little while, and then switching to a full size Tundra. Someone suggested I might need a "load leveling" hitch, so how would I know?

Also, how do most of you mount the winch - weld it down, bolt it, mounted to floor of trailer?