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Looking for suggestions for strapping down a 2007 Miata to my friends trailer.  He uses this trailer for a corvette, but the Miata does not have any good tie down points under the car so we were thinking of using the wheel net type straps, but not sure how to tie them down since the car's wheels are not next to the tie down hooks.  Can we tie them down at an angle or should we get some new hooks welded onto the trailer?

Here's the car on the trailer.

Here's the picture of the rear wheel.  There's the standard hook on the ramp behind the wheel and there's a large U shaped ring in front of the trailer's tail light. 

Can a wheel strap be hooked onto this U shaped loop on the side of the trailer?  Not sure how to do this from the available straps online.

 Here's a shot of the front wheel.

Here's another shot of the front wheel.  There's also one of those U shaped loops behind the front wheel.

 

Here's a website I'm looking at with wheel type straps. 

http://www.uscargocontrol.com/wheelnetscartiedowns-c-47.html?gclid=CNzOtJuf0J8CFR8hnAodzFaVZA

Any suggestions on which one to get and how to attach them?  If anyone has pictures of their setup or suggestions on how we can tie this car down we'd appreciate it.

 

I would use axl straps to the lower control arms or some cross member under the car.. I don't like using tow hooks, that way compresses the suspension, better for the suspension to work even if its on a trailer.

 Kerry

 These work well, get the longer ones, you can always cut them.

http://www.uscargocontrol.com/2x8shortwideratchetstrapwaxlestrap10000lbs-p-966.html?zenid=01e968f87bfb61cc6b29ba23046c3d3f

 

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Kerry Coughlin
1988 Honda CRX SI
191 STS
Cenla Region SCCA

I'm always afraid that going the control arms could bend them or something.  I found a picture of a four-point wheel tie down method that looks like it might work for our application.

 

I've seen those "net" type tire straps come out from behind a tire that's a bit too small.

One thing I've seen that I've never heard of coming loose is to loop a strap through each wheel, then ratchet-down the crap outta it. Some guys also go so far as to attach an additional strap to something on the chassis or a solid suspension-piece at each end of the car, "just in case". It goes without saying, that any edge inside the wheel that the strap passes-across, even if you don't think of them as "sharp", can possibly cut through the strap.

You never know when something's gonna happen, and the more secure the car is, the less-likely the outcome will be bad:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31003553&id=1178283885&l=9849072ab4

Car, trailer, and truck came out of this OK, so Mark sez. You won't hear any argument from him about strap-overkill, I bet.

 

 

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-Scott Creech
F-Stock Bullitt Mustang; OMRSCCA

Parfois, on fait pas semblant

Dat73:

I'm always afraid that going the control arms could bend them or something.  I found a picture of a four-point wheel tie down method that looks like it might work for our application.

 

Those are the ones I'm talking about, that I've seen "let go" of the wheel - BUT, I've never seen new ones do that, and never seen the car come off the trailer after it slipped.

 

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-Scott Creech
F-Stock Bullitt Mustang; OMRSCCA

Parfois, on fait pas semblant

If you have to stop hard enough to bend a control arm then the tie down hooks would have failed way easier. 

When I tied down my buddies NB Miata I went around the front control arm with axle strap loops and then tended them cross wise to eyes I have welded on the front.  and then at the back I used the subframe piece to cross back to other eyes I have welded in the trailer frame.  

BTW I have the exact same trailer as pictured in the Miata on it. (it's a beast of the heavy trailer)  I like it.

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Want to go faster, please send money.

I few days ago, I was watching an Auto Transport load cars onto his trailer.   He was using Wheel Straps to tie down the cars to the trailer.     There is a video on the link below showing how they are used on the Auto Transporter.  

http://www.autohaulersupply.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=263

This is very similar to the Over the Wheel Tie Down Bonnets that I used in my trailer.

 

 

 

Wow that's a nice setup!  Thanks for sharing.

those things don't strike me as being very secure and I hate to rely on/torque against the suspension for tiedown points

I'll try to post some pics of my RX-8 mounting the next time it's in the trailer (just took it off last night), should be about the same for a Miata, but in summary:

front ratchet straps crossed with 24" axle straps dropped through the lower A-arm center hole and then pushed back to wrap around the front subframe mounting point of the A-arm

rear ratchet & axle straps but not crossed with the axle straps up through the center hoop hole of the rear subframe

 

it's an extremely secure way to tiedown these vehicles down

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"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car.
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you." --Anonymous

Back in 2004 or 2005 I had to tow my Talon back from Peru/Toledo/Oscoda/somewhere.  I used a Penske van and trailer which came with those "tyre net" type tie downs.  I checked them every single gas stop on the way back and yet the car still made a successful break for freedom.  I might be a little biased, but I'd never go near those things again.  I use 3000lb straps hooked into crossmembers now, which has worked fine so far.

 

Charles

ACM:

Back in 2004 or 2005 I had to tow my Talon back from Peru/Toledo/Oscoda/somewhere.  I used a Penske van and trailer which came with those "tyre net" type tie downs.  I checked them every single gas stop on the way back and yet the car still made a successful break for freedom.  I might be a little biased, but I'd never go near those things again.  I use 3000lb straps hooked into crossmembers now, which has worked fine so far.

 

Charles

Charles, yours was one of the "Incidents" that came to mind when reading this discussion, and mentioning the web-type.

Overkill is nearly enough, when tying cars to trailers, and gear to bikes.

 

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-Scott Creech
F-Stock Bullitt Mustang; OMRSCCA

Parfois, on fait pas semblant