Tie down straps - where do you connect the bottom?

mrweelr

mrweelr

New member
I installed a tie down chain first and hooked the top to the back of the alternator bracket and the bottom to a hole I drilled in the frame. Realizing that chains are not a good idea due to vibration, I did away with that setup and installed a heavy duty nylon tie-down strap with the top hook connected to the alternator bracket and the bottom connected to the front control arm bolt. This setup did not work out and the strap ended up breaking. I'm going to give it another try with a stronger strap but my question is, "what are you guys hooking the bottom of your tie-downs to?" I don't want to use the control arm bolt and I'd like to avoid drilling any more holes in the frame. Suggestions?
 
myclone

myclone

Donating Member
Ran my tie down from the alt bracket, between the oil filter hoses, all the way under the frame, and hooked it into a existing hole on the bottom of the front cross member. Its just inboard of the A-arm mounting point on the frame.

HTH..
 
mrweelr

mrweelr

New member
Nice, I'll give that a try. One question - what type of strap are you guys using? I had what I think was a 900 lb. rated nylon strap and the ratchet buckled after a few boosted launches. I definitely don't want to do the chain thing again for fear of it snapping or causing false knock. Pictures wouldn't hurt either but I'll take any info I can get :smile:
 
S

sy2185

New member
I went through this with my last truck. If you set the chain w/ like 1/8 link's slack it wont vibrate at idle/on the freeway but will let the engine torque just a little before it tightens.
J
 
myclone

myclone

Donating Member
I got a package of two from Northern Hydraulics. I cant recall the load rating but I snapped the first one I put on. Looked like it came apart where the strap was sewn togeather.

Anyway, the strap(s) are yeller (yellow to you city folk), 1 3/4-2" wide, and the hooks are actually made out of ~1/4" steel rod formed into a hook. I think a package of two was around $12. I had to cut prolly 15' of extra strap off once it was snugged down so Im guessing the strap was prolly sold as a 20 footer.
 
Christian Dionne

Christian Dionne

Member
Mine was Expensive! $20 at the AutoZone. It's yellow, huge and 20' long. It's rated to 5000lbs break strength and around 1500lbs continuous. HTH, Christian
 
mrweelr

mrweelr

New member
You guys are awesome. I've been trying to get this information for a long time now. I'm going to head to Pep Boys and Kragen looking for one of those big yellow tie down straps. If that won't hold my motor in place, I don't know what the hell will!
 
mrweelr

mrweelr

New member
FYI, my motor and tranny mounts are fine. That's why I'm doing this - to keep them from breaking so I don't have to pull the damn motor to replace them.
 
mrweelr

mrweelr

New member
OK, I bought a big yellow industrial size ratchet tie down (Keeper part #05519) 5000 lb. rated capacity. I tried fitting it with the top hook connected to my alternator bracket and the bottom hook connected into the hole in the frame just inboord of the front A-arm mounting point. A couple of things get in the way: first, the hardware holding the front brake hose in place is right where I need to run the strap; second, the inner fender (metal) is not allowing clearance for the HUGE ratchet that comes with the strap. The only way I see this working is to bend the inner fender back a few inches toward the wheel to make room for the ratchet. If someone has a picture, I would really appreciate it. Otherwise, I guess I'm screwed. HELP :???:

_________________
Jeremy
GMC Syclone #434
Yamaha R1 #1525

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: mrweelr on 2002-03-08 20:37 ]</font>
 
F

FLSY2730

New member
Like joelutz said, i used a steel 5/16 coated cable and wrapped it around the frame and hooked it to a turnbuckle and the turnbuckle to the back of the alt. bracket. Very clean installation. I think rob(RACCR) saw it at moroso the other night if i am not mistaken. jack
 
Mephisto

Mephisto

These trucks are cursed
if anyone has pics of either set up, id like to see them! i havent checked my engine/tranny mounts, but everything seems loose on my truck. if all my mounts are good, im gonna be lookin to get some straps and hope that helps.
 
Syclone#892

Syclone#892

Member
I have 2 pics of my tie-down in the website in my sig. I will take better one later but basically its a turnbuckle bolted to the alt bracket with a longer bolt and the other end connects to a piece of metal (I think its just a brace for something like cabintry, you can buy it anywhere) and the brace is bolted to where the brake hose bracket bolts to the frame with a longer bolt. If any of you would like better pics just let me know and I will take some.
 
J

JoeLutz

New member
On 2002-03-08 20:57, FLSY2730 wrote:
Like joelutz said, i used a steel 5/16 coated cable and wrapped it around the frame and hooked it to a turnbuckle and the turnbuckle to the back of the alt. bracket. Very clean installation. I think rob(RACCR) saw it at moroso the other night if i am not mistaken. jack
Click to expand...
Do you have any pics of it?
Thanks
 
J

JoeLutz

New member
On 2002-03-10 19:18, swede wrote:
Why don't you use a tail gate cable? Got an eye in both ends easy to bolt on.
Click to expand...
You would have to bore a hole for the length or maybe get lucky and it be the right length to reach a hole as is.
 
mrweelr

mrweelr

New member
That tailgate cable looks easy enough to install but how strong is it? The way I torque-brake, I'm thinking I'll snap it and possibly damage something under the hood. It's definitely a lot cleaner than a tie down strap and no ratchet to worry about :smile: So just go down to Autozone or Pep Boys and ask for a "tailgate cable" right? I think I'll give this a try...I've already tried the chain and nylon strap methods with no luck.
 
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