Truck Tie Downs: What Truck Drivers Love To Use?
When it comes to truck accessory, you have to keep in your mind that there are totally different things, there are different kind of trucks, such as box truck, pickup truck, flatbeds, etc., they use similar or different tie downs, even for same kind of trucks, people probably will use totally different tie downs, say e track straps or plain ratchet straps for box trucks, so try to talk about generic tie downs is not a good idea, more specifically, we are going to talk about flat bed truck this time, because we can see those tie downs on the highway.
There are all kinds of loads on the flat bed truck, sometimes they just have to , the requirement for tie downs become pretty complex . We are going to talk about truck tie down straps exclusively, since the are popular tie down devices on flatbeds, and it should be the most popular tie downs on all trucks as well. .
New flatbeds usually will have truck winches installed, this is a big plus for hauling stuff can be secured by winch strap with delta ring . There is one thing required for truck winch and winch strap tie down combination, winch bar, which is the tool to help you tie down the cargo on the flatbed, since you can only tighten the winch straps through turning winch barrel, this only can be done by making use of winch bars.
Some flat beds come with winches installed, not all trailers have winches installed. Winch straps with winches on the flatbed can be used to secure pallets, machinery, steel coils, concrete pipes etc., with 5400lbs working load limit and the protection of plastic corner protectors these winch straps can tie down almost anything threw at them. Winch straps usually come with flat hooks, because we usually hook the straps on the edge of the trailer, of course the double J hook can be used too. For most flatbeds there are 2” and 4” truck winches , while there are 2”, 3” and 4” winch straps available, if you were to use 3” winch strap you only can put it into 4” winch for sure, when we look at the length of the winch strap, the range is pretty wide for regular use, from around 20 feet to more than 60 feet, 27′ and 30′ being the most common length available.
And we just can’t leave out the most used tie down equipment for transportation businesses, ratchet straps . Actually the ratchet straps are just the assembly of ratchet buckles and tie down webbing, which can be nylon or polyester, the combination of different ratchet buckles and different straps gives us many choices.
The ratchet strap earned it’s popularity by being the most flexible, adaptable and capable tie down equipment , from sedans to eighteen wheelers , you can see ratchet straps anywhere cargo needs to be secured. The ratchet straps may have flat hooks, double J hooks, chain anchors, cloth loops or just plain straps at both ends, probably some special made ratchets have some other funny ends, say, D ring? The smallest width for ratchets is 1”, 4” is the widest, while the length of ratchets may be anything from inches to more than 60 feet. When you have winches installed on your truck you probably still need to keep some ratchet straps handy, just think about this scenario, while you’re on the way to deliver your load one of the winches comes off, and it’s midnight and it’s impossible to find a new or used winch, you will have to use ratchet strap to fix the problem.
Now let’s see where can we get these wonderful truck tie downs , online or brick and mortar stores? Depends on your needs , sometimes purchase them in local store is a good idea , sometimes online options are much more attractive. To help you make decision you need accurate and non altered information on the vendors, you can check out online forums, blogs and opinion sites to figure all of these out before you go all in.