wheel straps through the spokes or axle chains, and where are the real tie-down points
MF-0841Opened by winch_and_strapsNov 15, 2025in Trailer talk7 entries
winch_and_strapsOPLong haul#1
Johnson City, TN61 posts · joined Nov 20252016 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi · 20 ft open & a 24 ft enclosed
i have chained cars to trailers by the axle my whole life and never lost one, and my son-in-law tells me i am doing it the old wrong way and everything should be over-the-tire wheel straps now. he is not entirely wrong and i am not entirely wrong, so i want to settle this with the people here instead of across the thanksgiving table.
the way i learned it: a chain to each corner, hooked to a solid suspension point, control arm or axle, pulled down at roughly 45 degrees front and rear so the car cannot walk. the way he does it: four wheel straps, a basket or lasso over each tire ratcheted to the deck, nothing touching the car itself.
his argument is that chains to the suspension load the springs and on a long haul the car bounces on its own suspension and the chains go slack and then shock-load. my argument is that a wheel strap is only as good as the strap and i have seen cheap ones chafe through on a fender lip. who is right, and does it change on a car with independent rear suspension where there is no solid axle to hook to.
hotshot_transporterRegional#2
Laredo, TX34 posts · joined Nov 20252017 F-350 6.7 dually · 40 ft gooseneck, open
your son-in-law is right for how i run and you are right for how you run, and the reason is the difference between a car you own and a car you are paid to deliver without a scratch.
over-the-tire straps are the standard in the transport world for two reasons. one, the car is secured by its own weight through the tires, the suspension stays loaded the way it sits on the ground, and nothing ratchets against painted or plated parts. two, i can strap a car i have never seen and know nothing about without crawling under it hunting for a hook point that will not bend. a set of axle straps or lasso straps over all four tires, ratcheted to D-rings, and i am done in six minutes and there is zero metal on the customer's car.
your chain method is not wrong and it held a hundred cars, but it does load the springs, and on a long rough haul the car does cycle on its suspension and a chain can go tight-slack-tight. the fix guys like you use is hooking the chain to the axle or a control arm as low and as fixed as possible so the suspension travel is minimized. that works. it is just more thinking per car than throwing wheel straps on.
loads_a_corvetteRegional#3
Mooresville, NC29 posts · joined Nov 20252018 F-250 6.7 · 20 ft open car trailer
wheel straps every time for me, and your IRS question is exactly why. on a Corvette or any independent rear there is no beam axle to chain to, and the factory suspension pickup points are not meant to take a downward chain pull at an angle. tie a chain to a C7 rear control arm at 45 degrees and you can bend the arm or at least mess up the alignment. the car's own tires and the loaded suspension are the right thing to hold, so over-the-tire straps are the answer and it is not close on those cars.
on your old solid-axle stuff the chain to the axle is genuinely fine because the axle is a big dumb beam that does not care. so you are both describing the correct method for different cars. the trouble starts when a guy chains a modern car to a suspension arm because that is how his dad did it to a 72 pickup.
cheap straps chafing through is a real thing and the fix is edge protectors and not buying the 11 dollar harbor freight ratchet set for a 40,000 dollar car. a strap rated right and kept off sharp edges does not chafe through in 1,000 miles.
axle_rating_questionLocal haul#4
Billings, MT18 posts · joined Nov 20252014 F-250 6.2 gas · 18 ft tandem open
can somebody put real numbers on this. i hear working load limit thrown around but i have never seen anybody actually do the math. what rating of strap or chain am i supposed to have at each corner, and how many corners.
i tow a 3,900 lb truck on an 18 foot trailer with four ratchet straps i bought at the farm store and i honestly do not know if that is enough or if i have been lucky.
twenty_four_foot_boxRegional#5
Appleton, WI27 posts · joined Nov 20252019 Silverado 2500 6.6 · 24 ft enclosed V-nose
the rule people actually have to follow comes from the federal cargo securement rules, and the car-hauling version is the four tie-down rule: a vehicle over 10,000 lbs or not, a car on a trailer wants a minimum of four tie-downs, two front and two rear, each one anchored to the trailer and the vehicle, and the aggregate working load limit of all your tie-downs has to be at least half the weight of the car.
so for your 3,900 lb truck, half is 1,950 lbs of aggregate WLL minimum. four straps means each one wants a working load limit of at least about 500 lbs, and that is the floor, not the target. the thing is WLL is not the same as the breaking strength printed big on the package. a strap might say 10,000 lbs break strength and have a working load limit of 3,333, so you read the WLL tag, not the big number. farm store straps are often fine on the number and bad on the hardware and the webbing quality, so buy transport-rated ones and you clear this easily.
the actual federal text is on the FMCSA site at fmcsa.dot.gov under cargo securement if you want to read the automobile and light truck section yourself. it is written for commercial carriers but the physics is the same in your driveway.
winch_and_strapsOPLong haul#6
Johnson City, TN61 posts · joined Nov 20252016 Ram 2500 6.4 Hemi · 20 ft open & a 24 ft enclosed
this is the answer i was after and i will admit the kid was more right than i wanted him to be. i am keeping the chains for the solid-axle trucks and the farm stuff because there is nothing to hurt and it is fast. for anything with independent suspension or anything with paint that matters, i already switched to over-the-tire straps after the Corvette guy's post and i am not going back.
the half-the-weight WLL rule is the part i never had a clean number for in forty years of doing it by feel. i went and checked my transport straps and they are rated well over what the math asks for, so the way i was doing it was safe, i just could not have told you why. now i can.
and i bought edge protectors, which i should have done decades ago. two dollars of plastic beats explaining a chafed strap to a customer.
mod_curt_bDispatcher#7
Wichita, KS58 posts · joined Nov 20252015 Ram 3500 Cummins dually · 20 ft open deckover
good one, and the four tie-down rule and the half-the-weight WLL number are the two things i wish everybody walked in knowing. i see cars come down the road held by two straps all the time and the owner has no idea he is one hard stop from a very bad day.
one thing to tack on. check your straps every fuel stop on a long haul, especially the first one. straps stretch and settle and a car rocks them loose in the first fifty miles more than the next five hundred. thirty seconds at the pump re-snugging four ratchets is the cheapest insurance on the trip.
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