Correct use of a car trailer...

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00falcon
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Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby 00falcon » Tue Sep 02, 2014 8:23 am

Not that I have a car trailer yet, but on the longer ventures from home, I might start thinking about borrowing/renting/steeling one...

But with that said, there in lies a dilemma....
The correct way to strap down a Wagon to a Car Trailer.

What Tip/Tricks do you guys use, to make life Easy/Safe...

My main concern is do you secure sprung weight, or unsprung weight.
I have seen people do it both ways

Securing sprung weight will put more stress on the tie downs as the springs naturally compress and recoil, but securing unsprung weight will allow the body to roll... (unsure if this is even an issue)

Keen to hear your guys thoughts..

I'm only just staring to think about trailer-ing her... but isn't that where everything starts...
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby wranglerbabe » Tue Sep 02, 2014 9:45 am

I've always tied down using the chassis personally. It keeps everything secure. Also make sure you have one end tied forwards and the other end tied backwards, both tied one way will cause it to roll even with brakes on
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby Tonkatoy. » Tue Sep 02, 2014 9:49 am

When ever I have towed my race cars I have always tied around the diff and pulled it forward and down so attached midway down trailer then around the diff pulling it into the front of an enclosed trailer. The times I have towed with an open trailer I have tied from the back of the trailer around the diff pulling back and down and then from the front of the trailer around a tie point pulling forward and down.
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby Weemsy » Tue Sep 02, 2014 10:26 am

I used to do recovery driving for a while in the uk & was always taught to tie down by the wheels or diffs. This was mainly commercial vehicle recoveries but I can't see that there would be much difference. The body roll was frightening, but like anything, adjust driving to suit.
My thoughts are that tying down the chassis can/will overload straps and tie-down points.
You can never use too many tie downs! :lol:
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby Jafa » Tue Sep 02, 2014 10:48 am

Hmm, I go against the trend here, I tie my chassis down with 4 x 2500kg ratchet straps, and a couple of chains, compress it down to the bumps. Makes a huge difference to its towablilty, no sway, no weight transfer to the tow vehicle with the body flopping around on the springs/shocks. I've tried it both ways and much prefer clamping the towed vehicle to the trailer, effectively making it one rigid mass with the trailer.
I'd say that with vehicle s with stock or stiff suspension and no travel, then just tying the diffs down would be okay...
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby Tonkatoy. » Tue Sep 02, 2014 11:28 am

Jafa wrote:Hmm, I go against the trend here, I tie my chassis down with 4 x 2500kg ratchet straps, and a couple of chains, compress it down to the bumps. Makes a huge difference to its towablilty, no sway, no weight transfer to the tow vehicle with the body flopping around on the springs/shocks. I've tried it both ways and much prefer clamping the towed vehicle to the trailer, effectively making it one rigid mass with the trailer.
I'd say that with vehicle s with stock or stiff suspension and no travel, then just tying the diffs down would be okay...
my 2c...

Yeah actually thinking about it I would agree as my drag car was obviously quite stiff in the suspension etc. If you had a big lifted truck it could be interesting - I would probably do both. Tie diffs etc then put some extras on to stop body role. As someone else said you can't have too many tie downs :)
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby muddy » Tue Sep 02, 2014 11:52 am

I always tie down by the axles - as stated one hold forward, the other to the rear. To stop body roll, another strap to the chassis each side - but only light tension so it stops it lifting but still allows suspension compression. That way it's easier on the trailer wheels & suspension if you hit a hard bump, as the truck suspension cushions the shock-loading

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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby Mehrts » Tue Sep 02, 2014 4:04 pm

Had to recover my Hilux on the weekend via trailer. I Used two ratchet strops on each end around the diff housings pulling in opposite ways to each other (forwards and rearwards).
I then used the winch on the ute to attach to the drawbar and compress the front suspension to minimise body roll. Everything worked a treat.
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby 00falcon » Tue Sep 02, 2014 4:18 pm

Mehrts wrote:Had to recover my Hilux on the weekend via trailer. I Used two ratchet strops on each end around the diff housings pulling in opposite ways to each other (forwards and rearwards).
I then used the winch on the ute to attach to the drawbar and compress the front suspension to minimise body roll. Everything worked a treat.


How would the 'Winch' handle the constant bouncing...?
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby Suza » Tue Sep 02, 2014 5:59 pm

I do a bit of vehicle recovery work and we always go off either the chassis or body this takes the suspension movement out of the picture and gives you a more stable load to tow. Once we recovered a lifted Disco and against our better judgement we anchored of the diffs and wheels at the owners demand and it was horrible to tow the body just moved too much so after about 10km we stopped and redid the tie downs to chassis and it was much nicer to tow after that.
As a general rule in my book regardless of what you are towing you don't want the load moving on you at all

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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby imsohi » Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:02 pm

00falcon wrote:
Mehrts wrote:Had to recover my Hilux on the weekend via trailer. I Used two ratchet strops on each end around the diff housings pulling in opposite ways to each other (forwards and rearwards).
I then used the winch on the ute to attach to the drawbar and compress the front suspension to minimise body roll. Everything worked a treat.


How would the 'Winch' handle the constant bouncing...?



Prob with his pto it should be ok for a once off, bit hard on the rope tho. I always tie mine down with 2 2.5t strops one around the front wheels and one around the rear but only with simexs as it sits nicly in the lugs otherwise around the diff housings with my raidials, with the leftover i run it up through my bullbars and ratchet the front down but only on long trips andit does make a huge difference with body roll. i dont bother with the rear i have tried but dont notice much difference and its also good when i have another spare tyre i can use it to strop it down. I have always towed like this and done alot all over nz in the last few years and some can vouch that i have been in some pretty interesting situations and still survived :lol: :lol: but everyones towing style is different and i would recommend trying each of the ubove till you feel comfortable.

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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby Beer_Cruiser » Tue Sep 02, 2014 7:36 pm

Ive had 1 big moment and a few small ones towing.
I use to just tiedown over the diffs.
Now I tie diffs 1st front pulled fwd back diff to the back then pull the springs down as far as I can over the frount and rear bars.
Mrs wont get in the car if shes not feeling safe after we almost died in a big Jack knife. ...

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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby Mehrts » Tue Sep 02, 2014 8:47 pm

Yea, I run a PTO winch, and it was just a once off to help out with the gear we had. I had a look at the rope when I released it, and it was fine, but I wouldn't want to do this any more than needed.

I put just enough tension on the rope to pull the front down so that it wouldn't bounce & roll around. There was still plenty of compression distance left in the springs, but it would take a bloody hard bounce to take the tension off the rope completely.

Not ideal, I know, but you have to do with what you've got sometimes :wink:
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby 4WDbits » Wed Sep 03, 2014 7:26 am

A vehicle should be tied down so it is like any other static load on a trailer, let the trailer suspension do its work rather than fight the vehicle suspension.
We use 5 2500kg strops off the 4 recovery hooks, maybe a bit of overkill, but strops are cheap, vehicle not so cheap.

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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby muddymatt1973 » Wed Sep 03, 2014 2:06 pm

I used to run a garage with a AA tow truck. As far as I can remember the law is a minimum of 3 seperate securing devices (tie-downs).
The recovery winch cable can be left connected but must no be under tension or counted as one of the 3.
We used straps between the wheelbase of the towed vehicle one running forward from rear suspension/subframe/chassis and one from the same area on the front of the load to rear. Kind of a X shape when viewed from the side.
On the recovery trailer it was much the same except I used to also run one side to side at the back using the tow-bar of the casualty or the factory tow eye and a shackle. More to give people following reasurrance it was secure!

More important than lashing is weight position. You need to be really careful to keep the nose weight right. Too much and your tow wagon steering is compromised and too little and you risk a jack-knife when the trailer pushes you round.

I remember I had to load a dead Pajero Td Lwb on a trailer backwards as it was unable to get in front of it. I only had to tow it about 5ks but it was just so bad. I couldn't go above 40kph or I got a death wobble. Nasty.

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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby 3VILC » Wed Sep 03, 2014 11:03 pm

I chain the diff's front forwards and rear backwards since its easier and the zook is plenty short enough to get a good angle. Then a 2.5t strop at each end to take the bounce out of it. IM A truck driver and never heard of the 3 points thing, just that the lashings must berated to at least twice the weight of the load (or 1.5times if the load is against the front headboard)
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby 00falcon » Thu Sep 04, 2014 8:43 am

I was going to post yesterday... but work got in the way...

muddymatt1973 wrote:More important than lashing is weight position. You need to be really careful to keep the nose weight right.


How should the weight be positioned on the trailer...?
just slightly forward of center...? (center being the balance point of the axles)


3VILC wrote: I'm A truck driver and never heard of the 3 points thing, just that the lashings must be rated to at least twice the weight of the load (or 1.5times if the load is against the front headboard)


OK, so for a 1700kg truck, you need 3400kg straps... or 3400kgs of strapping...?
so.. 2 x 2500kg straps = Greater than 2 x my truck...
that seams a bit light...

When she eventually gets her feet on to a trailer, im probably going to go over kill with the straps...
as mentioned above, straps are cheap... comparatively...



I have also seen, someone drive there truck on to a trailer, loop a chain around both front recover points, them roll back slightly to tighten it all up, then use a 2.5T strap to pull the rear down...
He had obviously done this before, as, apart from looking second nature, everything lined up perfectly...
Any comments on this...?
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby muddymatt1973 » Thu Sep 04, 2014 8:55 am

How should the weight be positioned on the trailer...?
just slightly forward of center...? (center being the balance point of the axles)


Yep that sounds about right. Most 4 wheel car trailers should balance empty. i.e if you lift the jocky wheel it should still sit level. In theory it should still sit level loaded too but as you want a bit of nose weight rather than tail heavy a shade forward of centre is sweet.
Remember the engine is the heavy bit (usually) so dont go too far forward.

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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby ChurchurDan » Thu Sep 04, 2014 1:33 pm

The combined strength of the strops needs to be double the weight of the vehicle, so for a 2000kg vehicle 2x 2500 kg strops will be fine.
If I am towing a 4x4 I will tie from the chassis or barwork. If I am towing a car it will be around what ever is strong enough that I can get a strop around which is usually the cross members or lower control arms. Cars are not as bad usually as they dont move as much on their suspension.
I also load trailers front heavy or they fish tail.

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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby 3VILC » Sat Sep 06, 2014 8:04 pm

Yup as mentioned all the straps combined so yes 2 straps is plenty as far as the law is concerned. Yup I do mine like that, chain the back then roll forwards totake the slack out then just use twitches on the front chains. Was taught to load alsorts this way when carting diggers graders etc. Tho I did hear the other day something about meant to use 1 chain at each corner tensioned separately rather than a single chain from left to right..at least for carrying machinery. This would probably more apply to things with tracks which could potentially still slide sideways.
But as long as its not going to move and is safes there's lots of ways that are OK. Braking force is the greatest strain so a chain backwards is not uncommon, last thing you want is your toy rolling off the end into the back of your nice tow wagon when you have to brake haha
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Re: Correct use of a car trailer...

Postby 00falcon » Tue Oct 28, 2014 2:34 pm

Well... I managed to steal a trailer for the long weekend...

I ended up using 4 tie downs..

1 x Front Axle forward
1 x Rear Axle backwards
1 each around the front & rear recover hooks, compressing the suspension...

She didn't move at all...

The only thing i will do next time, is have her sat back a bit... more balanced on the trailer...
the trip down was good... but on the trip back, i could feel her pushing down on the tow bar...

Anyway, much nicer than driving her on the road... and the wife didn't wine either... :)

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