Loose Trailer Tie Down's

[DavisAR195]

I have a 2017 AR195 and ever since I have owned the boat my tie downs always greatly loosen up on the way from the ramp. At first I thought it was the cheap tie downs that come with the boat so I upgraded to the ratchet style tie downs. It never fails once I get home the tie down are loose and it requires another 3-4 ratchet clicks to tighten them back down. It seem like the boat sit down further between the bunks on the way home. I was wondering if anyone has had the same issue?

 

[Beachbummer]

The boat moves on the way, so the tie downs loosen up. I'm sure the boat is moving as you use your brake pedal.

On your way home from the ramp, give a gentle stomp on the brakes and the boat will settle up in a good spot, maybe loosens a bit less.

It is common for this to happen.

 

[arlowe13]

Yep mine always loosen even on my .5mi drive from home to ramp.

 

[Gym]

Winch your boat up tight to the bow roller. Many people slam the breaks on after pulling their boat out. That causes the boat to slide up tight against the bow roller. Then tighten the winch again. Then attach & tighten your stern straps.

 

[Julian]

Winch your boat up tight to the bow roller. Many people slam the breaks on after pulling their boat out. That causes the boat to slide up tight against the bow roller. Then tighten the winch again. Then attach & tighten your stern straps.

Yup...this is what I do!

Plus....I never wind/pull much winch strap out...only the barest minimum to reach the bow eye, then when winching it onto the take up spool, I put all my weight on the strap so it goes on tight.

All of these straps will loosen as pressure is put on them, so the more pressure you put on them while spooling them, the less they will loosen (but even then, they will still slip some).

I typically try and stop twice in the first few miles to get the straps tightened. Even then, after driving 500 miles back from FL they were 2 clicks loose on the stern.

 

[Wisefam22]

One thing we noticed was our wench was only rated for 1200lb and while that might be fine for an empty boat I feel its pushing limits we were having issue so just switched out to larger wench to help hold boat.

Once loaded down with gas, gear, food for the day it would well exceed the limit.

 

[Beachbummer]

I think the Winch rating is for a dead weight. (Lifting the load up straight up)We are pretty safe pulling and maintaining a hold of the weight already down.

 

[haknslash]

Totally normal. My response from a recent thread regarding the same scenario:

Every watercraft I've ever had will creep forward and settle on the bunks a few miles after I pull it out at the ramp. Doesn't matter how tight you get the bow eye either. It's just the craft settling on the bunks from traveling down the road. What I always do is 1. Stab the brakes when pulling out of the parking lot to really drive that bow tight on the roller then I tighten the bow eye strap again 2. After a few miles pull off the road and retighten the rear straps (I use Boat Buckles so this takes no time just like one or two clicks/pulls). You will find they will have slack especially if the road is rough. After you've tightened them they should remain tight as the boat should have settled all it's going to on the trailer.

 

[Wisefam22]

Mine seemed like it was further away from the bow eye.

 

[Ralph MIA]

Her I am thinking that I was the only person this happened to.

I’ve learned to stop at a gas station about 10 minutes into my drives to tighten everything down; ratchet straps and all.

Glad to know I’m not the lone person with this problem.

 

[MidnightRider]

Yep the steeper the ramp the more space you’ll have at the bow roller after you pull out (even if you snugged it tight while in the water). If you take moment and think about the angle of the boat to the trailer when it’s being put on the trailer while on the ramp with the bow winched up tight but the stern is still a ways off the trailer. The shape of the boat dictates the bow pulling away at the bow as he boat rocks down onto the back of the trailer. A couple of braking later the boat slides back up tight usually but also as a result leaves the back straps loose. I’m also one that does a couple of firmer brakings in the first .5 mile and retighten the straps.

 

[AZ Native]

This issue is so common, I'm in the habit of checking my boat buckles at every stop.
BTW, not only do I have boat buckles on the transom, I installed one for the bow eye. After cinching up bow buckle I loosen the winch a notch or two so the buckle takes the bulk of the weight. Boat Buckles (not the knock offs) are a must have on boat trailers.

 

[Livewire]

And here I am backing my boat back down the ramp to tighten up the bow roller strap. Thanks for asking and sharing everyone!

 

[DavisAR195]

Thank you for all the suggestions as most of the ramps here are fairly steep. I will definitely be trying the brake check method before leaving.

 

[Zonie]

I'm not sure exactly what your bow stop looks like but on many of the older trailers it's not fixed, but held in place with a bolt which allows movement. On those trailers, it doesn't matter how hard you winch the boat because that's not where the play comes from. It's from the boat sliding forward as the bow stop moves. Here's a thread on this issue and some great suggestions on how to fix it. (Assuming you don't want to do the quick-stop method in the parking lot to cinch it up before you get on the road.)

https://jetboaters.net/threads/how-to-reinforce-your-bow-stop.804/

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I am not sure how slamming on the brakes helps. The boat moves backwards, slamming the brakes just pushes the boat more forward. The end result would be the same... except the boat isn't as far as it normally would be when the straps are loose.

 

[DavisAR195]

I am not sure how slamming on the brakes helps. The boat moves backwards, slamming the brakes just pushes the boat more forward. The end result would be the same... except the boat isn't as far as it normally would be when the straps are loose.

Braking will allow the boat to move forward so the bow can be tightened from the boat moving back after pulling the boat out water. Once the boat is sitting in it's forward position the rear tie down straps can be cinched down.

 

[Gym]

I am not sure how slamming on the brakes helps. The boat moves backwards, slamming the brakes just pushes the boat more forward. The end result would be the same... except the boat isn't as far as it normally would be when the straps are loose.

Both the winch strap & the stern straps pull the boat in the forward direction. Additionally the stern straps hold the stern down on the bunks. When you hit the brakes hard it puts the boat up hard against the bow roller better than you can do with the winch alone, especially if you haven't welded or bolted your bow stop. After hitting the brakes you will notice a little slack in your winch strap that wasn't there when you winched the boat up. Take the slack out with the winch then retighten your stern straps. Try it.

 

[swatski]

Both the winch strap & the stern straps pull the boat in the forward direction. Additionally the stern straps hold the stern down on the bunks. When you hit the brakes hard it puts the boat up hard against the bow roller better than you can do with the winch alone, especially if you haven't welded or bolted your bow stop. After hitting the brakes you will notice a little slack in your winch strap that wasn't there when you winched the boat up. Take the slack out with the winch then retighten your stern straps. Try it.

Just do that.
Aside from everything that's been said, the 5mph hard stop it is a great micro-stress-test, before getting out on the highway. If you can not break hard at 5mph without a coupler popping up or something, maybe better to checl things out again.

--

 

[Midnight2V]

This issue is so common, I'm in the habit of checking my boat buckles at every stop.
BTW, not only do I have boat buckles on the transom, I installed one for the bow eye. After cinching up bow buckle I loosen the winch a notch or two so the buckle takes the bulk of the weight. Boat Buckles (not the knock offs) are a must have on boat trailers.
View attachment 78642

I use the boat buckles as well. I just put some load on them and the bow strap. They will relax as the boat settles on the bunks and the load on the straps will draw it further onto the trailer. I just stop at the first gas station to cinch everything down again and check every time I stop.