Tying Spyder onto a trailer without damage??

[lmadsen]

If you can't tie thru the front wheels as recommended what is the next best way without damaging something.

[Bfromla]

Something like this 33CDFEF3-1C9F-436B-96CB-326E70B62DE3.png line the strap with the tire

[lmadsen]

Where do you purchase something like these?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Something like this 33CDFEF3-1C9F-436B-96CB-326E70B62DE3.png line the strap with the tire

X's 10 .... I discovered this method about 5 years ago and have been recommending it ever sense .... The major Car auction outfits like Mecum's & Heritage use this method to secure very, very expensive auto's and trucks in their enclosed Trac Trailer units ..... that strap ONLY touches the tire and puts Zero stress on bendable parts ..... there are many sources, I bought mine on e-bay ... I think it was from " Discount Ramps " which sells lots of different items in this catagory ....... Mike

[Little Blue]

I installed the E Tracks rails on the floor of my trailer. The E Tracks allows the Spyder to be positioned as needed.
Just use an E Track ratchet for each wheel. ....

[gkamer]

If you can't tie thru the front wheels as recommended what is the next best way without damaging something.

Google "Tire tie down straps", lots of options.

[billybovine]

This is what I have done.

[Snoking1127]

Reverse the bolt on the lower end of the shocks and install Ring Nuts. Lamonster sells them. I got mine on Amazon. 10MM nut for my 2018 RT-L.

You can do yours and 2 buddies. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08G56YKKH...dDbGljaz10cnVl

Yeah, I screw up only 5 pieces. See post below. VVV

[K80Shooter]

Same as above only cheaper https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[boz329]

I am planning a trip to Florida from Ohio hauling my F3 in a U-haul. Anyone know how these tie-downs install on the floor if no built in anchors on the trailer?

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I am planning a trip to Florida from Ohio hauling my F3 in a U-haul. Anyone know how these tie-downs install on the floor if no built in anchors on the trailer?

The only way I can think of ( because mounting them to the floor isn't something you want to do to someone else's property ) would be to use pieces of 2 x 8 x 1 1/2 thick planks to fasten the tie downs to ..... then attach pieces of 2 x4 's cut to size to prevent the platforms from sliding forward or backward or sideways ... connect the plank pieces by screwing some small pieces of plywood to the plank and 2 x 4 ....may sound complicated but it will work .... good luck .... Mike

[Snoking1127]

You will be facing a couple issues. Loading ramps and tie downs as note ^^^! The tie downs in the 6x12 bed, six of them do not appear to be robust enough for a 1000 pound trike. You might be able to loop ratchet straps around the trail gate hinges. Keeping the trike from going forward is the biggest issue. The trailer is heavy at 17xx pounds empty. It is a over kill for your load, but nothing smaller is wide enough for the Spyder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW47uZoubiM

[Peter Aawen]

Reverse the bolt on the lower end of the shocks and install Ring Nuts. Lamonster sells them. I got mine on Amazon. 10MM nut for my 2018 RT-L.....

Just a word of caution in using these eyes on the lower shock bolts to tie your Spyder down!

Even tho the leverage & movement isn't massively increased, those eyes are actually mounted on the moving part of the lower suspension arm, so as your Spyder is trailered along & bouncing up & down, the suspension WILL be articulating, which means that no matter HOW tight you pull the straps or whatever to tie it down, those straps will be loosening & tightening & so be subjecting the eyes & whatever they are mounted on to significant shock loads.... and after the strap, either the eye itself, the bolt end it's affixed to, or the suspension arm will be taking the brunt of that shock loading, which will be repeated unceasingly for the ENTIRE TIME your Spyder is secured to a moving trailer!!

Those 'eyes' are made for towing or pulling, etc, they aren't really intended to be used as tie-downs, and in fact, in many applications they are specifically barred from being used as such! Still, it might be OK to use those eyes as 'tie-downs' or securing points for a short trailering distance; or maybe a bit longer distance on an absolutely glass smooth road, but those eyes are made to be at their strongest under loads placed directly in line with the long axis of the bolt they are secured to - and even then they rely on the strength of the bolt & the thread that's securing them and on the base of the eye being very close to any 'levering forces'.... But the more of an angle to that long axis you place the load, or the further away from the securing point the eye actually is, the greater the leverage, the weaker they become, and the greater the twisting/shearing forces applied onto whatever is the bolt that's holding them in place is secured thru!!

Even if you force the Spyder's suspension to bottom out, the trailer movement & bouncing etc will be repeatedly and unceasingly subjecting that eye/bolt/shock mount to some significant & potentially damaging forces, and who knows which bit will bend or break first?!? IF you are 'lucky', it might be the strap, or the eye itself, or possibly the bolt - but I wouldn't bet on it!! After all, the eyes do usually have a fairly substantial 'safety margin' over their rated safe (pulling) load limit, and the bolts might not be really high tensile or otherwise all that substantial, but they are designed to withstand some loading during use! Heck, even the shock mount the bolts run thru can take a lot of up/down pounding, but then the eye is bolted onto the END of that (longer) bolt and any tie-DOWN forces will be exerting a significantly leveraged twisting force onto the suspension arm and the base of the shock itself! And that suspension arm isn't really designed to withstand a heap of twisting force in that plane - come to that, neither is the lower shock mount... or the bottom shock eye for that matter!! Not on Spyders (yet!) but I've seen each & all of those components broken thru using them in this manner to tie-down a vehicle - heck, I've even seen the eye's broken, and when you understand the forces THAT would actually take, you'd never even DREAM of using those sort of eyes mounted onto a possibly moving suspension component as a tie-down point for trailering ever again!!


Those eyes fitted to your Spyder are a FANTASTIC way of evening up the load and safely (carefully!) TOWING your Spyder for a short distance (like up onto a tilt-tray or trailer ) but they ARE NOT really safe or recommended as tie-down points for trailering too far, ESPECIALLY if you are planning on trailering any great distances!! IMHO the only really SAFE ways to secure a vehicle for trailering is either using 2 crossing straps or chains on each end at the front & rear securely tensioned between the frame & the 4 corners of the trailer; or better yet, strapping the tires themselves to the trailer deck as BK911 & others have recommended above. Just sayin'

So if you need to secure your Spyder to a U-haul or similar that doesn't have any deck level tie-down points to secure your tires to, then I reckon you'll need at least 4 (four) heavy duty ratchet straps or chains with lever tensioners to securely tension & tie the Spyder frame to the corners of the trailer.... and carefully pad the frame ends of your straps/chains etc, or you'll mark things up.

[Wmoater]

What is the flooring on the trailer? Boards, aluminum planks or solid steel? If boards or aluminum planks you need to get cable that would fit between the planks. Make a loop and put a cable tie as low as possible. This creates a loop. Now run tie down from loop to loop. I’d run one forward and back for extra support.

[Snoking1127]

Just a word of caution in using these eyes on the lower shock bolts to tie your Spyder down!

Even tho the leverage & movement isn't massively increased, those eyes are actually mounted on the moving part of the lower suspension arm, so as your Spyder is trailered along & bouncing up & down, the suspension WILL be articulating, which means that no matter HOW tight you pull the straps or whatever to tie it down, those straps will be loosening & tightening & so be subjecting the eyes & whatever they are mounted on to significant shock loads.... and after the strap, either the eye itself, the bolt end it's affixed to, or the suspension arm will be taking the brunt of that shock loading, which will be repeated unceasingly for the ENTIRE TIME your Spyder is secured to a moving trailer!!

Those 'eyes' are made for towing or pulling, etc, they aren't really intended to be used as tie-downs, and in fact, in many applications they are specifically barred from being used as such! Still, it might be OK to use those eyes as 'tie-downs' or securing points for a short trailering distance; or maybe a bit longer distance on an absolutely glass smooth road, but those eyes are made to be at their strongest under loads placed directly in line with the long axis of the bolt they are secured to - and even then they rely on the strength of the bolt & the thread that's securing them and on the base of the eye being very close to any 'levering forces'.... But the more of an angle to that long axis you place the load, or the further away from the securing point the eye actually is, the greater the leverage, the weaker they become, and the greater the twisting/shearing forces applied onto whatever is the bolt that's holding them in place is secured thru!!

Even if you force the Spyder's suspension to bottom out, the trailer movement & bouncing etc will be repeatedly and unceasingly subjecting that eye/bolt/shock mount to some significant & potentially damaging forces, and who knows which bit will bend or break first?!? IF you are 'lucky', it might be the strap, or the eye itself, or possibly the bolt - but I wouldn't bet on it!! After all, the eyes do usually have a fairly substantial 'safety margin' over their rated safe (pulling) load limit, and the bolts might not be really high tensile or otherwise all that substantial, but they are designed to withstand some loading during use! Heck, even the shock mount the bolts run thru can take a lot of up/down pounding, but then the eye is bolted onto the END of that (longer) bolt and any tie-DOWN forces will be exerting a significantly leveraged twisting force onto the suspension arm and the base of the shock itself! And that suspension arm isn't really designed to withstand a heap of twisting force in that plane - come to that, neither is the lower shock mount... or the bottom shock eye for that matter!! Not on Spyders (yet!) but I've seen each & all of those components broken thru using them in this manner to tie-down a vehicle - heck, I've even seen the eye's broken, and when you understand the forces THAT would actually take, you'd never even DREAM of using those sort of eyes mounted onto a possibly moving suspension component as a tie-down point for trailering ever again!!


Those eyes fitted to your Spyder are a FANTASTIC way of evening up the load and safely (carefully!) TOWING your Spyder for a short distance (like up onto a tilt-tray or trailer ) but they ARE NOT really safe or recommended as tie-down points for trailering too far, ESPECIALLY if you are planning on trailering any great distances!! IMHO the only really SAFE ways to secure a vehicle for trailering is either using 2 crossing straps or chains on each end at the front & rear securely tensioned between the frame & the 4 corners of the trailer; or better yet, strapping the tires themselves to the trailer deck as BK911 & others have recommended above. Just sayin'

So if you need to secure your Spyder to a U-haul or similar that doesn't have any deck level tie-down points to secure your tires to, then I reckon you'll need at least 4 (four) heavy duty ratchet straps or chains with lever tensioners to securely tension & tie the Spyder frame to the corners of the trailer.... and carefully pad the frame ends of your straps/chains etc, or you'll mark things up.

"but they ARE NOT really safe or recommended as tie-down points for trailering too far" By who!

The lower end bolt of the shock is 4" from the lower ball joint and the A arm is 20" long. So the trike would have to move a long way down to cause slack in a Nylon ratchet strap. The straps stretch factor is going to take up in raise or lowering of the attachment point. Given the one would crisscross the tie downs to the center of the trike direction they will have ample length to handle the require stretch/contract required.

If I end up trailering the trike the "ring nuts" will be turned to line up with the pull angle of the strap, and not pulling sideways on the ring. They can easily be align with a wrench on the bolt and a bar in the ring. With the strap being 2-3' in length the small amount of movement at the ring nut attachment is meaningless. Like they say on trailer sales sites, "drive a short distance and then stop and check tightness of ones tie downs".

I see this a much better solution than cross pressure on the tires/wheel that is sent into steering components that might effect alignment.

I do not think Lamonster would stay this if he thought there was a liability in selling Ring nuts.
"Spyder Tie Down Rings- All Spyders"

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
If you're like us we never like to trailer our Spyders but sometimes you do need to and there are very few ways to do it without damaging something. For sure going through the wheels can cause scuff marks and wrapping around the a-arms can scuff the paint too and that's no good.

What we have on all of our Spyders is a stainless steel ring that replaces the the nut on the bottom shock bolt. You will have to lift the Spyder just enough to take pressure off the lower bolt so you can pull it out and turn it so the nut is facing the front. This gives you a very secure way to tie down the front of your Spyder without damaging your paint.

Torque is the same as before, either 30-35lbs or just good and tight.

These work on all Can Am Spyders from 2008-2020

This is another Lamonster Approved product.

[Eckhard]

What concerns me is that the eye nut material is probably not the same grade, tensile strength, etc, as the nut it replaces thereby introducing another safety variable into one's life.

[Peter Aawen]

"but they ARE NOT really safe or recommended as tie-down points for trailering too far" By who!
.....

The Australian Standards on Slings, Rigging, and Lifting Equipment Guidelines, which in parts, claim to be based upon those used by ANSI in the USA & other Authorities elsewhere around the World!?!

But it's your Spyder, you can do what you please - as I stated in my post, I've simply put out there "Just a word of caution..." for those who might want to think it thru a little more &/or consider the potential ramifications.

[Snoking1127]

What concerns me is that the eye nut material is probably not the same grade, tensile strength, etc, as the nut it replaces thereby introducing another safety variable into one's life.

The shock bolts are not under stress end to end. They just provide a point for the lower end of the shock to be "pinned" to the outer end of the lower A-frame.

[Snoking1127]

The Australian Standards on Slings, Rigging, and Lifting Equipment Guidelines, which in parts, claim to be based upon those used by ANSI in the USA & other Authorities elsewhere around the World!?!

But it's your Spyder, you can do what you please - as I stated in my post, I've simply put out there "Just a word of caution..." for those who might want to think it thru a little more &/or consider the potential ramifications.

And can you link to the part of that you think applies to this situation? Note: This is not a lifting situation. I think I posted the working and breaking numbers for this ring a week or two ago. I will have to look for that.

On edit: 【Load Capacity】: 230 Kg (When Loaded Along The Threaded Shaft)-Test Force (Mpf): 460 Kg-Minimum Breaking Force (Bf): 1377 Kg-Safety Factor: 6.
This all applies to personal working under a lifted load.
If I understand this correctly the Minimum Breaking Force is 3035 Pounds.

[Peter Aawen]

....

On edit: 【Load Capacity】: 230 Kg (When Loaded Along The Threaded Shaft)-Test Force (Mpf): 460 Kg-Minimum Breaking Force (Bf): 1377 Kg-Safety Factor: 6.
This all applies to personal working under a lifted load.

The AS cover ALL recommended/recognised applications & uses of Slings, Rigging, & Lifting Equipment, and these Ring Eyes/much of their use falls under the latter two of those three, and they are frequently directly involved in the use of Slings too. So yes, the part that applies is pretty much the entirety of the Aus Std and it's US/European & other Country's equivalents!

But by using the ring eyes as tie-downs, you aren't loading along the axis of the threaded shaft - and for each degree you move away from that axis, there's a marked reduction in strength.... PLUS there's the shearing forces applied on a very small section of 'already weakened by threading' bolt, AND the added leverage & therefore twisting forces applied on the 'somewhat less than massively strong' A-arm tubes, that small section of thread, & the bottom eye of the shock by how far ahead of all those the Ring Eye projects.

But you go right ahead & use them how you will - I've posted my 'word of caution'.

[Mazo EMS2]

A single strap over the top of each tire, in the travel direction.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

The AS cover ALL recommended/recognised applications & uses of Slings, Rigging, & Lifting Equipment, and these Ring Eyes/much of their use falls under the latter two of those three, and they are frequently directly involved in the use of Slings too. So yes, the part that applies is pretty much the entirety of the Aus Std and it's US/European & other Country's equivalents!

But by using the ring eyes as tie-downs, you aren't loading along the axis of the threaded shaft - and for each degree you move away from that axis, there's a marked reduction in strength.... PLUS there's the shearing forces applied on a very small section of 'already weakened by threading' bolt, AND the added leverage & therefore twisting forces applied on the 'somewhat less than massively strong' A-arm tubes, that small section of thread, & the bottom eye of the shock by how far ahead of all those the Ring Eye projects.

But you go right ahead & use them how you will - I've posted my 'word of caution'.

X 10 .... tieing the tire down using a ratchet strap is the easiest - safest - most secure - and least damaging way, than any other method EVER devised .... Mecum Auction house has their own fleet of Vehicle haulers and this is Exactly how they transport Multi- Million dollar veh's across the country .... do you think they haven't already figured out this is the BEST method...... not just MHO .... Mike

[mynew1again]

This is what I have done.

Just wondering how you attached the tracks to the trailer? It looks like you have the same type of trailer as I do.

[Wmoater]

Etrack has holes on both sides every 2 inches. Simply get some stainless steel screws #10-12 and screw them into the boards every 6 inches. It won’t move.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Etrack has holes on both sides every 2 inches. Simply get some stainless steel screws #10-12 and screw them into the boards every 6 inches. It won’t move.

I realize that using bolts and washers to attach the track down is a royal in the *SS, but I wouldn't trust wood screws ... ....jmho .... Mike