Strapping the car down

[MML]

Hi folks.
I'm putting the car on to a flatbed lorry on Monday for the local St Patrick's day parade. Most likely it'll be held down with ratchet straps. Where is the best place to route the straps so they don't damage anything under the car?

I had a quick search but couldn't find anything...

[David T]

Hi folks.
I'm putting the car on to a flatbed lorry on Monday for the local St Patrick's day parade. Most likely it'll be held down with ratchet straps. Where is the best place to route the straps so they don't damage anything under the car?

I had a quick search but couldn't find anything...

There are hooks front and rear on the frame just for that purpose.

[MML]

There are hooks front and rear on the frame just for that purpose.


The towing eyes? That'll do nicely! I was thinking something along the lines of straps over the wheels etc.
There will be wooden chocks at the wheels as well. I'm ultra-paranoid about securing it well.

Cheers David!

[Starglider]

The towing eyes? That'll do nicely! I was thinking something along the lines of straps over the wheels etc.

I have some straps with pads that go under the wheels, buckle on each end of the pad, strap goes from the front trailer tie-down to the pad front buckle, over/round the wheel, pad rear buckle, then to rear trailer tie-down. Quite effective but I put straps on the towing hooks as well.

[DMCMW Dave]

There are hooks front and rear on the frame just for that purpose.

Unless you have some rust issues.

[Mark D]

Be extra careful at the front tow hooks...The previous owner of my car strapped down the car and one of the straps must have been at an extreme angle or he tightened it down with too much force. One of the loops bent downward and broke away from the frame.

[David T]

Be extra careful at the front tow hooks...The previous owner of my car strapped down the car and one of the straps must have been at an extreme angle or he tightened it down with too much force. One of the loops bent downward and broke away from the frame.

Obviously if the frame is very rusty and it's strength is compromised you must find another place to attach to. If you pull too hard, even on a healthy frame, you can bend or distort things. One car I moved had such a rusty frame I had to use straps over the crumple zone and even then I had to be careful not to pull too tight! Just NEVER hook to, or over the lower control arms in the front. They WILL bend even if they are not rusty. And if you use recovery hooks you have to be careful not to catch a brake hose. A lot of this is common sense (which is not all that common). The rear straps should be crossed so the car can't move sideways.

[Rich]

Where is the best place to route the straps so they don't damage anything under the car?

I had a quick search but couldn't find anything...

Check out this handy reference from Domi, confirming what you now know and more:

LINK: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?3619-Transporters-Hand-Book (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?3619-Transporters-Hand-Book)

Image #9, which is p.10 of the Transporters Handbook.

[MML]

Check out this handy reference from Domi, confirming what you now know and more:

LINK: http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?3619-Transporters-Hand-Book (http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?3619-Transporters-Hand-Book)

Image #9, which is p.10 of the Transporters Handbook.

Now that's cool, I hadn't seen that before! Thanks Rich!