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Passed a transported today heading for the port and onwards to Ireland. Mixed bag of Hondas onboard including a couple of new shape CRVs. I noticed the wheels were black and seemed to be steelies but with a sort of conical/concentric circle design. Are these some sort of alloy protectors or unusual wheel design ?
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Sort of creamy white colour? plastic wheel protectors.
Honda take QC very seriously, a mate caught a wheel trim many years ago on a new one before these clip on trims were used, asked for another trim to replace it, nope, car would have to go in for checking and re-aligning if necessary and be passed again as fit for delivery.
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Yep, many new cars now ship with plastic alloy wheel protectors.
Some of our trucks have over-the-tyre straps to hold the wheels down to the deck now, as a few clients don't want us to use around-the-wheel straps for fear of paint damage to the wheel spokes.
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Dave, whats your opinion of wheelstrapping?
I know most one/two cars transporters use the behind and round the wheel type of strap, but they are difficult for multi deck transporters to use (you can't really put those on one handed kneeling in the small space beside a car over the cab)
, so over the circumference of the wheel straps with chocks are used.
As you know for many years we strapped cars down via specially designed tie down points (indeed some cars still have them) with either chains or webbing straps, often via a diverter hook to get a better pull down.
I always preferred old school tie downs for several reasons.
1, more secure, once tied down the car wasn't going anywhere, they effectively were clamped to the deck and part of the transporter.
2. pulling down on the suspension obviously lowered cars slightly, but more importantly didn't allow the suspension to bounce, the combination of which meant less clearance is needed over roofs and bonnets, so multi decked transporters can run lower, lower centre of gravity.
3. By tying down to body/chassis in the event of accident or rollover, the cars could gain no momentum whatsoever, the straps would hold them in place to the decks even in the most violent overturns.
The evidence for my preference is as follows.
1. Whenever i have seen cars arrive at an RDC either with strap hanging off often with the cars almost hanging off the transporter deck they were almost all tied down with wheelstraps.
The checker responsible for tie down practices at the RDC depot we worked out of confirmed this, and despite QC requiring wheelstraps, in practice my company were allowed to continue with our old ways for many years (approved by RDC depot manager) because our damage figures paled into insignificance when compared with all others, we shifted a lot of metal.
Eventually we had to revert to w/straps because the maker along with most others stopped designing proper tie down points in their cars.
2. The cars being able to move on their suspensions tend to shake the over the wheelstraps loose, leading to 1.
3. Higher overall vehicle height due to more car bounce, leading to higher centre of gravity, and consequential more tendency to roll.
4. In the event of accident/rollover the cars can get initial movement due to the over the wheel tie down allowing suspension movement, this can break the strap, or in the event of rollover the straps slip off and the vehicles go flying up the road...this is seen frequently in the increasing transporter rollovers.
5. The vehicles i have personally known fall off transporters not involved in accidents on the road in all my years have been tied down by wheelstraps slipping off.
6. Underbody strapping was easier quicker so the driver was more likely to do a better job.
Doesn't bother me now how they tie them on if at all, i'm out of it and very pleased to be so, but would be interested in any opinions on this.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Sun 27 Oct 13 at 08:43
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They were black and conical almost like Madona's 80s conical bras - I wasn't close enough to see the tie downs.
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>>Honda take QC very seriously<<
Ha! They were the days...
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>> Ha! They were the days...
>>
Fair point Mike, i've been 'out' for 4 years now though keep in touch with some old cronies, a lot can change in that time.
I worked far more for Toyota and have the greatest respect for that company from everything i've seen, both as a worker bee and as a customer.
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One thing i forgot to mention, SWMBO and i were walking in Brussels a few years ago, and a loaded transporter came by slowly, had 8 cars on, 4 top deck 4 bottom deck all flat, not a strap to be seen, just chocks in front and behind a couple of wheels of each car, wheels not in designed in deck cut outs just a normal stamped deck...impressed?, not.
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Prob'ly had winter tyres on them GB. Been fine then...
;-)
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Remember when they were moving Ladas from Carnaby near Bridlington and they had to come through Driffield as there was no bypass in them days.
There is a set of traffic light in the centre of town which is quite tight and buildings close to the road. Projecting front of top deck regularly took chunks out of the brickwork of the chemists.
Camm Transport IIRC.
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I wasn't aware modern cars didn't have lashing points.
What do they do on ferries in bad weather?
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>> What do they do on ferries in bad weather?
>>
Transporter lashing points weren't always much use for the ferry lads anyway, typically the rear ones would be in the torque box behind the inner sill just in front of the rear wheels, no access when jammed in like sardines.
The vehicles usually have special (longer then the one in the toolkit) screw in towing eyes fitted so lashed front and rear with those, not used on the road because the downward tensions required to cope with shock on our third world roads would damage towing eye mounts.
Some like Range Rovers have a substantial towing eye/lashing point under a cover in the front/rear under bumpers, that part of bumper isn't fitted until PDI, Lancruisers and the like being old fashioned in a good way still ( or did last time i carried them) have real underbody towing eyes more than capable of providing adequate road transporter tie downs and easily accessed by the ferry lads.
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I know that junction! Middle street and Scarborough road I think? Almost opposite a pub that used to be called the Ferret and Sprout (or rat and cabbage to the locals... )
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Haven't you got a load of cars to wash?
;-)
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I've just paid the local car wash at Homebase to clean the recent purchase! The Merc is going to be serviced tomorrow, so that's that one covered as well :-)
Besides, I'm led to believe there's a hurricane coming. Safer to stay inside I think...
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Projecting front of top deck regularly took chunks
>> out of the brickwork of the chemists.
They banned transporters about 30 years ago from Kimbolton for same problem, back in the days when that was the real east west route, A45 all the way to Felixstowe.
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with the famous sign on the A1 "Transporters banned from Kimbolton"
and here is why
tinyurl.com/qfojazk
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 27 Oct 13 at 12:50
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Must be 30 years since i've been down the real A45 to St Neots via Kimbolton, next time we're heading our that way we'll do so.
Always good 'scenery' in St Neots so a favourite route in those days.
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>> with the famous sign on the A1 "Transporters banned from Kimbolton"
>>
>>
Smaller and less official version here in Talgarth, near Brecon;
tinyurl.com/n75yu7r
Not sure if that one's still there as Talgarth was bypassed a few years ago.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Sun 27 Oct 13 at 18:50
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I always used two fore and aft tyre straps and two aft straps when securing a car to my single car trailer. As said earlier, strapping on the tyres allows the suspension to move and the car 'hops'.
But, retighten after say 5 miles, and the kinks are all worked out and I've known a car stay tight for nearly 400 miles. I then unloaded and deliver it. (Not a job - I was moving an old car for a friend).
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This maybe a simple question but how is the highest point of a car transporters load measured?
The reason I ask is that I came across a small queue of stationary vehicles that were behind a not too large a transporter just before the railway bridge at Chessington North station.
The driver was out of the cab and obviously concerned that there was enough clearance before he attempted proceeding under the bridge.
He was circling around and appeared to be trying to judge the clearance by eye.
He had a mixed load of not new cars plus a white van on the top.
Perhaps the shy poster called - can answer my question :-)
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I saw a small transporter the other day, a large pick-up on the lower deck and a transit size jobby on the lower deck. The driver was using a folding aluminium rod with a cross bar to gauge the height of the load
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>>Prob'ly had winter tyres on them GB
;-)
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Many transported cars have spring clamps on(to reduce suspension movement on the transporter) which SHOULD be removed at PDI.
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....or bits of wood 'tween the coils!
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Proper transporter drivers us an extending measuring pole, with a right angle piece at the top to check height. Who says tv is not educational!
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>> Proper transporter drivers us an extending measuring pole, with a right angle piece at the
>> top to check height. Who says tv is not educational!
>>
Thanks for the pole answers. I guessed there had to be a simple answer but had not been aware of it.
I wondered if the driver climbed up top and used a plumb line with knots in it . :-)
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>> I wondered if the driver climbed up top and used a plumb line with knots
>> in it . :-)
>>
Knots are a measurement of speed not height. :-)
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You could measure it with a sextant type thing though. Trigonometry and so on. If so inclined.
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Car Transporter Question. - -
