There is a reason the trucking world moved away from rope: liability. Ratchet straps are so much more secure and reliable. You are responsible for your load, so take a few minutes to learn how to use a ratchet strap and you will happy you did.

Good ratchet straps not only keep your load secure, they also let you drive a little more relaxed. If your straps did break and your load flew off, you are responsible. It’s not just your UTV or mattress you lost, you may have also caused an accident and that would also be your fault for failing to secure your load.

Ratchet straps are easy to use once you have used them a few times and understand how to load them. They don’t require a lot of effort to tighten or release them once you arrive. The key to any ratchet strap is to use the right size for you load.

All ratchet straps are load rated. You wouldn’t use a 1” ratchet version rated out 300 lbs working load limit to secure a UTV, but you would to hold a refrigerator in the back of a truck.

The Department of Transportation has a rule that you take the actual breaking strength of your ratchet strap and divide that number by 3 to get the Working Load Limit of a strap. This gives the user a safety factor so they know how much a ratchet strap can support.

The working load limit is also called the WLL and is typically on a tag sewn into the ratchet strap. On the larger ratchet straps, it is sometimes written right on the webbing every few feet. In Canada, the ratchet must also have the working load limit stamped on one side of the ratchet.

You have probably used ratchet straps without even realizing it, as they are a common part of many different types of cargo transportation jobs. Those who frequently transport big pieces of restaurant equipment, home appliances, furniture items or office supplies, often find themselves needing heavy duty solutions for keeping items from shuffling around during transport.

Remember it only takes someone cutting you off and slamming on your brakes for your load to shift. Well placed, high quality ratchet straps will keep your load right where you put it.

Our Best Selling Ratchet Straps

Ratchet Straps are simple to use once you understand how to use them. After reading this you should be confident that you can secure your load and release the ratchet to unload everything once you arrive!

Ratchet straps come in two parts: typically, the ratchet side will have a short piece of webbing and a hook and the other side will be the longer webbing with a hook attached. We will be running the long webbing side through the ratchet and start ratcheting it until your strap is tight.

Step 1. Open the ratchet and start slowly pulling the handle back and forth until the slot is parallel to the ratchet handle.

With the ratchet closed you will notice a slot on a round spindle almost as wide as the ratchet. This is the slot that you need to make parallel to the ratchet handle.

Step 2. Close the handle while keeping the slot in the same position.

By keeping the slot in the same position, it will be much easier to thread the webbing through the ratchet.

Step 3. With the handle facing away from you, take the second piece of webbing and slide it from behind the slot, pulling it towards the handle side.

Be sure that you slide the webbing from behind the slot, not from the handle side.

Step 4. Place the hooks on each side of your straps in spots that can support the load when you tighten your straps.

One side of your hook might be placed under a vehicle frame or a spot on your trailer. The other end will be placed over your load or to your load depending on what you are hauling. All webbing should be placed so there are no sharp edges that might cut the webbing. Also, be sure that the ratchet handle is facing out and is clear from obstructions.

Step 5. Pull all of the excess long end of the webbing through the slot in the ratchet.

Do not wrap or tie the excess webbing or it will be harder to properly tighten the strap.

Step 6. Tighten the strap by pulling the handle on the ratchet.

The first four clicks will secure the webbing around the spindle and the next several should get the webbing “thumbing” tight.

Step 7. Close the handle and you are ready to travel.

At this point, you may want to wrap or tie the excess webbing to ensure that it doesn’t flap in the wind on the way to your destination.

Step 8. If you’re not using ShockStraps, be sure to pull over and check your straps periodically.

Most strap webbing will stretch and come loose as you start to drive. You will want to pull over and check your straps periodically to ensure that your load stays secure. If you are using ShockStraps, you can set your straps and drive with confidence that your load will stay secure.

Once you reach your destination you will release the ratchet straps and unload.

Our Best Selling Ratchet Straps

Tie down straps, sometimes called ratchet straps, are used to secure motorcycles, utvs, atvs, boats, side-by-sides, lawn mowers, and other heavy loads to a pull-behind trailer, a bed of a truck, or semi-trailer.

Regardless of what you are hauling, you will want something that keeps constant tension, so your load stays secure. Tie down straps are the most popular straps to use and they come in two parts — 1) the shorter ratchet side webbing with attached ratchet and 2) the longer webbing that goes into the ratchet for the overall length.

Tie Down Strap Assembly

A two-piece tie down strap is a single assembly that is constructed out of two separate pieces of webbing each with their own hardware that is fastened at one end to the area surrounding the equipment to be protected and connected to each other, typically at the fastener.

Some tie down straps have soft ties next to the hook or attachment point. These soft ties are a single piece of webbing that can be looped around the handle bars, forks, side of a trailer or solid connection point, either because the hook won’t fit at your tie down point or you don’t want a metal-on-metal connection.

The ratchet side will have a hook that allows the tie down strap to attach to the area surrounding the cargo or equipment. Then you loop over the UTV, motorcycle or other load to attach to the side of your trailer or cargo bed. The webbing side of the ratchet strap comes in various lengths and has a hook or some type of connector to secure the other side of your load.

There are also places you don’t want to have a metal hook that might scratch the tank or fender of a motorcycle or UTV. You loop the soft tie around the part you know can support tightening the tie down strap, then you run the hook through the soft tie. Once you have the hook into the soft tie you can start tightening your ratchet.

A tie down strap with a soft tie on the side next to the ratchet can also come in handy if your trailer doesn’t have a D ring or easy tie down point where you need it the soft tie can be looped around a corner post of bottom of a trailer.

Tie down straps can also have a variety of different connectors on the end of each side. You might have J hooks, S hooks with or without a retention clip or E-track connectors.

Some tie down strap versions have different hooks on each side depending on the application. An example is having E-track connector on one side to connect directly to a trailer wall or floor and an S hook with a soft tie to connect directly to a motorcycle.

Tie Down Strap Breaking Strength and Working Load Limit

The Department of Transportation has a rule that you take the actual breaking strength of your ratchet strap and divide that number by 3 to get the Working Load Limit of a strap. This gives the user a safety factor so they know how much a ratchet strap can support.

The working load limit is also called the WLL and is typically on a tag sewn into the ratchet strap. On the larger ratchet straps, it is sometimes written right on the webbing every few feet. In Canada, the ratchet must also have the working load limit stamped on one side of the ratchet.

Tie Down Strap Material

The ratchet strap tie down webbing can come in Polyester, Nylon, or Polypropylene and are available in single ply and double ply strengths. Webbing is made in different size widths from 1 to 4 inches and made in a wide range of breaking strengths, from 200 lbs to over 10,000 lbs for most users.

Tie Down Strap Care

Over time a tie down ratchet may become harder to open or release when using. Many people keep them in the back of a truck where the elements will cause them to rust. Spraying a lubricant such as Teflon spray and working the handle open and closed will increase the life of your ratchet strap.

If possible, store your tie down straps in a dry place and they will last for years. However, if the webbing becomes frayed or cut it is best to replace the webbing immediately.

Our Best Selling Ratchet Straps

Once you are ready to unload your UTV, motorcycle or other load you will need to release the tension on your ratchet trailer straps.

There are two main types of release mechanisms on a ratchet strap:

1) A bar across the top of a handle that you pull while opening the ratchet handle. To open this type, you pull the ratchet handle flat against the webbing and it will ‘pop’ the spindle releasing the tension on the webbing. Once released you can pull the long end of the webbing through the ratchet.

2) The other type of ratchet has two parts inside the opening of the ratchet. You open the ratchet and reach into the middle of each side and pull up on once you have the handle open. This will release the tension and you can pull the webbing through the ratchet.

If you have a choice between the two types of ratchet straps, the outside release is much safer to use because it keeps your fingers away from the inside of a ratchet strap under tension.

To properly secure your load, be sure to check out how to use ratchet straps.

Trailer Strap Care

Over time a ratchet may become harder to open or release when using. Many people keep them in the back of a truck where the elements will cause them to rust. Spraying a lubricant such as Teflon spray and working the handle open and closed will increase the life of your ratchet strap.

If possible, store your ratchet straps in a dry place and they will last for years. However, if the webbing becomes frayed or cut it is best to replace the webbing immediately.

Trailer Strap Tightening

Most ratchet strap companies recommend that you pull over and check your load after 20 miles of driving to check your webbing and tighten if needed. Then they suggest you pull over and check again every 30-50 miles.

Many long-haul companies also require their drivers to stop every 150-250 miles to check their ratchet strap tension because loads may shift while driving and all webbing can and will stretch at any time.

If you have a tension type product like ShockStraps built into the ratchet straps you just tighten your ratchet straps and drive — no need to pull over to check the tension in your ratchet straps because they start tight and stay tight!

Our Best Selling Trailer Straps

Ratchet straps are sometimes called tie down straps, are used to secure all kinds of loads like atvs, utvs, side-by-sides, motorcycles, boats, lawn mowers, and other heavy loads to the bed of a trucks, a pull-behind trailer, or semi-trailer.

Here’s how to use a ratchet strap:

1) Connect the hook to your vehicle on the ratchet side.

2) Run the webbing from the long end through the opening on the spindle below the handle of the ratchet.

3) The long end of the strap webbing with the hook is then put over your load to secure it.

4) Once both hooks are in place you pull all the excess webbing through the ratchet.

5) When it is tight, you start to pull the handle of the ratchet to wrap the webbing around the spindle on the ratchet. The first 4 or so clicks of the ratchet handle wrap enough webbing around the spindle to keep it from slipping.

6) Now you just keep ratcheting the handle until your webbing is as tight as you want it to be.

7) Most ratchet strap companies recommend that you pull over and check your load after 20 miles of driving to check your webbing and tighten if needed. Then they suggest you pull over and check again every 30-50 miles.

Many long-haul companies also require their drivers to stop every 150-250 miles to check their ratchet strap tension because loads may shift while driving and all webbing can and will stretch at any time.

If you have a tension type product like ShockStraps built into the ratchet straps you just tighten your ratchet straps and drive — no need to pull over to check the tension in your ratchet straps because they start tight and stay tight!

Our Best Selling Ratchet Straps