What y'all think about "The Track Bar"

[Highfly]

If this is the case, wouldn't all superclamps be illegal?

Send them an email and find out. Surely they have done their home work.

 

[Highfly]

The officer informed me i was not in compliance that my machines have to be strapped down so my suspension is loaded so it could not bounce.

Wait a minute. do you know how many car haulers are running down the highway with tire straps.LOTS! I think this cop is full of BS!

 

[Circled-Mistake]

Last year i was pulled over in bc at a check stop i had my sleds strapped down on the skid. The officer informed me i was not in compliance that my machines have to be strapped down so my suspension is loaded so it could not bounce. He let me off with a warning but made me strap down off the back bumper. I haven't looked into the law on this but if this is the case there is a risk of getting a ticket using this product.

If this is the case, wouldn't all superclamps be illegal?

You look at all transporters that haul vehicles... They do not load the suspension......

Think of it this way, with the suspension able to move freely, it takes a lot of the shock away from the transport vehicle, being able to help "absorb" the bounces and bumps.... IF you loaded the suspension... there is now way of determining how much is "enough" pressure....

So you strap your vehicle down with chains (or straps) compressing the suspension... thinking its enough (never is), and you hit a big frost heave..... during this the suspension on the truck (or sled) may or may not compress more than the stated chain or strap is holding, allowing the chain or strap to become slack, thus creating a "shock" then the transported vehicle returns to where the chains or strap allows in its suspension travel, you could possibly SNAP the chain or strap due to the shock and whipping effect the compressed suspension has on the chains.....

Straps are rated for a continuous load, not for a shock factor that is given due to a situation that allows the strap or chain to go slack and then quickly tighten up to possibly overload the strap or chain....

Strapping or chaining UNDER the suspension (eg. on the skid rails or right at the skis ((like superclamps)) allow the suspension to do what its supposed to.... absorb shock instead of the straps or chains....

When I haul my Bogger I strap right to the axles, crossways... That way the only physical piece getting loaded are the tires.... The suspension is allowed to move freely and I have not EVER had an issue with DOT.... I think with the argument stated above ,Strapping by compressing suspension is a no go....

Just my opinion...

 

[Teth-Air]

Well I saw these plastic ones last year and they are good but I still use the ones I built. They are getting a bit beat up now so i I will likely build some more this season. They are a U channel aluminum with a piece of mud flap rivited on that pulls down on the rail and not the suspension. A ratchet type tie down runs down one side, back up and to the other side so when you ratchet it, both sides tighten equally. The only problem is making sure both sides are even before ratcheting but I have gotten good at that.

 

[Justin_sane]

I wouldnt strap anything on my rails or my track. I always load up my suspension. If you do it right, theres no bounce at all to break straps.

 

[Circled-Mistake]

I wouldnt strap anything on my rails or my track. I always load up my suspension. If you do it right, theres no bounce at all to break straps.

So you will essentially load up your suspension to the point of bottoming out..?? Thus possibly creating damage to your sled??? That is the only way you can GUARANTEE no possible slack issue on the straps.... Its possible to bottom out the suspension on the sled with straps yes.... but given the amount of force needed to do so, along with where you possibly have to strap (bumper on tunnel) you could cause a stress fatigue issue.... possibly bending or weakening tunnel.. Taking out spring tension on skid suspension, Prolonged stress on mounting points.... Not for me....

Shocks and springs are designed to be compressed, and return to normal or neutral state quickly, not to stay compressed for a prolonged amount of time...I think you would end up losing charge or causing internal damage...

I am interested though on how you do Strap your sled down by loading suspension.... It could very well work and work well, but I remain optimistic that with the amount of pressure needed to COMPLETELY STOP suspension travel, you will be causing more damage than security...

 

[Mike270412]

Last year i was pulled over in bc at a check stop i had my sleds strapped down on the skid. The officer informed me i was not in compliance that my machines have to be strapped down so my suspension is loaded so it could not bounce. He let me off with a warning but made me strap down off the back bumper. I haven't looked into the law on this but if this is the case there is a risk of getting a ticket using this product.

The guy that told u that was smoking crack!

 

[vodoo103]

Continuous loading of the suspension with tie-downs is hard on the shock seals. The reason most of us have started using a block under front fender on our Dirt Bikes.

 

[catinthehat]

We always used to tie them down with the rear bumper, just pull down enough to tension the straps. That was fine for short local trips I guess, cause we never had an issue until we went to Revy. By the time we got to the top of the Roger's pass the bumps had caused enough bounce that the suspension must have compressed enough to allow the strap to come unhooked. Bye Bye strap. Only tie the rear over the rail now.

 

[Summitric]

I was just at princess auto edmonton southside and they don't have these yet..... Do you have a part # for "the track bar"?

 

[Mike270412]

We always used to tie them down with the rear bumper, just pull down enough to tension the straps. That was fine for short local trips I guess, cause we never had an issue until we went to Revy. By the time we got to the top of the Roger's pass the bumps had caused enough bounce that the suspension must have compressed enough to allow the strap to come unhooked. Bye Bye strap. Only tie the rear over the rail now.

Exactly

 

[tranquillicer]

I've also heard that sleds need to be tied off at 45 angles of the back end and that super clamps on the rail will get you a ticket if thats all you have holding it down at the back. Likely worth a call...I don't take any chances and used both straps and clamps.

 

[Justin_sane]

No I never bottom out the suspension with the straps. Its far from necessary. I just tighten it enough that theres no bounce to loosen the straps or even get any slack whatsoever. You load them up to take any sag out and go a bit tighter until its compressed by a bit. Ill take my chances with damaging the shock seals, if tying down the sled is enough to damage the seals, then how am i to expect that they will be good enough to handle riding it and jumping it without blowing seals? I've brought my sled all over alberta, and out to the mountains without ever having been pulled over, ever having my sled budge one millimeter, or have any sort of slackening or fraying of any straps. You also have to make sure that you hook them the right way so the hook cant slide down the edge and get loose, maybe thats why some people have had them come off.

I dont feel the need to change the way I tie down my sled, just figured id throw my 2 cents in lol.

"Shocks and springs are designed to be compressed, and return to normal or neutral state quickly, not to stay compressed for a prolonged amount of time...I think you would end up losing charge or causing internal damage."

Being compressed for a matter of hours at the maximum doesnt lend me to believe that the springs and shocks will fatigue. Its like throwing a load of dirt in the back of your truck and leaving it there for a few hours until you can unload it. Or driving around with sandbags in the back of a truck for the winter to add weight to your rear end. Valve springs in an engine are a perfect example, no matter what state you stop you motor in, some of the valve springs will be compressed until you run it again. They usually last decades while being actuated literally billions of times throughout their working life. they can also sit for years in a compressed state and will still continue to function as they were designed.

As for the seals, as long as they are not allowed to dry out, and the stanchions are not nicked or damaged in any way, i dont see there being an issue with leaking seals either. the shock without a spring can sit in any position, theres no resistance/tension at all. its main purpose is to dampen the action of the spring so you dont get a harsh rebound (boing!)

 

[fnDan]

Driving over a big bump or frost heave could cause your sled suspension to compress which would change the tension of your track. I have always strapped the back bumper and a bar across the skis. People have been strapping the back bumpers forever with the suspension compressed. I haven't noticed any problems with my shocks. I just bought superclamps for the front and will be buying rear ones too. I looked at that bar today. I don't want to have to get down on my knees and elbows to get a strap on that little loop on each side.

 

[the_real_wild1]

I like them and saw them when I was there last time. If it still had my open trailer I would be using these. But now with my enclosed I dont need to.

 

[~Rowdy~]

Rowdy, were you straping over the track with one strap so the edges were getting curled under? If so then I would say dont do that! But this idea looks fine. Now to waht pipeliner said, if thats true then the rear superclamp isnt legal as it doesnt load the suspension, so whats right once again?

Ya I just had one strap over cause track to fold. I have two unistrut brackets bolted to my sled to hold my gas can that I also use to strap my sled down now

 

[tex78]

Last year i was pulled over in bc at a check stop i had my sleds strapped down on the skid. The officer informed me i was not in compliance that my machines have to be strapped down so my suspension is loaded so it could not bounce. He let me off with a warning but made me strap down off the back bumper. I haven't looked into the law on this but if this is the case there is a risk of getting a ticket using this product.

Huh. I have had too many straps fall off cause the suspenion moved more than it was straped down.

I use clamps on the skis and 2 straps across the rails. One across straight and one across then around the piviot then to the other sled , around the piviot then trailer.

Keeps them from moving side to side and the track-rails down.
They don't move 1 inch.


The other way with straps at 45 deg , they fall off, its not good on the shocks-springs to suck them down , and believe it the sleds move way way more than the way I do it now


sent from my htc

 

[Jemeda11]

I built my own a few years ago. many people took pics of them and im sure they made their own too. just used flat bar and welded the tabs that stick through the track and used spray on box liner to coat it. i found that i dont need to tighten my straps hardly at all and my sled dont move an inch. i use the quicky ratchet straps

 

[pipeliner72]

I agree that's how I always strap mine.

 

[CUSO]

Yep, same story here. I just throw the strap over the rails and viola!

sucking down on the bumper is a bad idea, because it creates only suspension spring load tension of the track to the deck. you can slide the track sideways, your load shifts.

we once got pulled over at the tete jeune cache truck scales, the cop was doing a routine check, and saw my tie down setup. He said it wasn't good enough, so I told him to try to move my sled like that. He tried to shift the sleds around and failed and said, it was ok. Off I went.

We always used to tie them down with the rear bumper, just pull down enough to tension the straps. That was fine for short local trips I guess, cause we never had an issue until we went to Revy. By the time we got to the top of the Roger's pass the bumps had caused enough bounce that the suspension must have compressed enough to allow the strap to come unhooked. Bye Bye strap. Only tie the rear over the rail now.