Ratcheting tie downs BROKE in transit!

LBrown59 · Mar 26, 2005

( Guys, great site. I Want to throw that in forst as this is my first post here.

I had close to the same thing happen to me. I am a volunteer firefighter in my hometown and was cutting grass last summer. I was doing my small lawns and just threw the 52" Scag in the back of my 2002 silverado.

You guessed it, we got a "real" call . I took off to the call and BOTH tiedowns snapped and out went the scag. Broke a wheel motor and cracked the deck. They both broke in the middle. I guess what happens is one breaks and the other can't hold the load by itself and breaks. )

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At least you didn't have a loaded trailer latched onto the rear end of the silverado tossing the truck all over the road.

A truck just has to be safer than a trailer.

Darren · Mar 26, 2005

You'd be surprised how many light truck towing a trailer accidents I've seen on the local interstate. I'm not sure why, but I79 through central WV seems to nail a lot of out-of-state drivers towing trailers. Once something happens to start the trailer swaying back and forth, most drivers will be off the road or upset before they know what happened.

By the time the whole rig gets stopped, the owner usually is looking at severe damage to both the truck and the trailer. I've seen trucks still upright with the trailers still coupled but on their side and both truck and trailer tangled up in the median. It ain't pretty.

I once saw a small Uhaul trailer take a Jeep off the road. It passed me on a snowy road. When the Jeep swerved back into the lane, the trailer looked like it went demonic. It literally pulled the Jeep off the road. The woman driving it was shaking like a paint mixer after she got out.

When you're pulling a trailer you have to be conscious of the fact that any time you swerve, you run the risk of the trailer jacknifing and trying to race you down the road if you can't get it under control.

Shortly after that I added an anti-sway device to my flatbed.

LBrown59 · Mar 26, 2005

Did you have an anti-sway device ?-?-??

Dargo · Mar 26, 2005

LBrown59, I have tried as hard as possible, and I'm yet to see any logic in your statement that my cell phone caused my two straps to break while going down the highway. Perhaps you can enlighten us on the correlation.

To my understanding, a wireless phone works exactly like those two-way radios from long ago, transmitting conversations via low-power radio signals. The technology is very much like that of a radio station. The voice data can be sent in either digital or analog format. Like all electronic devices, cellular phones in use give off low levels of radio frequency (RF) energy. Unlike scary X-rays or gamma rays, RF energy is non-ionizing radiation. This means that the frequency of the radiowaves is far too low to break chemical bonds, which means that RF radiation does not have enough energy to damage genetic material and thus potentially lead to cancer, birth defects, or broken trailer straps.

One way to put a number on the emission levels from particular handsets is SAR, or "specific absorbed radiation." This measure refers to the maximum quantity of radiation in watts absorbed by a kilogram of biological tissue under laboratory conditions. For example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has long required all wireless phones in the U.S. to meet a conservative radiation safety standard of 1.6 SAR (which most do by a landslide). In terms of wattage, wireless phones maximally emit power in the range of 0.2 to 0.6 watts. Compare this to that of walkie-talkies, which emit radiation in excess of 10 watts, or to AM radio stations, which emit radiation at levels of 50,000 watts or more! Still, I have found no evidence that even a full 50,000 watts from a radio station will break tie down straps.

According to the FCC, handset testing is typically done under "worst-case" scenarios, under maximum power usage. A regular local call on a cellular phone generates only about 1/10th of that maximum radiation; radiation increases when the handset has extra work to do, as when the caller is especially far from the mobile tower or when the call being made is long distance. In fact, according to the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), a local wireless call racks up about 10mW, whereas long distances can generate up to 125mW. This means that emission levels from average daily usage fall well below the conservative guidelines set by the FCC. So, if this will not harm a human, logic says that it is impossible to cause the sudden and unexpected catastrophic failure of nylon tie down straps on a trailer that is approximately 20 feet from the handset.

It is quite possible that your understanding of GSM cell phone technology far surpasses my knowledge. Given that possibility, I won't dismiss your comment as simply a statement posted to elicit a misguided thought that it is a case of my gross negligence to not see the previously much discussed straps in the process of complete and catastrophic failure while driving four miles per hour over the posted speed limit while in transit to use my tractor at a remote location. Since a logical and reasonable person would not come to either conclusion, I do not see how it is possible for a cell phone to be a contributing factor in this incident.

slowzuki · Mar 26, 2005

I got a hold of some heavy duty rachet straps and checked the numbers on them, the 2" nylon ones said WLL of 1600 lbs.

The extra heavy duty transport ones didn't have a tag left on them but the owner thought they were almost 3000 lb WLL.

Neither near strong enough to hold a tractor on.

Darren · Mar 26, 2005

The 3" and 4" straps used for OTR transport are rated for 5,000 lb working and 15,000 break.

http://www.furnishequipment.com/Flatbed_ratchet_menu.htm

LBrown59 · Mar 26, 2005

*****Cells phones contribute to driver inattention.
In some states it's illegal to talk on a phone while driving.
My opinion is talking on them while driving should be prohibited in every state.

Do I hate cell phones absolutely not.
I have one and use it a lot would not part with it for anything;however my cardinal rule is no using it while driving.

DUMBDOG · Mar 26, 2005

Cell phones do not draw attention away from the road or the load being towed no more than talking to a passenger, drinking a cup of coffee, reading a book or paper or doing your nails all of which are being done every day by drivers with no laws against them. Some of us can multi task.

LBrown59 · Mar 26, 2005

Some of us can multi task.
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The problem with this is when I see someone driving and talking on a phone I can't tell if it is the one who can or the one who can't.

Cliff_Johns · Mar 26, 2005

( Cell phones do not draw attention away from the road or the load being towed . . . )

Not to drift too far afield, but the latest studies don't seem to cooroberate this, though there is disagreement on the question.

From a British study just completed

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Direct Line reported that the results showed drivers' reaction times were, on average, 30 percent slower when talking on a handheld mobile phone than when legally drunk -- and nearly 50 percent slower than under normal driving conditions.

Also, the tests showed, drivers talking on phones were less able than drunk drivers to maintain a constant speed, and they had greater difficulty keeping a safe distance from the car in front.
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More info on this study here . Note that the issue is with hand-held phones. It seems to be better with hands-off phones. Probably because it's more like a conversation with a passenger.

Dargo's experience, however, was clearly caused by his straps, not by his phone. Which is the point of this thread afterall. We should start a new thread if more needs to be said about this, pretty much unrelated, topic.

Cliff