never never never use them cheap red straps!!! & don't go by the load rating
on them, they are made by unreputable companies, only use high quality straps
with a high load rating & always use at least two of them & lock your brakes
just before u leave (not over night were they can loose pressure) & check
them straps when ever u make a stop (food, gas, breaks, etc.)

 

I got straps out of rockymountainatv.com and they are very high quality.......I would think anything from them would be

 

I think of it this way: Am I going to use a 1.99 strap to hold down a nearly 10,000 dollar ATV? Not only that but if it gets loose on the highway it could cause an accident and wreck another vehicle. Look at what new vehicles cost these days. A new truck easily goes for 30-45,000 or even more. Higher end cars can easily go over 50,000 dollars. Suppose you total three of four newer vehicles at 30 or 40 grand a piece? Don't even figure their medical and any lawsuits you will get filed against you. Oh you have insurance? That insurance only covers so much. Suppose you also wrecked a semi full of plasma TVs headed for best buy or a car carrier full of escalades. You're going to blow through your coverage limits in nothing flat Charlie.

I buy the best straps I can find to avoid such an eventuality. Also so if something did go wrong I could prove I didn't cheap out on equipment and did everything I could to transport my machine safely. Something I couldn't do if I had bought 1.99 straps from harbor freight.

 

Here's one other tip to ponder. If you notice that someone is following too close and won't get off your rear,look out !!! You might have something loose and ready to fall off. I know this from hauling junk cars. Don't be afraid to over strap your equipment or just pull over and check things out. Believe me, there is those type of people out there and they WILL wreck your day !!!!!

 

Yep....never fails here in PA

You have a loose load and some jackass is on your bumper

 

I use two over the wheel "yellow" straps. They have a hook on one end and a ratchet on the other end. These are the same straps that car haulers use to strap cars to a flat bet trailer. I started this after the time I got to the trail and found both tie down straps had fallen off and the parking break was the only thing holding the ATV on the trailer. My problem was finding a place on the ATV to hook a strap. It seems that as the ATV would bob up and down the straps would come loose. The over the wheel straps will not fail. Now the ATV can bob all it wants but the wheels will never move.

 

That sounds like it would work too.


We just have a closed trailer, but we've never had our straps loosen on us; We usually have the Bomb and the KQ in the trailer, and we put a strap hooked to the floor/the front rack of the KQ, then we have one on the floor/rear rack of the Bomb, then we have on in the middle of the two, that attaches both to the floor. It's never failed us [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I just picked one of these up off of Ebay. I have heard good about them. Been waiting for one to show up on ebay used and finally Got a screaming deal on one ($71.00) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] vs the 140.00 they want new plus 30 to ship.

I have over 8 grand into my quad and I didnt trust the straps either. Thats why I got one of these. I would have spent way more on a set of high quality heavy duty ratchet straps. This way the quad can be locked and secured into the atv. Cant steal it out of the back unless someone torches the unit off.

 

I really like the LGD concept but I have one concern: It forces the rear wheels to ride on the tailgate. Even in my short bed Ram, my SP700 and SP500 can be rolled forward far enough that the rear wheels are at least on the gap between the tailgate and the bed. This means the weight of the ATV is being borne by the tailgate *hinge* rather than the cables that hold up the tailgate.

It does not appear to me that the LGD can be adjusted to shift the ATV more forward in the bed. Am I missing something? Can it be moved forward?

Thanks!

 

I think you are probably looking at pictures from the old model. The angled arm that attaches to the bar coming out of the receiver hitch can be adjusted to that it just misses the end of the tailgate. You will still be limited to the length of the arm that attaches to the quad though.

With it adjusted so that it misses my tailgate by about 3/4", my Rubicon's rear wheels are on the hinge. Remember, the tailgate will not be effected by any bouncing motion since the weight will be transfered to the hitch. I suppose you could even fix the Guard Dog in place a bit above the quad's trailer ball and decompress the suspension to attach it the LGD to take even more weight off the tailgate. I've never tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm not sure what I was thinking... Of course decompressing the suspension on a SRA Rubicon wouldn't work. ...On your IRS Sportsman I think it would.

Here's a pic of the latest model:

LGD