Strapping a Vehicle Down

[ozzie1989]

For a nice stable outfit keeping both the trailer and vehicle level is ideal, but this does not mean there shouldn't be any noseweight. If in order to achieve positive noseweight the tow vehicle sags 'slightly' at the rear this is better than no noseweight... BUT notice I said slightly

I love it when you see a family estate or saloon car on the motor way, with 5 people on board, full of luggage in the back, caravan in tow and the front wheels look like they are coming off the floor at the rear end is sitting on the bump stops!

[madmatt]

Well I use 8 straps on a landy on an ifor! wheel strap on each wheel and then a strap on each corner of the chasis holding the body down! Some say its overkill but only takes 5 mins to do and I don't find it a hinderance.

[MJIbex]

I always just used to use 2 strops with wheel chokes on the rear wheels; handbrake and in gear with the trailer winch cable still attached.

However now I would say it's a must to strap the body down on a vehicle with soft suspension when on a trailer; I watched my classic RR pitch from side to side building up a terifying oscillation in the lorry ruts when going down a big hill on the M25 4 years ago! It was not going anywhere by itself but it did try to take the trailer and Discovery with it. My only option was to swerve towards the central reservation to put all the load to 1 side.

I now use the original method plus an extra strop to compress the suspension.

Mark

[nas90]

I travelled to 7S earlier this year with DD. He was towing his Eagle on a twin axle Bateson behind a 300Tdi Disco Auto. DD's method was to strap down each axle with 1 ratchet strap wrapped once around the axle and then to use the front and rear winches to pull the body down to the trailer end frames taking out a lot of the suspension roll. DD set-off an hour before me (yes I was late again Chris ) and I only caught up with him in the nas when he stopped after the Severn Bridge to get a cup of tea

[stobbie]

I drive about 150.000km's each year with a discoII and a car trailer.

I used to use 4 straps, one on each wheel (8 spokes or modulairs are easy, just put the hook in, normal LR wheels I put strap behind it.).

That was fine, could drive up to 120 km/h (not allowed :-) ) without any problems.

Lately I use two straps, one for each rear wheel, and one strap around the front bumper, and pull it maximum down. It feels a little more stable now.

I've tried strapping the chassis down, but it felt less good....

[tacr2man]

I would not like to guess at the amount of towing I have done, in UK Europe, and Australia, on bitumen, and on dirt roads. From caravans to artics and even a satellite tracking dish , both private and for business.

Starting point is weight, is the load legal for the tow vehicle , i.e. L crsr cant tow another Lcrusr on trailer

Nose weight, within limit of tow vehicle Trailer should be nose heavy but within this figure.

The trailer should be level, to slightly nose down. when loaded.

I would reccomend for most situations moving plg type vehicles that with four straps choked over wheels . If you then want to strap down body using lashing eyes. its up to you. although not really needed. If the vehicle is moving on the supension, should not really matter. If vehicle is moving that much on its suspension, you need to think about fitting better shock absorbers . special care should be taken when going down hill and when braking as load transfer can lead to overloading on rear of tow vehicle resulting in loss of steering authority, and brake efficiency (skidding) .

Make sure that rear tyre pressures on tow vehicle are adjusted to suit load, as this is a major contributor to snaking .

Never try to accelerate out of a snake , unless you are very experienced with lots of room. The only way without independent trailer brakes is to anticipate the direction front of vehicle is being pushed by oscilation steer opposite and jab brakes on and off . easier said than done. HTSH

[sotal]

Can I add another stupid question,

Whilst reading this topic, and some others on here I've noticed some people call straps "strops", is that a local dialect thing, another name, a spelling typo, or a name for a slightly different item?

[western]

in this instance is means a ratchet strap same like this