Need to get the sled trailer quad friendly with tie down anchors.
I have a plan but was wondering how everyone ties their quad down. Do you tie off from the frame with no resistance from the suspension or tie off so it squats the suspension ?
On our sleds they are held down with a T bar on the skis and 2 straps holding the rear down ..compressing the suspension.
My plan is to put some eyebolts in the deck(with plates underneath) under the quad for the straps to anchor to, hook one end to the one side , run the strap through the frame and down to the other anchor , one strap for front one for the back .... wil this be enough to hold them down ?

Also will be putting wheel stoppers in the front .

 

I tie mine down by the tires hook one end of a ratchet strap to the trailer and go up over the A arm and connect the other end to the trailer I am not compressing the quad any at all I use 4 straps 1 for each tire but I am also only hauling 1 quad on a 5X8 trailer

 

on our quads we put them in gear, put on the brake, tie down the front by the bumper, and tie down the grab bar in the rear. Just about everything else we've tried has seem to've came a little loose..

 

I use two tie-downs on the front and two more on the back, compressing the suspension. I haven't had any problems at all since I switched to ratchet tie-downs. I've had the cam style straps come unhooked before.

 

I also use the ratchet style tie downs and compress the suspension as much as the ratchet will bear. The straps are tight enough that you could play them like a guitar string. I tie down 1 in the front and 1 in the rear. I put eye bolts through the metal sides that stick up a couple inches and used nyloc nuts to keep them from loosening up. Has worked for over a decade.

 

I like to use 4 ratchet straps hooked to the wire harness. 4 straps hooked to the frame. TRK you might not want to leave your machine in gear. Just think about it rocking back and forth in gear. Its got to be hard on the tranny. Even if leaving it in gear and having issues is a "urban legend". I'll take the cost of 4 straps over a tranny repair any day.
My old trailer had a wood deck so I would be able to screw down chalk blocks to the deck.

 

Still going to think about the anchor placement for a bit . Going straight down with the strap has more chance of moving vs having them on a angle , 4 corners out. Tying off at the frame might be more solid if you don't get enough compression in the body pull method. I seen some come loose due to the suspension compressed during bumps and moved around ...sleds have done it .

I plan on leaving the anchors in place when using the trailer for sleds too..(not in it's foot print). I had to remove my ski guides to get the quads to sit nicely on the deck . Rigged it up so it can be converted back in a 1/2 hr for the seasons.

Today I set everything up for here at home.. and to be able to fit it all in the garage( complex rules ), also with room to work on things .
Anchored the tongue down to the floor , blocked everything up, rigged the ramp up to size and .."wella" . Just back them off and go or their ready to go on a trip

few pics..oops sorry so big



our new toys


Finished project..it all fits !

 

i used the same tie downs...fold over style...seem to be strong enough. Aso I compress my suspension...that way they stay tight..Never had my cam style straps lososne up (yet) but am watchful for such a thing. I hafta turn mine sideways on my trailer to get 4 of them on it though. not in gear. no brakes applied either. Not a big fan of hai=ving them compressed but i guess it handles it. We strap our MC's down with blocks under them to avoid compressing the suspension.

 

I always use ratchet straps. Generally I try to hook 2 low and to the frame somewhere towards the mid/ rear, and then tie off in front of the machine. Repeat with 2 more straps hooked behind the machine and attached somewhere to the front/mid of the machines frame. This works even better when you are using a truck bed, trailer rail, or some other surface strong enough to butt the machine up against.

 

We trailer ed out the other day with my new set up. Looks like it will do pretty well too. I have 2 straps in the A-arms to anchors a 1ft out front and it up against wheel stops. Then 1 strap in the back compressing the rear down w/ the E-break on .
Ramp straps nicely across the back