How do you tie down your rig?

JeepN1371

JeepN1371

ZJ's UP!
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Location
Lexington, NC
I have never towed anything that was over a 3 or 4 inch lift. The other day I was towing my ZJ with a 6" long arm kit and as I was going around some corners I could feel the weight shifting on the trailer. I had 4 straps(2front/2back) and as I was watching in my mirrors my tires were not moving. I'm guessing it was just the weight shifting within the suspension.

My question is, when you tow do you ratchet down your suspension on your rig besides strapping the axels to help with that shifting weight?

I searched the forum and didn't find anything on this, so if this is a repost... Sorry.
 
I drive my "rig," but if I were to tow it (or anything else) I would definitely cinch down the suspension with a couple straps, but I would not neglect to use axle straps/chains to actually hold it in place.
 
I use 4 straps or chains and go from axle to trailer at each corner like this l l not an x. I have never had to tie down the body. There was a thread a while back about this but searching sucks from my phone so I can't find it.
 
on my Willys,I pull down on the body to get the sway(don't laugh) out of the factor.I have 2 straps running across each other from the military tie downs on the bumper to the trailer frame in front and one pulling down the rear fromt the pintle hook to the trailer rear.I tie the excess strap as insurrance incase a ratchet fails.
 
JeepN1371 said:
My question is, when you tow do you ratchet down your suspension on your rig besides strapping the axels to help with that shifting weight?

I searched the forum and didn't find anything on this, so if this is a repost... Sorry.
Click to expand...

No, but I wheel a slammed Samurai, so there isn't much weight, lol.
 
I run four chains from the axles to the trailer straight with load binders. Then I run two ratchet straps left to right over the front and rear hitches to suck the suspension down. It cuts way down on trailer sway.

Also towing with the suspension loose can damage wheel bearings, I saw examples in a drivetrain textbook in college. If the bearings aren't rotating the weight of the vehicle will dimple the bearings over a long distance tow then the bearing can chew itself up. My instructor specifically brought this up. Its due to the slight bit of slack or freeplay in a bearing, with the suspension sucked down the vehicle can't bounce against that freeplay.
 
my truck is like 6k lbs and it would sway all around on the trailer. in addition to 2 straps per axle, i eventually added an anchor on the deck just below and just in front of front bumper to suck the winch down to. (rig rides on front bumpstops.) i used a large ubolt through the deck and a large ubolt plate on the bottom of deck to make the anchor. definitely stabilized the load.
 
I strap my rig down from the axles only in an X pattern. If you're rig flops all over the place enough to cause issue on the trailer with your axles tied down I'm guessing it wheels like :poop:

Never use your winch to tie your rig to the trailer, that's a sure way to ruin a good winch.
 
I go with the 4 corners. Two straps pulled from the rear axle to the back and two chains pulled to the front off of the front axle. Never had an issue. I also tow a deckover trailer and my rig sits high.
 
I have hauled a bunch of stuff. The things that tow the best are always cinched down to control the load. The worst thing I ever towed was a Scout II on 4" lift strapped by the axles. The thing flopped all over the place.

My Frontier is always strapped from the frame to the trailer. I don't bother with the axles. I usually cinch it down probably 2" overall.
 
not sure why guys are having problems with strapping down just the axles...


I strap down the axles on the buggy only and don't have any issues at all with roll or flopping around, etc...


maybe that I'm towing with a big ass heavy truck and don't notice it? But, I never notice any issues, through mountains, curvy roads, high speeds, etc...
 
I have towed my jeep and my old K-5 with everything from 1/2 ton trucks to 1 ton dually's. I currently tow with a powerstroke f-250. I have tried towing with just axle straps and with frame straps.

Strapping the frame to the trailer has always worked best for me. There is no sway that way and if you hit a bump it just uses your trailer suspension, not your trail rigs suspension. If you are going to use axle straps, i would still suggest at least cinching down the suspension.
 
chains on the axles have always worked for us. and i would say we tow some of the tallest rigs on here. a rockwell truck with 50 inch tractor tires on a deckover trailer is pretty tall!:lol:

i tried pulling down the suspension and could not tell any difference. i wouldnt want to keep my coilovers pulled down for a long period of time, i think you are just asking for leaks or problems if you do that very often. also keep in mind that we tow to florida and up to ohio with this setup and it works fine.
 
I started using the same type of wheel straps the car haulers use. They work great and if you dont trim the length of the strap, they will fit any size tire. They pull each tire down to the deck in a 360 degree circle. Each strap has 2 attatching points (foward and rearward) to the trailer. We came home from Spartanburg at 70 plus and it never budged. Another neat thing I noticed was, as all 4 tires deflated, the straps actually got tighter. As the tire went down, the the side walls and tread bulged and when I tried to cinch them up there was no slack at all. Normally, if you are axle to frame, you will gain a click or two as a bad tire goes down and becomes loose on that corner.

Use common sense and check everything after you have been on the road for a little while. If you body is bobbing and weaving, throw a couple of straps on it too.
 

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axles only.
I will spare the lecture, but bearing load....suspension is not designed to bounce aorund fully compressed. you are actually hurting you rig compressing the suspension.
 
I loop a chain over the rear axle and tighten it up by pulling forward. Then straps on the front while the jeep is in neutral. Then I put it in gear and set the parking brake. I do suck down the suspension, but not all the way. Just enough to take the sway out of it. I noticed the difference when I towed with a half ton, I don't know if i would with my dually. But it works fine for me. I use the chain on the rear because if I'm in some catastrophic crash the chain will the the last thing to break keeping the rig from coming through the cab of the truck and killing us. Every time I stop I check the straps, position of the rig to make sure it hasn't moved, trailer bearing temps and trailer tire pressure. Never had a problem with the way it's set up.

Rear.

ai85.photobucket.com_albums_k51_hadfield4wd_Tow_20rigs_060.jpg


Front

ai85.photobucket.com_albums_k51_hadfield4wd_Tow_20rigs_061.jpg
 
I use this
acdn.dickblick.com_items_629_84_62984_8542_3ww_l.jpg

and just tie the front to the trailer. I don't use brakes so no chance of it rocking forward...






























...actually, I use a chain from corner to corner in the rear looped over the pinion. I use the winch to tension it forward and usually 2 straps in the front.
 
I use a set of ratchets and axle straps from Mac's. I don't remember them costing $215, but they must have been worth it, because I'd buy them again in a heartbeat.

Nothing to the body, just four straps from center of mass out to four d-rings in the floor.
 
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