redmill

When i tow, It seems like there is a fair amount of slack after a few hours. (requires 3 or 4 full ratchets on all corners to retighted) CLearly stop and go traffic is putting pressure on the straps during towing.


mine are tight when loaded and i often do a quick brake check in the paddock and retighten to make sure d-ring and strap hooks are settled in. The ratchets are in the locked position(obviously)


i have fixed tied points on the car
front wheels against a bump stop
trailer is a trailex 7541
Straps are MAC which i purchased new
car in neutral during the tow.


Is there a technique that ensures the straps stay tight for a full 8 hour tow?

177mph

Not that I'm aware of. I have a similar set up to yours. I always stop after an hour or two to tighten. Maybe one click all around.

linzman

Make sure you have at least 3-4 layers of webbing (ie full revolutions) when cranking down.

Crank down harder,

Don’t let your friends help

DTMiller

I've never had that happen. Maybe one strap needs one click. If you aren't wrapping them as linzman suggests that could do it.

stujelly

Here is my experience

I have towed my 2 cars from california to daytona and back many times.

Gooseneck trailer, sometimes a single car trailer

I started using the mac tie downs with the wheel straps run through the wheel. Never had an issue.

Then to save loading time, I put on the brackets on the frame and attached the tie downs to those brackets. Then I started having the cars come loose. Not sure why. Went back to using the wheel straps thru the wheels and never had them come loose.

When I had my cup car I connected to the cup car hooks on the wheels and that car didn't come loose either.

Yes I used the same mac tie downs on all the cars.

Just my 2 cents, for some reason with my cars they always came loose when I tied down to the frame.

skxf430

As others have mentioned, make sure you have a least 6 full cranks of the handle to ensure you have enough webbing.

TXE36

Something doesn't sound right and I agree with the advise to ensure you have enough wraps of the strap in the ratchet.

As for my experience, I use t-hooks in the factory holes on the frame and cross both the front and rear straps. When I stop to check, the most I get is one click on one strap, and that is unusual. Biggest thing I check when stopped is to make sure one of the t-hooks hasn't dropped out - that happens if the hook is not set properly and it hasn't happened since I realized this could happen and I check them carefully at load up. No tire stops and the car is in neutral.

Also, do not talk to anybody while loading or unloading - it is very distracting and a big cause of mistakes - see t-hook reference above.

-Mike

ShakeNBake

I had a strange experience towing back from WGI to Texas a couple weeks ago. Car was tight the first couple nights I checked. The last day, driving over very rough roads, from Memphis to Austin, the rear straps loosened up. Front and rear are chassis tied - I think the issue was the car compression and rebound in the rear caused the rear straps to loosen/car change static position. I'm going to switch to tieing the rear tires to E-track now.

Coochas

I swear I didn't go near your trailer at WGI.

PLNewman

^ ^ ^ This ^ ^ ^

MarcD147

Also if your tires are even slightly warm while loading you will need to retighten them at least once again very 46 min or so till they are all the way cold

zmon

yes i was going to say what MarkD just said. if you strap down while the car is hot, the tire pressures are high and will thus lose pressure as the car cools down.

Brian C in Az

As mentioned by stujelly, you should strap the wheels directly.

You should never connect to the frame only.

If you have a GoPro, put it in your trailer and record the car while towing. You will be amazed at how much the car bounces around when the trailer is moving. Every dip in the road is magnified 3 or 4 times in amplitude and your car's suspension will be bouncing to it's limit.

Thundermoose

any video from the track? how did you like it and Group52?

ShakeNBake

I have to say it was the most thrilling experience on asphalt I've had in the last 12 years. Lots of data/video, I'll PM you a couple laps.