Adding tiedown hooks to my trailer

[deepNdirt]

I would not use rebar. It is not designed for these type loads and not all rebar can be welded without reducing its strength in the heat affected zone (area near the weld subject to high temp).

Buy quality D-rings that are made to be welded on, and size them for the heaviest load you can but on the trailer, not the load you plan to carry today. Why limit your capacity in the future by saving a couple dollars now.

At a place I worked a while back we had some concrete barriers that had been poured with pieces of bent rebar protruding from the top so they could be lifted with a crane. During one rigging operation one of the loops broke. It snapped of like a twig. It had been loaded at an angle using a pair of slings instead of using a spreader and slings dropping straight down. That angular load was enough on the #6 bar (3/4" dia) to break it.

If you used rebar to make rigging attachment points on your trailer it would amount to the same setup...an angular load that could result in a break during transit, especially if the rigging was shock loaded as when making a quick stop or hitting a good size bump or pothole in the road.



But will they torque those bolts to the recommended value or will they over-tighten them..or just as bad... not tight enough. Will they use hardened washers or none at all. And where or what will they attach them to, that 3/16" thick web of the 4" channel or some flimsy angle iron that the bolts (w/o washers) could rip right through?

I agree that you need a decent welder (person) to install the rings. A trip to a weld shop might be cheap insurance.

Well scrub the rebar idea see I knew someone would Know the do'es & don'ts perhaps the company who manufactured the concrete barriers should have used D-rings

 

[Case485Guy]

On one of my trailers I welded D rings in the area where the fenders are, then welded stake pockets and flatbar from the front of the fenders to front of trailer, same from rear of fenders to back of trailer...basically a tie down rail like you see on G/N and big truck flatbeds. if you go that route be sure to use 3/8"x3" flatbar, will not flex easy when using 2" ratchet straps and tightening down hard.
On my other trailer I came with the system I really like, I use 1/2" wire rope approx 22' long for my 20' trailer. I pressed a button every 12" on the cable, then I started at the front of the trailer on inside of frame, welded button.Then I used a piece of pipe laid under the cable and welded second button..giving enough slack in the cable to hook my tie down strap or chain to. I have a tie-down point every foot, the tie down point is flexible/durable enough to set a load ion if you have too, but rarely does that happen as the cable sticks out only a few inches from each side. For vehicle or heavy equipment I use the stake pockets I welded to the outside of the frame, but for ATV's and small stuff the cable works great. Have had that setup for several years now.
Here is a pic

 

[MikeA57]

Thanks guys! Lotta good ideas. Yeah, my son is a welder so I can get that done cheaply. And, I'd forgotten but I've seen the US Cargo Control website before and told myself I'd remember it but I didn't. I probably will go with the welded ones but that cable idea is very slick too!

 

[Qapla]

On our 21' trailer we have stake pockets. Sometime I use them. The side of the trailer is of C-channel type stock and I can hook to the underside of this. I use this method to tie on heavy loads that I tie down with ratchet straps.

However, for the tractor, we also have welded D-rings. Since we use chain and binders to tie down the tractor, we prefer the D-rings. Just make sure they are welded correctly.

 

[JB4310]

Thanks guys! Lotta good ideas. Yeah, my son is a welder so I can get that done cheaply. And, I'd forgotten but I've seen the US Cargo Control website before and told myself I'd remember it but I didn't. I probably will go with the welded ones but that cable idea is very slick too!

I actually never heard of US Cargo Control, just found that site looking for an example to show. you can get those weld on in many places as has been mentioned, aw direct, tractor supply, even Home depot I think. If you have a welder in the family then for sure that would be the way to go.

On our 21' trailer we have stake pockets. Sometime I use them. The side of the trailer is of C-channel type stock and I can hook to the underside of this. I use this method to tie on heavy loads that I tie down with ratchet straps.

However, for the tractor, we also have welded D-rings. Since we use chain and binders to tie down the tractor, we prefer the D-rings. Just make sure they are welded correctly.

That is very important for a couple of reasons, first of all there is very little contact area for the amount of weight these things are rated for, secondly the bottom weld is totally out of position. Not a job for a guy who just knows how to weld IMO. Being such a critical application, it should really be done by a professional welder. I've been welding for 30 years as an amateur, I don't think I'd trust myself on that bottom weld, the top no problem.

Now look at the stake pocket, there's probably 2 times the contact area, your not gonna rip one of them out. the only problem is how do you rate a stake pocket? everyone uses them, but who knows what they are rated for???

JB

 

[grnspot110]

My 16' trailer has one weld-on D ring in front center & one on each back corner. Plus, I added a row of smaller bolt-on's down the center with a 5/4 decking board (for clearance) to tie down garden tractors. The outside has stake pockets with a 1/4" x 2" "rub-rail" so I can tie anywhere along the side in front of the fenders. The tread plate fenders also have a small d-ring in the center. ~~ grnspot

 

[JIGBUILDER]

My 10k 18' trailer has four 11k lb D rings on each side of the floor. I used 1/2" grade 8 bolts/nuts down through the main frame rail and a cross member.

With the 7500 lb tractor I chain to factory welded lugs on the side of the trailer. Love those D rings for hauling odd size stuff as there is always one near by.

 

[bigdad]

I have seen equipment chained down to decks through stake pockets. The chains can be drawn up so tight they pull/distort the side channels. I am concerned about that so never used them. Weld on/bolt on D's all the way.

 

[KennyG]

Just a quick thought on the difficulty of welding on the D-rings. I don't think this requires a extremely experienced welder. As long as you don't try to just tack weld them on, the cross section of the bracket weld is going to be many times the cross section of the ring itself. As far as welding the bottom side, it is harder than the top, but this is where the wire welder is an advantage over a stick welder. My son, who is in high school, welded ours and did a pretty nice job.

 

[JB4310]

Just a quick thought on the difficulty of welding on the D-rings. I don't think this requires a extremely experienced welder. As long as you don't try to just tack weld them on, the cross section of the bracket weld is going to be many times the cross section of the ring itself. As far as welding the bottom side, it is harder than the top, but this is where the wire welder is an advantage over a stick welder. My son, who is in high school, welded ours and did a pretty nice job.

That's a legitimate way to try to figure the overall WLL.

If true, then in a destructive test, the D-ring would fail before the welded bracket pulled out you're saying.

But the quality of the weld is more important than the size/area of the weld.

Though they have been used for ever so they must be pretty reliable and not often fail.

JB