Secure your Straps

[Kimber]

I got in a habit of tying down anything in the bed of my truck no matter what size. This time it was a 5gal water cooler and a 2 wheel dolly for my son's ball team.....secured to the front by a tie-down stap between the front cleats.
Long story short, on the interstate, the loose "tail" of the strap got between the bed and the cab.......where the driveshaft was waiting.

Secure your loads, but also secure your loose straps....$1100 estimate

 

[triplethreat]

That sucks sorry to hear about that Never really thought about that happening before now.


Dan

 

[rubberfish]

That's a strange one eh. Who would have known?

On a positive note though, we learned those small
ratchet straps are pretty strong

They say "scratches" give a truck character,
and in your case, a cool story to tell

I'm glad it wasn't any worse.

 

[Brickman]

That's a strange one eh. Who would have known?

On a positive note though, we learned those small
ratchet straps are pretty strong

They say "scatches" give a truck character,
and in your case, a cool story to tell

I'm glad it wasn't any worse.

My thoughts exactly. I didn't know a small strap like that would be stronger than the bed rail.

I've busted 2 inch straps by running over the loose end with a tire. It isn't exactly a easy process. Kinda involves the truck and trailer in a violent manner.

 

[PackRat]

Good advice, anyhow.

I always tie the loose end, jsut because I don't need it all frayed, from flapping, next time I accidently unthread it from the ratchet.

Why is it that ratchet straps are always 10 feet too long, or 2 inches too short?

 

[TPCDrafting]

The front of my bed looks almost the same, 'cept it's bent toward the cab. - Don't let friends help load up the bed, hook up the G-neck, then let them back up the rig around the corner.

 

[Pacific]

I'am not surprised it happened I have had a tail of a strap get under the rear tire when driving down the highway. Your lucky the buckle end didn't get sucked down and start flailing around under the truck ready to take out the side of fuel tank.

 

[Kimber]

Yeah, if it had broke on the other side of the buckle, I'd have to replace the back glass too.
I just dropped it off at the body shop this morning...lonesome for 5 days.

 

[BigStroker]

Yeah, if it had broke on the other side of the buckle, I'd have to replace the back glass too.
I just dropped it off at the body shop this morning...lonesome for 5 days.

Yikes.....you figure the strap woulda broke.

Good thing the loop didn't pull outta the bed.....it mighta ripped the side off.....


the front of my bed looks kinda like that from the previous owner loading his 4-wheeler

 

[mocetane]

Have them check the driveshaft. Hope it ain't bent. Don't take much.

 

[Pacific]

It doesn't take much to put a dent in a drive shaft you should have it checked.

Those load straps are fairly strong yes even the cheapies you buy at the big box stores. Its the ratchet/buckle part usually what bends or breaks the web strap itself is tough.

It must have been a fluke that the spinning driveshaft was enough to catch it and start one wrap then if it crossed and pulled tight it would pull just like a capistan winch (won't use the slang term may offend some people).

I like having a headache racks on P/Us where there is a piece of angle iron that goes accross the front of the box and strengthens up the front of the box.

 

[The Warden]

Something like that happened on my old Scout boat...so I now get to subject you all to story time!

"Shaft Alley" (the part of the bilge area where the propeller shaft runs before it exits the boat) was under the galley, and there was a piece of plywood above the shaft, to allow people to go down there safely while the boat was underway. The galley guys were in the habit of storing ice chests on top of this board.

Well, one fine October evening, we were cruising along in the bay, and I was standing watch in the engine room. All of a sudden, the EOT (5 Brownie Points for anyone who knows what that means) rings "Engine Stop". I brought the engine to idle, pulled the gearbox into neutral, and sat waiting for further orders. After about 5 minutes, someone called me up out of the pit, and I got to find out what happened.

One of the galley guys had put two ice coolers into shaft alley, and used some line to tie them off. Problem is, he left the slack hanging...and the line got caught on the propeller shaft and got wrapped around countless times. When the shaft finally wrapped all of the slack line around itself, it pulled the line taut enough that the line cut halfway through the board (about 1 1/2 feet) and demolished the two ice coolers...and, fortunately, at that point the line broke before any more damage could be done.

Being the only engineer on the boat for that cruise, I got the unpleasant task of pulling the line off of the shaft, which IIRC was so tightly wound up that it took nearly an hour to do so.

Really, we were just lucky that no one got hurt or that no mechanical damage was done...and a valuable lesson was learned that evening.

 

[jvencius]

All of a sudden, the EOT (5 Brownie Points for anyone who knows what that means) rings "Engine Stop"...

I've heard it as "Engine Order Telegraph" or "Engine Operation Telegraph"

 

[J.Keith]

Dang that sux!
I wonder how the strap end was able to grip the driveshaft?
Maybe a balance washer or whatever thosse things are called

 

[Brickman]

I saw a p/u today that had a lot of body work done to the front and sides of the bed. I had to think of this thread when I saw it. Sure looked like some thing beat the F out of the p/u bed.