Towing my K5 suggestions?

[blackk5350]

Hey i will be towing my k5 about 250 miles highway at the end of next month. speed limit is 70mph
Tow rig: 2007 Dodge 2500 cummins 4 door short bed
Trailer: 20 something foot flatbed trailer ball hitch.

I was reading around and have seen people say connect the straps to the frame, axles, bumpers etc. My truck does have a 6" lift on it so it will be sitting pretty high. any input would be great. i do beleive we have 3 or 4 10k tow straps. I wil def buy more for extra security. Just tell me where to hook up, and what to use straps or chains.

ALSO should i deflate the tires a bit to ad more "cushion" and stability to the load?

 

[shady]

this is the way I've always been taught. to the axle crossed like that.outside of the spring. if you go to the frame, bumpers, etc. the straps will loosen with bumps due to suspension compression.

 

[Heavyleft]

I've towed mine just the way Shady has described. Done it several times. I used 10k straps but, IMO, binding chains would be best. I use binding chains to secure the Bobcat at work for trans and it doesn't move at all when properly secured.

 

[Kota4bye]

I use straps, have used basic 10k straps before, but have a set of Mac's with axle wraps now. if you can x them great. My current set up is x'ed in back and l l in the front. Stop and recheck your straps after the first 20 miles or so for tightness.

finding the sweet spot for tongue weight on the trailer is key too.

 

[blackk5350]

thanks guys, its only 250 miles and only a 1 time thing. i think im gonna go with straps probobly 4 and a few chains all connected to the axles except maybe one extra on the trailer hitch on my k5 just to make me feel better. it may look messy but i dont want to be stressing out for 5 hours driving down the highway. i think overkill on this is OK!

 

[Avery4jc]

I do it the way shady pictured. Done it so many times the past few years I've been wheeling I can't even remember. With 4 big straps hooked that way you really don't need anything else. If the truck has a really soft suspension setup then additional straps tying the frame of the truck to the trailer are useful but for your average run of the mill off the shelf lift it's plenty stiff to just strap the axles.
I use loops around my axle tubes then tie the straps to those, works a lot better than just wrapping the straps themselves around the axles. You can get them at UHaul.

As far as loading goes if you aren't familiar with loading the truck and trailer run heavy on the tongue weight, it'll keep you from having a white knuckle experience.

 

[ChrisPerry]

There is a problem with crossing the straps. If any strap fails, the load can shift to one side and they will all come loose.
When towing a vehicle on a trailer the straps should always be straight forward and backward, this means that both front or both back would have to fail for the vehicle to come loose.
I've been towing cars for AAA for 8+ years (250-300,000 miles) and have never had a vehicle come loose when towed this way, but I've seen other drivers lose cars when cross chained.

 

[blazinzuk]

There is a problem with crossing the straps. If any strap fails, the load can shift to one side and they will all come loose.
When towing a vehicle on a trailer the straps should always be straight forward and backward, this means that both front or both back would have to fail for the vehicle to come loose.
I've been towing cars for AAA for 8+ years (250-300,000 miles) and have never had a vehicle come loose when towed this way, but I've seen other drivers lose cars when cross chained.

Interesting Chris, I have always cross tied them to prevent load shifting while driving. I may have to change this now. So best to tie off to the axle or frame?

When using straps try to use straps with hook that will close so they don't have any open space if they do come loose they won't just unhook.

On a long trips I have used straps to keep the body from flopping all over the place but only usually if I am going over a 500 miles

 

[ChrisPerry]

Interesting Chris, I have always cross tied them to prevent load shifting while driving. I may have to change this now. So best to tie off to the axle or frame?

We are trained to attach to axle if possible. If you hook to the frame and the suspension compresses for whatever reason things can come loose. (Also stated by Shady above)

When using straps try to use straps with hook that will close so they don't have any open space if they do come loose they won't just unhook.

Yes, safety clasps are a great thing.

On a long trips I have used straps to keep the body from flopping all over the place but only usually if I am going over a 500 miles

Once you have the first four straps in place you can add more if desired. If you are worried about any side to side movement (if straps are tight wont be more than an inch or so each way, and only if you do a panic maneuver) you can add cross straps, just don't rely on them as the main securing devises.

 

[herkdriver007]

The guys in the back of my plane X the chains....if its good enough to hold it in the back of a maneuvering 'Herk, then I'm sure it's fine for hauling on a trailer down the highway.

 

[76zimmer]

This is my Opinion:...ideally the total weight should be controlled, not just the axles...granted most street driven vehicles have limited suspension movement, and tieing down to the axles would be fine, but a lifted vehicle that has several inches of suspension travel can throw its weight around.
The suspsension should be compressed to control the weight shifting, and ideally should be blocked between frame and axle to eliminate movement of the suspension while also only compressing a few inches to allow the blocking the be done.
The suspension should not be fully compressed to achieve limited suspension movement, as that can prematurely wear out springs and shocks.
A tie down from the axle doesn't necessarily need to be crossed, but should be at an angle that would prevent the vehicle from walking sideways on the trailer. Front and back should be done this way. The securing of the rear of the vehicle is extremely important due to the possiblility of a frontal impact sending the trailered vehicle into the towing vehicle. In addition the tie down anchor points should all be rated at least as much as the total weight of the vehicle, due to the possibility of a roll over, or frontal impact. The stress on these points can greatly exceed the weight of the vehicle.
Remember just because you can fit it on a trailer, doesnt' mean its safe...that goes for the towing vehicle as well.

 

[2BLAZERS]

I do both with my K5. I strap the axles down in a X pattern with Heavy Duty Ratching straps and axle loops. Then I run a chain accross the back through the rear bumper D-rings and ratchet it down quite a ways, compressing the springs a few inches. I then run another chain accross the front D-rings and ratchet it down too compressing the springs a few inches. Basically overkill but the K5 does not move, even on the crappy roads we have around Oregon. So basically it has 6 ties downs that each of which could hold the weight of the Blazer....

 

[blazinzuk]

Remember just because you can fit it on a trailer, doesnt' mean its safe...that goes for the towing vehicle as well.

What no way if I can fit it on the trailer the Jimmy can tow it

I like the idea of overkill tie downs when you tow. I have put too much blood sweat and dollars into my truck to risk it in an accident. I have seen some accidents where the towed truck stayed on the trailer and received little damage, seen others where they came off in what seemed to be a minor accident.

Coming back from Moab one year I helped a guy recover his trailer from about 60 feet off the road, it was also about 40 feet down, his trailer started swaying and snapped the ball off, a single safety chain did not hold the trailer in place but held it long enough to swing the whole setup 180 degrees, trailer came flying off but never went off its wheels down the hill it went smashing into a tree.

The Jeepster on the trailer was perfect hadn't moved, tie downs had not come off etc. Trailer was pretty hammered but the Jeepster was fine.

This way way back in the day, and I didn't have any film left in the camera so no pics.

We got the trailer back up the hill and he called a wrecker to take the Jeepster and trailer into the nearest town.

Needless to say having his truck tied down very well basically saved one of the nicest Jeepsters I have ever seen. He said in the last 6 years he had spent will over 40k on it and that was back in the 90s

 

[pblaze725]

I X mine like shady said before. Once I had a strap fall off on a long bumpy dirt road.
The JIMMY didn't shift & I didn't notice until I got to camp.

Luckily a kind wheeler in a samurai found it and returned it to me right before I was going to leave.

So now I still X but where they cross I put a spare shackle. that way if one pops off it won't fall off the trailer.

 

[ahighfivetolife]

Here's one I posted on Pirate4x4 a while back. It seemed like it helped a few people.

I'm an USAF C-130 Loadmaster by profession and we've got a lot of sensible rules for securing vehicles in our aircraft. I use the same rules for hauling my rig and it works out great.

1. Never mix straps and chains. (Straps stretch, chains don't)
2. If an item is wrapped around and looped back over an object it's strength is doubled. (5,000lb strap around the axle becomes 10,000)
3. No more than 50% of the tiedowns should be attached to the axles/suspension. (to prevent body roll)
4. G Requirement:

3.0 Forward
1.5 Lateral
1.5 Aft

Since braking is the most force in any direction applied, you can see why this is the most important. If you angle your tiedowns it's not hard to get the required lateral out of it too. For any dorks like myself out there here's an easy way to compute your restraint by using the "75% rule", meaning you're only getting 75% of the tiedown's strength due to angles that aren't giving you a straight pull:

1. Vehicle weight x G requirement = Weight to be restrained (6,000 x 3.0 = 18,000)
2. Tiedown rating x .75 = Actual restraint gained per tiedown (10,000 x .75 = 7500)
3. Weight to be restrained / Actual restraint gained per tiedown = Number of tiedowns required (18,000 / 7500 = 2.4 tiedowns)
4. Since 2.4 isn't possible, you round up to 3. But you want to install them symmetrically so you round up to 4.

This vehicle would require (4) 10,000lb chains for forward restraint and 2 for aft restraint. The lateral requirement comes from the angles on the forward and aft chains. It may seem like overkill, but I've had idiots pull out in front of me on a downhill slope, and while slamming on the brakes I know that the vehicle isn't going to break loose. On the truck this means the Blazer not crushing my tailgate or worse, and in the aircraft it means a Humvee not crushing our troops!

Hope that helped and wasn't too much work.