[Shop-talk] which tie down best for car hauler

[Steven Trovato]

You make some good points.  I never considered the way crossing the 
straps changes the situation.  I would imagine that a race car would 
have a very tight suspension and wouldn't really move very much on 
its suspension regardless of how you tie it down.  You do what seems 
reasonable to you.  I do what seems reasonable to me.  I really don't 
hear any screaming danger in either approach.  The fact that the tire 
basket style tie-downs even exist tells me that it can't be totally 
crazy.  This whole thing should be more of a science and less of a 
matter of opinion.  Do you know of any authoritative sources that 
tell you the best way?  I'd be interested in learning more.

-Steve

At 11:44 PM 7/16/2012, David Hillman wrote:
>    Don't your shocks have rebound damping?  I'm not sure 'slam' is 
> the right word on a car with a functioning semi-modern 
> suspension.  In my case, I cross tie-down straps on each end, so 
> whatever force the chassis is applying to the strap in the episode 
> you describe is mostly pivoting the ~8' strap, not stretching it.
>
>    While not important to me, 500 miles on racing shocks can be a 
> big deal.  I can see why people would care about that... but not at 
> the expense of controlling their rig.  Personally, I would never 
> tow a heavy vehicle, or any other load, on a light trailer that was 
> suspended and subject to shifting around.  The physics involved 
> scream danger, to me.  YMMV, and I know people do it all the 
> time.  People also smoke ;)
>
>--
>  David Hillman