trailer talk, chains or straps? (now with pics)

[youngjeeper]

got some questions bout tieing down the jeep to the trailer. what do i use to tie the beast down? i have heard chains are best for longer journeys (more then 3-4 hours) and also heard chains are bad use straps. so whats yous guys opinions? next, where is the best place to tie it down? i herd using straps to get the ones that go around the front tires and slap one around the rear axle too. last time it was trailered , chains were wrapped round frame and Xed in the back. and i forget how the front was... come on guys give me some advice so my jeep doesnt fall off the trailer. thanks!

[ November 07, 2003, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: youngjeeper ]

[FSJeeper]

Chains with ratchet boomers. The only way to go. Tons of long distance trailering experience has proven this to me. Go chains and ratchet boomers.

[Glenn_tx]

I use a tow truck chain on the back wrapped around the axle and a couple 10k # straps on the front, one around each side of the axle.

[joe]

Chains. The ratchet binders are the way to go. Conventional binders work well also but not as user friendly. In either case use "quality" binders.

[youngjeeper]

chains around rear axle...how do i do that so it wont crimp my brake lines? what length of chains do i get?

FSJeeper: how are you tieing yours up with the chains?

[Kaiserjeeps]

Never go around either axle in the center. You will be buying new housings if you do. Go around the spring packs under the brake hoses. NEVER attach to the frame or bumpers. The bouncing can and will shock load and break your attachments, even chains I have seen fail. Next thing you know is you will see showers of sparks on the freeway at night cause you broke em. I have trailered to the rubicon for 8 years 800 miles one way. I had to learn the hard way a few times. Cross your chains like an X on each end of your trailered rig. Pass side trailer to dr side axle. Drivers side trailer to pass side axle. It can't slip or bounce sideways with that setup. I have used heavy duty ratchet straps designed for what I am doing, however they are worn out and chains would still be good by now. You don't have to worry about chains chaffing on each other where they cross. Get chains and don't hook above the suspension. You will be safe that way... Have fun...

[scotty]

im not so sure i agree not attach above the suspension. in a lifted trail rig with soft suspension the trailered rig can start to sway and cause the trailer wandering.i have experienced this,and it can be scary.

however,i also agree that you should attach to some point below the suspension.

maybe its overkill,but when i put my jeep on the trailer to drive 75+ miles to the trails heres what i do:

i have 2 chains that are a permanent part of the trailer up front. i wrap one of them around each side of the front axle,between the shock and knuckle yoke. i put a strap on each side of the rear axle and pull it tight. i then put a strap up front,thru the D ring in the center of my bumper and compress the front suspension. i do the same thru the pintle hook in the cneter of my rear bumper. 4 straps and 2 chains total. the jeep doesnt sway,and its still secured in the unlikely event that one of the "compression straps" breaks or loosens.

not that im an expert,since ive just started to trailer my jeep.i do like the idea of chains and binders,and will eventually replace the 2 rear axle straps with chains and binders,and only rely on the straps for compression.

also i put it in 4wd and put it in gear

nother thing people overlook is tire pressure, if your trailering a rig with 35"+ tires, the rig will be alot more stable with them at 30 psi than 5. it doesnt seem to make much of a differnce to me,but some of my friends very religously air up before putting it back on the trailer

[ November 04, 2003, 10:48 PM: Message edited by: scotty ]

[kyrel]

well I use 4 strap that are each rated for 5000lbs and attach them to the bumpers and pull down enought to squat the spring some. I also cross the straps. I have been doing this way for over 4 year now with no problems.

When I was in the Army we use straps and chains and attached them to the bumper's D-ring and squated down the spring. This was so Hummer's and 2 1/2 trucks could go from Texas to Calli for ftx's

[Hammer]

Loading down the suspension is the best way to go in my book. The extra bounce from the suspension can be both unnverving, and dangerous.
Straps can chafe, and are much easier to cut.
Chains can break stuff if you leave any slack.
Chains and binders make life much easier, and safer.

[youngjeeper]

well my dad went shoppin today. he is putting a chain threw the front d rings and tieing on each side. then straps on the axle crossed. then he is doing chain on the rear d rings and strapped the axle too. i guess its overkill but since its the first time tieing something down...we dont want to run into any problems

[redneckd out]

when i put trucks on trailers, i roll em on there with bout 10 psi , then once i load the suspension up and strap the tires down, i air back up to 30 psi, this way u get a tighter grip on the trailer, just make sure u get heavy straps though.

[Joe Guilbeau]

Strap the Axles in all four directions, you can get the appropriate chains cut to length (about 30-inches) and use those threaded C-Clamps to wrap around each axle, then 4 other chain ratchet binders to load down and ratchet them to secure the axles, let the cab bounce around, it is OK.

Airing down the tires a bit is not a bad idea.

You can get by with straps, but it is not a very good idea to try and save a few bucks here, when ratchet chains will last forever and don't give way as all straps do.

At each rest stop you will be going around the trailer and re-torquing the straps, where as witht the chain ratchets, once is good to go.

Don't worry about the body rocking and rolling, if it does, you are going too fast anyway...

[scotty]

Originally posted by Joe Guilbeau:

Don't worry about the body rocking and rolling, if it does, you are going too fast anyway...

i respectfully disagree.i can feel my rig bouncing and moving the trailer around when i hit lg bumps if i dont compress the suspension. you dont have to be going all that fast- a large dip or pothole on the highway at 55 can start it a-rockin easily.

we had a parts rig start swaying very badly when it got caught in a cross-wind from a semi, and it wasnt fun at all.

maybe it affects me moreso than others since my trailer is fairly high.im looking at the front bumper of my jeep out the rear window of my 2wd suburban,just to give ya an idea. the top of my jeep is quite a bit higher than my burb.

what you do obviously works for you and you feel safe doing it,and thats fine,but you have to be careful what you reccomend to people cause not everyones tow rig and trailer are like yours

unless youre just going down the block,i feel the most foolproof method will be to chain/strap the axles and compress the suspension as well.

heres a pic from the rear:


for the record,this is not how i tie down the rear axle. this is the 1st time i put it on the trailer

[ November 06, 2003, 08:41 AM: Message edited by: scotty ]

[Hammer]

The only 'professionals' that I know that don't preload the suspension are tow truck drivers (flat bed rollaways). And even though most of those are not very professional, they rarely take the vehicle for a long haul. They still use chains. And if you follow them, you will see, even at lower speeds, that the vehicle on back is rockin, rollin, and bouncing all around.
For short trips, I don't really sweat the suspension much. But for any real distance, I preload it.
Just like I did in the Army. EVERY time.
Just like it is done on semi truck trailers.
Just like it is done on trains.
Life simply is not worth not taking the extra precation for something so simple.

[FSJeeper]

Originally posted by Hammer:
The only 'professionals' that I know that don't preload the suspension are tow truck drivers (flat bed rollaways). And even though most of those are not very professional, they rarely take the vehicle for a long haul. They still use chains. And if you follow them, you will see, even at lower speeds, that the vehicle on back is rockin, rollin, and bouncing all around.
For short trips, I don't really sweat the suspension much. But for any real distance, I preload it.
Just like I did in the Army. EVERY time.
Just like it is done on semi truck trailers.
Just like it is done on trains.
Life simply is not worth not taking the extra precation for something so simple.

I could not agree more and I do a fare share of towing. Here is a great reference on towing, everything you ever wanted to know:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Towing/index.html