The biggest loads I’ve ever carried in one of my personal vehicles have been an entire Willys Jeep frame and an entire car. Ok, that second one is stretching the definition of “car” (it was a Changli), but that thing weighed over 700 pounds! Here’s how I typically tie down my cargo in my pickup trucks, and I’d love to hear how you tie down yours.
I recently wrote a story about how pickup trucks here in LA often drive around with sketchily-secured loads. It’s honestly frightening sometimes, and hugely different from how things are in Australia (where the rules on securing loads are strict).
Anyway, today I started moving from my condo to my new house in the LA ‘burbs, and to prepare my 1989 Chevy K1500, I bought a dual-layer net and some eye-bolts/washers/nuts. The truck is set up pretty much exactly the same way as my Jeep J10 (shown below) in that it’s got eye bolts fastened to the truck bed stake pockets.
Here’s a look:
I’ve basically got the elastic two-layer netting hooked to an eye bolt on each corner of the bed, plus I’ve got the netting secured in the middle at both the front and rear (a bungie cord is holding the front-middle to a zip-tie threaded through two already existing holes at the front of the box):
For large, heavy loads, I’d still want to add some ratchet straps since this netting isn’t really going to handle lots of force, but for just general stuff that I have piled up in the bed, it should be fine.
I’m curious what your tie-down strategy is. Do you secure loads in your SUV/sedan as well, or only in your open truck bed? What tips do you have to share?
From an engineering aspect always have redundancy just in case. I’ve seen too many bad things happen on the road, been hit, have seen things hit and will not join that party. The last thing I need to deal with is causing someone to get injured or worse.
I don’t transport much by truck, but I do use my two Grand Cherokees. For dump runs, keeping the interior clean is as important as securing everything, so all debris is in either boxes or buckets that can be secured in the cargo area. I also have a decent wooden box that’s easy to secure and sized just right for a propane cylinder. I only have one cargo net; it’s mostly good for keeping small things sort of contained. I wouldn’t rely on it to actually secure a load (especially since it’s elastic and almost 30 years old).
Big red straps.
I have a rubber bed mat that keeps things from moving around very much. If the item isn’t going to move around, I’m not doing over 40, and not going very far, and the tailgate is up I never really saw the need to strap it down. If the item doesn’t pretty much meet all of those criteria then ratchet straps.
Congrats on the move, Tracys! Please give the Clampetts our regards, and let us know when you open up the see-ment pond.
I’m a fan of Bull Ring retractable rings for the holes at the top of the bed. They aren’t obtrusive and very handy when the load is at bed rail height. For actually securing it, a bungie spiderweb if it’s light and ratchet straps if it’s heavy.
I keep a box of assorted motorcycle straps (ratchet straps) in a carboard box under the back seat of my F-150. The F-150 already has a variety of strong connection points the strap hooks can attach to. The key to ratchet straps is to know how to use them correctly, and then the roll them up after use so that they’re ready for quick deployment for the next task at some unknown future time.
Well, the last time we carried something heavy/bulky in the back of the Pacifica, we were having a forklift drop a pallet with the replacement engine for my nephew’s Volvo 850 on it. We thought the ratchet straps to the various points available in the back of the van, but I took a corner a little to fast, the thing tipped over and broke a chunk out of the rear interior panel.
Despite my mild case of self-diagnosed OCD, I’ve resisted the urge to replace that panel, but it will happen one day.
Just hook a 3” wide ratcheting strap over it on each fender well and crank er till the sheetmetal bends. Pat it and say, “That ain’t goin nowhere!” ; you’re good 😉
I like a hard folding tonneau for general stuff.
If I’m open bed, then I use ratchet straps. Individual items get strapped in whatever way would hold them in the event of a rollover.
If it’s a scrap run, it’s already a dog’s breakfast, so I do an “X” of straps across the bed, then keep adding crossing straps and bungees until I can’t move anything by hand.
If it’s fuel canister(s), I just run one strap across the bed through all the handles, so that they can’t tip or really go anywhere.
As I’m in the UK I carry big loads in a van. The roof, walls and doors keep stuff inside. Keeps it dry and secure too.
If it’s dense or valuable, like a motorbike, it gets ratcheted down.
I have a roll up vinyl bed cover on my F-150. If “whatever” fits under the cover, I usually rely on the spray-in bed liner and gravity. For fuel cans, I put them in a plastic “milk crate” and bungee it to the cleat on the sidewall of the bed.
Going camping, we’re talking ratchet straps holding the motorcycle, and more ratchet straps forming a web over whatever other cargo made it into the bed. Oftentimes, the ratchet strap is passed through handles or holes in the cargo (including gas cans) to make it harder for casual passersby to lift it out of the bad of the parked truck.
My GTI has a couple of “D” rings between the rear tires in the cargo area. I used a ratchet strap to hold down a 2 gallon gas can one time.
The roll up bed cover is a cheat code. I’ve been driving around all week with all the scraps from rebuilding my deck. Can’t make it to the dump until tomorrow, but nobody would have any clue that my bed is completely full of stuff.
I also don’t bother with tie downs unless it’s a single heavy item and or can’t fit below the cover.
My pickup has stake pocket tie downs and some factory cleats at bed level so I have plenty of things to attach ratchet straps, bungies or other tie downs plus I carry a tar and movers pad. Anything in the car is usually held in place by gravity or seatbacks but I have tie downs JIC or for roof rack loads.
Whoever invented the ratchet strap deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
I keep 8 of them in the cab of my little Ranger.it has a stout little D ring in each corner of the bed and 4 stake pockets as well.
With that setup you can manage a fail safe tiedown if you go from left front to right rear, and right front to left rear,plus one or two straps over the top, especially if the tailgate is down due to a load that exceeds the 6 ft bed length.
I secure any cargo I have by reassuring it that it is safe and loved.
Trips to the dump require a tarp, or you get fined. For me, that ends up being whichever tarp is large enough to cover everything, held down with straps plus any flappy parts of the tarp bungeed down.
For some others, the tarp may be several sizes too small (think 4×6 over a heaping load in an 8ft bed) held down by a bungee cord at each corner.
The volunteer ditch cleaning crews stay pretty busy on the roads to the dump.
“How Do You Secure Cargo In Your Bed/Trunk?”
Gravity. And sticktion.
Handcuffs and duct tape usually do the trick.
When I used to drive my van to gigs with gear in the back I found sand bags (the canvas theatrical-type bags used to weight lights stands, etc) were great for keeping things from moving around. My keyboard player saw them and said “Why do you keep sandbags in the back of your van?”, like I was planning on disposing of dead bodies or something.
You forgot to mention the chloroform…lol
Back in the farming days, I used to always have a few cans of ether in the bed of the pickup. Does that count?
lol, i posted something similar before reading down. I hope that’s the only way we are alike, or you are a messed-up dude.
Small children, they are remarkably flexible and stronger than they pretend, also they think it a game.
“Well hello kids, did you have good day out with Uncle Nic”
“yeah, it was so much fun we ….
” where would you like this champagne ? and do you have a vase for these?”
“but mum, it was such a fun day, it had big metal stuff and cars and steam engines and we rode in the back and Charlie nearly got squished”
“alright all right, I know you had fun today but now it is grown up time, of to bed the lot of you”
“Thank you Nic, I need a day to myself, it is so reassuring that the little darlings are safe with you.”
If gravity is good enough to keep us from spinning off into space, its good enough to keep stuff in the bed of my truck. /s
I have sliding anchor points along the top edge of the bed and four forged eye-bolts at each corner at the bed floor. I also have a hard roll-up tonneau. Small light stuff under the tonneau of course. For larger stuff, get ratchet straps. I use the lower eye bolts to cinch it down so it doesn’t get thrown upward with bumps, and then the upper tie-down spots get used to keep stuff from moving side/side and front/back. I also have a nice waterproof cloth tarp I can throw over stuff as needed. Works great for mulch, dirt, firewood, etc. That stays in the garage rafters.
The truck ratchet straps never leave the truck for any reason
Things I want to stay in place? I ratchet strap the crap out of it to where I can shake the entire vehicle no matter which way I shake the thing.
And if it’s small pieces liable to blow away like mulch? Tarp between the mulch and the straps.
My go to bed tie-downs are silk scarves because they work equally well as gags. I have used handcuff, too, but they can leave marks on the bedposts. In a pinch, I once used zip ties, but those can cut off circulation and . . . ooooh, you meant a truck bed. Haha, yeah just kidding, I use strap-ons in my truck – wait, I mean ratchet straps through the bed tie down loops! Yeah, that’s it. Never mind.
I had to move my daughter’s old disassembled bedframe, and figured I’d take the opportunity to put something sizable in my (well, mostly my wife’s) new R1S for the first time (instead of using my old Sienna). I very carefully used ratchet straps (and some rope) to secure everything in the back, using the anchors there. Then when I was on the way someone cut me off and I slammed on the brakes, and it turned out that I hadn’t been so careful after all: one of the pieces slid forward between the front seats and smashed right into the center screen, shattering it (and spraying glass dust everywhere).
So now my wife says that the proper way to secure things in the back of the Rivian is to put them in the Sienna instead :-/
Let’s get into it:
For acetylene and oxygen tanks, I strap the *&^# out of them with ratchet straps. (The shop that refills them says that just throwing in a piece of angle iron between the bed ribs to prevent them from rolling around is good enough. -eek!)
For stuff to the scrap yard or recycling center, bed net.
Bungies for boxes then covered with the net.
Straps again for appliances.
Bungies for bags of mulch. (You’d be amazed at the amount of friction between the plastic bags.)
Rope, bungies and net for all the really messy scrap stuff.