John;
"Common sense and experience" This is the best answer yet. The
horizontal movement is the most critical.
Larry
Crawley,John wrote:
>Hi:
>
>I talked to a friend of mine, who was foreman of a trailer manufacturing
>business and an instructor in our college in the metals department, about
>tying down cars on trailers. He said that each case should be assessed on its
>own depending on the relative difference between the weight of the trailer and
>the weight of the vehicle on it, as well as the spring rate of each. When I
>asked how to do this he replied: "Common sense and experience" - BIG HELP! He
>did say that most failures of carried loads come about from the unexpected. In
>his experience the biggest danger is from cars came off of trailers forwards.
>People always tend to think of a car falling backwards off a trailer but the
>most force applied to the tie-downs is foreword under braking or in the event
>of a collision. He said sideways is second as people seldom tie a car down to
>account for sliding into a curb or a ditch. His warning, though, is that by
>far most loads are lost by failure of the trailer to remain attac!
>hed to the tow vehicle from people simply not doing up the hitch.
>
>Godspeed
>Jc
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