Things that went wrong while towing

Hi Friends,

Well, I wanted to just report on some adventures in towing this most recent trip a few days ago.

On Friday, I had to leave my home and drive 360 miles after work up to the San Francisco Bay Area. I hauled my Westerner frame and my pristine plywood for the floor. The plywood already cut and ready for installation was cradled in the back of my pick up truck. I had to also bring my bike, my son’s bike, him and my stuff. I didn’t think I had the room for the bikes in the truck bed, so I decided to put them on a very bouncy trailer frame. Sounded like a good idea and it was an even better idea to use ratchet straps. I used a bolt down steel fork mount for my mountain bike and ratchet straps with my son’s bike. All I had to do was just flip the bike upside down, rest it on it’s handlebars and with the seat as a third contact point, it made for a perfect triangle plane of support. Hmmmmm, I thought…. I finished getting everything cinched down and the little voice in me says, “Dude, that’s sketchy”. Even one of my other sons looked at the setup and said the same thing. Yah, but Dad knows all.

I get on the freeway and as I swish through the on ramp gaining speed, I hit a rough patch on the onramp, the trailer hiccups and then I notice in my rear view mirror the upward jutting front wheel has rotated about 20 degrees between glances with merging traffic. “That’s not right”, I thought. I decide the better part of valor is to pull off the freeway about a mile up at the next offramp and check things out. Internal debate begins: Do I pull over now and check it out next to the freeway or limp to the next offramp. Having been stranded on the side of a major freeway isn’t the safest place to be is it? I make it to the offramp. I find a nearby empty parking lot and walk around to see the front handlebars have jumped the stop I screwed into the now attached original plywood. Not good I think.(Yuh think?)

Okay. Go to plan B, Rod.

Bike gets pulled off, pedals get removed and the bike is placed on my plywood inside the bed. I pat myself on the back that I brought a crescent wrench with me at the last moment. The bike initially never went into the bed as I was afraid of gouging the plywood with sharp parts of the bike if it rested on top. I don’t have a choice now to save the plywood from gouging. I flip the pre sanded plywood nice side down first before adding said bike. “Hmmmmm, why didn’t I think of that before?”

Picture shows rig after my son’s bike was placed into the truck bed.



Okay, now, that’s taken care of. On the bed of the trailer, let’s retighten the four ratchet straps that hold down the spare tire for the trailer. I think, these straps might loosen up. I give them a few more clicks. That tire probably won’t go anywhere. Will it?

We drive 120 miles and at 100 miles it starts to rain lightly. Curses! Rain, the bane of pristine lumber. I even pre-checked the weather report all up and down the route and everything indicated small percentages of rain expected. I should have been okay. (famous last words) Now, remember that the plywood in the bed is basically pristine and it’s raining. I could drive faster and hope the slipstream would not allow drops to layer up on the plywood. Yah but… I elect to pray that the rain will stop as I head inland from the coast. Nope, it continues to rain lightly, though. All the time I am worried about my plywood. I drive about 15 minutes in light rain and look for a gas station at the nearest location. We pull in under the roof of a gas station and for the next 20 minutes, what do you think I was doing?

Yep, you guessed it. I pulled out a new tarp I had packed for just this situation. The 35 pound bike comes out of the bed of the truck. We lay down the tarp, I tuck the edges and use wood clamps to fasten the tarp, so it won’t start to flap and rip. Bike goes back inside the bed of truck this time on top of the tarp. We get the tarp squared away and I pray again that the tarp won’t come loose, flap and rip to pieces especially if it rains for the next hour and half. I turn to double check the spare tire that was fastened 120 miles ago. It’s just lying there on the bed of the trailer 3 of the straps are loose and the hooks are either dangling or just sitting loose on top of the bed of the trailer. The tire is still there too! Geeze Louise! Wonderful, just wonderful… Remember, my mountain bike was mounted to the trailer plywood with a bolted steel fork mount. It wasn’t going anywhere. It never did. So, in case it did, at the trip's outset, I tied a rope leash from the bike frame to the spare tire because everyone knows that the tire would always be strapped down and it would anchor the bike if the fork mount broke. Right?... Well, that’s not really what happened. Actually the reverse happened. The rope leash held the spare tire from sliding.

Fun times.



I had no room in the cab of the truck for the spare, so it had to stay on the trailer. I reset the straps, and added two pieces of scrap wood I brought along for things like this and created a V shape with them to form a stop. Screwed them in with Mr. Makita and the spare screws I brought along for emergencies. The V was the stop if the straps came loose again. The tire could slide into the V stops. I end with a prayer. (On a wing and a prayer?) We finish and mosey over to the local McDonalds down the street, use the restroom, clean hands and buy the worst McDonalds sandwich I have ever eaten. Cardboard tastes better. I must be under a dark cloud or something. It’s taken almost 3.5 hours to go 120 miles with traffic and these trailering gymnastics. Off to a great start. Ohhh, did I tell you I had been up since before 5 a.m. We are back on the road. It’s still raining lightly.

We make it to the next stopping point a rest stop up 100 miles. Rained the whole way and finally stops as we pull into the rest stop. Things appear to be going better, though. The tarp has held and never came loose or flapped. The bikes were drenched, and the spare had moved yet again due to slipped straps, but the V shape I screwed in did its job.

Okay, so, by now, you know the drill. Re-strap, tighten, pray, and stay off the bouncy sections of the road. So, to end this odyssey. I stop one more time about 50 miles out from my destination and recheck the spare. Retighten, pray etc. So, we finally get to our destination around midnight. The rain had finally stopped, and the tire was still on the trailer. In the morning, I remove the tarp and the lumber was dry and there is no water damage. I then sit through an agonizingly long 7-hour zoom training for work.

Fun times.

So, what did I learn? Never ever use ratchet straps(period?) to hold down a spare unless it’s inside some sort of steel framework. Never ever strap down a bike on a trailer unless you have something made of steel designed for this application. The ratchet straps should never have gone over and inside the center hole but rather back to themselves at each corner. Better yet, dedicate a place in the truck. Get a bigger truck? LOL. Bring hand tools, spare screws, battery powered tools, and scrap lumber just in case. Prayer helps.

I bid you adieu.  I make mistakes so you don't  have to...

Rod