Escapees January-February 2023

When we bought a Polaris RZR 900 side-by-side to explore America’s public lands as full-time RVers, we towed it on a fl at bed utility trailer behind our Hitchhiker fi fth wheel in an arrangement known as a “double tow” or “triple tow.” Not knowing there were alternative tie-down sys tems available, we used the standard ratchet tie-down straps that can be found at all the big box stores to secure the RZR onto its trailer. We soon felt fortunate that so many stores carried these straps because they kept cha fi ng through and falling apart! O ur trailer setup had some sharp corners and awkward angles which the straps had to cross in order to tie the side-by-side down, and

lined up each of the four straps so there was a straight line between the Cargo Buckle and the tie-down point on the RZR, drilled a hole in the side of the trailer and bolted the retractable Cargo Buckle strap onto the trailer. The Cargo Buckle was angled slightly to ensure the strap wouldn’t cross over anything that would make it chafe through, and that was it. Securing the RZR to the fl atbed trailer was now as simple as extending each retracted strap and placing its hook in the tie-down point on the RZR and then ratcheting the strap until it was tight. After all four straps were hooked up and tightened, the RZR was fully loaded and ready to go. Untying the RZR was equally easy: we released the tension on each strap, removed the hooks from the RZR and retracted the straps into the Cargo Buckle on the trailer. We didn’t even have to mess with coiling and storing any long straps because they retracted out of sight on the side of the trailer! The straps are two inches wide and are made of the same material as a car

this caused the straps to sever completely multiple times. Also, it was nearly impossible to keep the straps fully tightened as we drove. We’d have to stop every hour or so to make sure the straps were still tight and, more often than not, they had loosened, and we had to tighten them again. Needless to say, the RZR bounced around quite a bit on the utility trailer, making us extremely uneasy underway! My husband, Mark, found a product called Cargo Buckle Rachet Straps (model G3) that not only mounted permanently to the fl atbed trailer but also retracted and extended, eliminating the need to restrap

everything from scratch each time we tied the RZR to the trailer. The Cargo Buckle instal lation on the fl atbed trailer was straight forward. We

On a fl atbed trailer, the cargo buckles are installed permanently on the trailer frame. The strap webbing retracts into each cargo buckle.

IMMI CARGO BUCKLE TIE DOWNS: WWW.BUYIMMI.COM/PRODUCT-CATEGORY/TIE-DOWNS

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ESCAPEES Magazine January/February 2023