It’s totally okay to skip trailer tie-downs if the load is heavy, right?

We spotted this while returning from our Beetle Day lunch the other day.

Am I missing the tie-downs on this load? 

I've done it.  More times than I care to admit.

I'd feel safer with that load untied than with an 5000 lb trailer behind a Hyundai, but I guess we all have our limits.

Its fine, you just need to stab the brakes occasionally to make sure they are up front. 
 

but seriously.. if you are at harbor freight buying a few hundred $ worth of toolbox, also go grab a few tie downs or some cheap rope. 

A few years back I watched an ATV come off a trailer and hit the tailgate of the truck that was towing it, then the roof, then the hood, then the car the truck had collided with...

Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:

A few years back I watched an ATV come off a trailer and hit the tailgate of the truck that was towing it, then the roof, then the hood, then the car the truck had collided with...

Physics. It’ll get you every time. 

I spread like 18 sheets of OSB (and however many bundles of shingles it takes to cover those sheets) across an intersection like you'd spread out a deck of cards. 6 ft bed, tailgate down, loaded OSB first (in a misting rain, so each layer got some lube), then stacked all the shingles on top. Said "no way that's moving with all that weight". 5 miles down the road was first stoplight. Turned green and when I eased forward, it all started sliding down and out! 

Went across the whole damned intersection. I was very popular for like 15 minutes while I cleaned up my mistake as people tried driving around it/me.

In reply to Spearfishin :

Thanks for telling us the story - I'm sure there was a big "oh E36 M3" moment when they started sliding......this cracks me up.

I spilled my buddy's 13' Boston Whaler off the trailer taking a corner too fast.  When I was 16  :(  bad day

I once saw an untethered big block Chevy engine slide off the back and land in the middle of the highway.  To this day I wonder if they were able to somehow get it loaded up again, or if they just drove away and left it there.

I once saw a rental trencher roll off a trailer. I bet they didn't get the deposit back. 

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to Spearfishin :

Thanks for telling us the story - I'm sure there was a big "oh E36 M3" moment when they started sliding......this cracks me up.

Was like slow motion. But by the time I realized what was going on, was too late. Lessons were learned. 

For years and tens of thousands of miles, we'd just toss the angle-iron ramps onto the deck of the trailer and drive off with them sitting there.  Never had a problem. 

One day, on his way to Florida to pick up a car, one of my friends got to Lexington and noticed that somehow he had bounced a ramp off the back.

I built a replacement ramp and proceeded as before.  Not long after that I arrived at a Rallycross with the car on the trailer behind the motorhome and had to borrow a ramp from someone because I managed to bounce the replacement ramp off the trailer.

I guess we just got really lucky for a really long time.  So I always hook a steel cable through the ramps now so that they don't go anywhere.

I was behind a guy with a big log about 10 feet long, in a trailer, not tied down of course.  The log was bouncing around on the trailer.  This was on I-10 in New Orleans East going 70mph.

I saw the disaster coming so quickly passed him, and right then the log bounced off onto the road.  I watched in my rear view mirror all the following cars darting around to miss that thing. 

,

I pulled out of Menards with half a bunk of OSB on a trailer. Strapped it down with a couple of thin ratchet straps. Popped them at about 15mph pulling out on the highway. Puked half of the pile out the back like a B-52 carpet bombing the NVA.

Never again.

Now its overkill. Always.

Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) said:

A few years back I watched an ATV come off a trailer and hit the tailgate of the truck that was towing it, then the roof, then the hood, then the car the truck had collided with...

That's pretty impressive for one drive to hit one other car with two separate vehicles at once. Less skilled people have to do that the other way around.

Twice towing the Miata home from an autox I had the front straps come loose off the trailer(I really need to weld on some D-rings, if I could ever find the ones I bought for it 3-years ago). Luckily it was in gear with the parking brake on, so it didn't move. 

I was driving a rental in Florida at 11:00 at night, with Mrs. Stealth and our then 3-yr-old son, when we saw a brief shower of sparks from the vehicle maybe half a mile up ahead. We wondered what had happened. Thirty seconds later we found out, when we hit his jettisoned ramp. In addition to being placed exactly right to take out our wheel, it was also usefully painted a low-vis dark blue.

Two thumbs up for "overkill always." A strip of reflective tape wouldn't hurt, either.

Most of the pallets we receive at work are just in the back of a box truck or van trailer. Never strapped down, rarely braced in any way. 
I've seen the aftermath of pallets coning through the sides of trailers plenty of times but it seems to be the standard because the load is "contained" in the box.

A few years ago my wife watched as a Jetta rolled off the back of a rollback taking off from a light

Appleseed said:

I pulled out of Menards with half a bunk of OSB on a trailer. Strapped it down with a couple of thin ratchet straps. Popped them at about 15mph pulling out on the highway. Puked half of the pile out the back like a B-52 carpet bombing the NVA.

Never again.

Now its overkill. Always.

A few minutes ago I glanced at the TV.  Some news program was showing a safety council testing a modern 4 door 1500 pickup with a load of concrete blocks in the bed hitting a barrier.  The dashboard seemed to slow the blocks down...

All my tie-down strap hooks have locking clips, so if the strap loosens it doesn't come off what it is hooked to.  YMMV

I lost a load of recyclable bottles once. I had an open trailer with 2' sides and had to go a few miles to the redemption center. Well I got up over about 40 and bags started flapping and bottles and bags started flying. It seemed like it took forever to pick them up. I am pretty careful to tie things down well now, even if it's a bag of empty cans. 

Yes, all the time.  It takes 2 minutes off you life vs whatever you're saving.

I hauled the BatVan from NY to Fla, the rear straps were straight back, not crossed.  Check your load at 1-10- & 100 miles?  Stopped for gas south of the Pocanos, the right rear  tire was halfway off the trailer!

Coulda lost the whole thing including truck and trailer.  Not worth it ....