The Cold Facts about Ratchet Tie Down Straps

We all know that when assemble tie down strap and ratchets together we get ratchet strap, by this logic the cam buckle strap is just the cam buckle with tie down strap, why I am not surprised? Cam buckle tie downs are only for light duty use, and 2” cam buckles are the biggest size we will see in the real world use, and it’s still light duty. Ratchet buckles are different, there are 1” to 4” ratchets, and they can be quite heavy duty and can stand all kinds of abuse, the most commonly used on commercial trucks are 2”, 3” and 4” ratchet tie downs, they have working load limit of 3,333lbs, 5,400lbs and 5,400lbs respectively, these assemblies have design factor of 3:1, thus the minimum breaking strength is 10,000lbs, 16,200lbs and 16,200lbs respectively.

So far we discussed about tie down devices for flatbeds or similar commercial vehicles, there are another category of ratchet straps for semi trailers, ratchet e track strap , these tie down equipment will be used with E Tracks installed inside the semi trailer. In fact semi trailer has much bigger share than flatbed truck, the percentage maybe around 80%, of course this is only estimation but you get the idea, and the conclusion is that e tack straps are by far the most popular tie downs. The e track straps usually have working load limit of 1000lbs, which is only 30% of the 2” flatbed tie downs, and the breaking strength is only 3,000lbs based on design factor 3:1. It’s easy to understand that why e track straps are not as strong as regular ratchet tie down straps, inside the box truck the loads already have strong support, at least there is no risk of falling off, all the e track straps will do is to fixate the loads more than tie them down. With the help of e track cargo bar, rope tie off and some other e track tie downs and accessories, it’s pretty easy to secure loads inside the box trucks, but easy doesn’t mean not important, you still have to look out for any risks may present in the process of transportation, so secure your loads as reliable as you can, use the right tie down devices for your job.

As we discussed in the first paragraph, the design factor of ratchet assembly is 3:1, that means the working load limit is 1/3 of the minimum breaking strength, while binder chains which have a design factor of 4:1, that means the transport chains will work in more tough environment than tie down straps, which usually are chose for regular loads. The standard material of which tie down webbing is made is nylon webbing or polyester webbing, depends on different tie down applications. Nylon webbing has better elongation than polyester, so for shock absorption wise nylon is ideal material while polyester usually is used to make tie downs for heavy equipment. Following watch list is essential for making tie down webbing, abrasion, elongation, breaking strength and use environment.  When making tie down straps , manufacturer has to follow the recommendation of breaking strength and elongation requirements, when it comes to abrasion and environment, there are much more variations to be considered.