Trailering sleds

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sledhead25

Member
I have a four place in-line trailer. Looking for input on putting the parking brake on for each sled when trailering.
All the sleds will be tied down with ratchet straps.
thanks.
 
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maddogg

Member
As far as what, leaving it on when you are trailering? You're going to get a whole slew of opinions. I use the ski bars in the front and a ratchet strap on the rear of each sled - 2 or 4 place open. I leave the brakes off because I don't want the wear/chance of freezing. Other people will say to leave them on that it doesn't matter. Still others just set the parking brakes on in an enclosed trailer.

I had one accident where one of the sleds on a 2 place popped out of the ski bar in an accident. The only thing that held the sled on the trailer was the rear strap.
 
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fusionrider

Member
We had a problem with the brakes freezing up when using the parking break. Have an in line 4 place and use D rings with ratchet straps front and back.
 
wiharley02

wiharley02

Member
Forget about the parking brakes. My philosophy is secure them well enough that in an emergency braking scenario (or maybe stuffing the rig into a ditch if something bad happens), sleds don't move around too much or end up on top of each other or in your back seat. Anything more catastrophic than that scenario (rollover, head-on, etc), stuff is going to hit the fan regardless and you just hope your straps slow things down.
 
srt20

srt20

Active member
If you have problems with your brakes freezing or sticking, you need to fix your brakes.

If you are going to strap down the sleds, all the brakes on will do is slow down wear and tear on the straps.

If I strap, I dont bother with brakes. If Im not strapping, then I use the brakes.

Doing both doesnt hurt a thing.
 
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G

Guest
wiharley02 said:
Forget about the parking brakes. My philosophy is secure them well enough that in an emergency braking scenario (or maybe stuffing the rig into a ditch if something bad happens), sleds don't move around too much or end up on top of each other or in your back seat. Anything more catastrophic than that scenario (rollover, head-on, etc), stuff is going to hit the fan regardless and you just hope your straps slow things down.
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Yup to all of this. If you have to stop fast for any reason it isn't going to make any difference if the parking brake is on. Tie them up. Straps are cheap.
 
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soxfan3

Member
If sleds are "bouncing around" a little (rough road or off-road), brake will not help if track is off the trailer floor. I just use ski bar tie downs &/or straps.
 
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tealracing16

Member
i only tie down on an open trailer, bar only. When in an enclosed (I don't have a parking brake my sled is that old) I just press the red button on the handlebar and get out of the trailer. Not sure why you guys are tying them down so hard for, you can't even see inside the trailer when going down the road! ;)
 
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jedoyle

Member
The enclosed trailer we bought had a big crease in the aluminum siding & it was because the guy didn't tie down the back end of a sled and it bounced over and did some damage. That was before the inside was finished which we did after buying. He said after that he always tied down the back end & never had another issue. All it takes is a pot hole, bump in the road or a sudden swerve by the driver and the back ends of sleds can hop around into stuff.
 
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Snirtdawg

New member
Had a friend last year burn down his sled due to leaving brakes locked while stransporting. We suspect the locked brake on the ride up stuck it closed, even though the brake lever was off, overheated the brake disc and started a fire on his battery area, expensive lesson. No more for my buds!
 
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toddspolaris

Member
old abe said:
Why would you haul a sled without tying it down??? Open, or closed trailer, no different.
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20 years ago I saw and 4 place enclosed roll over, all sleds were tied down tight, only saw minimal damage to the sleds, trailer was junk. a couple strap and 15 min. makes sense to me
 
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GTL

Member
old abe said:
Why would you haul a sled without tying it down??? Open, or closed trailer, no different.
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Last winter, same thing, in the ditch, trailer up on it's side and no damage to anything!!! Both sleds tied with ratchets in the back and bars in the front. We tipped it back on it's wheels and left the scene!!! IMG_6725.jpg (sorry too excited to get the first picture of it up on it's side!!!)
 
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