I'm adding some additional D rings to the floor of my enclosed trailer.
The current ones are swivel D-rings which work pretty well but I don't like the fact that there's no plate on the underside.
I found some that have a steel plate for the underside but they are non swivel.
What do you all prefer??
I don't see much point to swivel D-rings in my enclosed trailer because the heavy stuff (the car) is only loaded in one direction. I do use a couple of them loaded sideways to tie down my e-scooter pit bike, but that's a whole lot lighter so it doesn't matter.
E-track
I've always used non-swivel without issue. But agreed, E-track is a hugeeeee upgrade.
How are you all securing your e track to the trailer floors to make it strong enough to hold the car should there be any kind of d of impact? Wood screws into the floor doesn't seem like enough, or even the 1/4-20 bolts.
Sonic said:How are you all securing your e track to the trailer floors to make it strong enough to hold the car should there be any kind of d of impact? Wood screws into the floor doesn't seem like enough, or even the 1/4-20 bolts.
I seem to recall that 1/4" grade 5 was good for something like 2000lbs tensile strength.
Given that there's holes every inch or so in the e-track, enough bolts and washers should be fine. I'd bet the track will fail before the bolts.
We used E-track in the car haulers at work. They were bolted every 6" both sides, through the plywood floor and whatever metal stringers we could put them through. They held 5000lb cars in place without issues.
We never flipped the trailers over to test them but I'm sure there would be many, many other concerns at that point.
Yeah, run enough bolts through and it's going to be stronger than the 4 bolts holding the D-ring down. Of course, that's a lot more work that may or may not be worth the effort, and unless you router out the floor it's going to present a lot more of a trip hazard when walking around in the trailer without the car in there. And if you do that then cleaning the floor in the trailer gets a lot harder.
I'm another for e-track. Harbor freight has it fairly cheap. Get the bolts with the drill heads built in and an impact and it goes in very quickly.
Unless you have the ones with a wheel stop like mine, I don't see where regular e-track is much of a tripping hazard. You can just about scuff your foot over it.
It's stronger than the d rings that came with my trailer. The load is much more distributed by all the bolts.
Plus, I put some on the walls and have 2x4 hangers and have a bed platform that fits over my F500.
Sonic said:How are you all securing your e track to the trailer floors to make it strong enough to hold the car should there be any kind of d of impact? Wood screws into the floor doesn't seem like enough, or even the 1/4-20 bolts.
I've always figured if there's enough of an issue that I'm worried about the car coming off the trailer, that's the least of my concerns at that moment, as E36 M3 is currently hitting the fan.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:Yeah, run enough bolts through and it's going to be stronger than the 4 bolts holding the D-ring down. Of course, that's a lot more work that may or may not be worth the effort, and unless you router out the floor it's going to present a lot more of a trip hazard when walking around in the trailer without the car in there. And if you do that then cleaning the floor in the trailer gets a lot harder.
In ten years of being in and out of the trailer about once a week, I think I tripped once and that was because I left a ring in the track.
My open deck trailer has 6 of these that bolt through the deck and into the frame. I have never wished they swiveled.
I also keep 4 of these in the box in case I need extra tie-down points. They also don't swivel.
My enclosed trailer has about 40' of E Track down both walls and across the floor. More tie-down points are better for hauling small items.
As to capacity, all of them are rated at 2000 pounds if properly installed except for the stake pocket tie-downs. They are rated at 4000 pounds each.
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