Posted by MoparNorm on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 at 10:26AM :
In Reply to: towing questions # 453,006, 7, 8, 9, : posted by arthur p bloom on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 at 0:09AM :
At the risk of getting my suryp spiked,...
Let me disagree with my good friend Paul about the use of chains. I cannot stand the thought of chains on his beautiful trucks, I cannot tolerate any metal to metal contact on any piece of art.
Chains and binders have been known to loosen because there is not any "give" in the chain when first tightening.
I use 4, 3" wide, 140,000lb rated, ratchet straps, one at each corner, no choc blocks. The 4 straps are attached slightly at an angle at each corner of the vehicle, attached to the axle, carefully clear of the steering, brake lines etc.
The beauty of straps is that you can put enormous tension on the load, it will not move a fraction. I have hauled many thousands of miles and never had a problem.
For APB, the air down thing came from binding with chains, but that is only half of the equasion. With chains there in inherently no give, therefore it is very hard to get tension on the load without crunching the load, that works good for logs and Catapillar tractors, but is a poor way to bind a POWER WAGON. So if you must use chains(AARRRGGGHH!) First you slightly air down all four tires, then you attach your chains and get your binders as tight as possible, you then wire the binders closed. THEN you air your tires back up, the load is VERY secure this way (unless you get a flat), but the thought of the chains against that new paint turns my stomach!
MN
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