How to tie down my car in a container ?

[Yves]

All,

Friday is D-Day since the movers are dropping off a 40ft container to ship the Viper and Mercedes.
Anybody any experience on how to tie them down ? The ML should not be an issue since it's got a lot of ground clearance. I'm just thinking about picking up some tie downs at Autozone for that car. The floor of the container is supposed to have special hook up holes.
The Viper is a different story though. Ground clearance (my car has Eibachs) is extremely low. How do I tie it down or secure it in any other way ?
Anybody any advice ?

 

[Gerald]

I really don't know but I would guess you could use those cranking tie down straps (I think they're nylon and about 4-5 inches wide and VERY strong) that riggers / tow trucks / truckers use. Both ends have a hook (one end to frame of car) and other end to tie down in the container..


hope that helped..

Gerald

 

[Yves]

Those are the ones I want to use on the Mercedes, but I do not think the Viper has enough clearance. In the front I have maybe like 2 inches. That's not even enough to accomodate the rachet mechanism which goes in between the 2 hooks.

 

[Miles B]

One thing I was told when I imported my car from Japan, is that there is always a danger they do a sloppy job and put the cars too close together.. especially when one is stacked above the other... the ship moves a lot, and the cars move around to the extremes of their suspension apparently. When they stack them, they do it so close that the car on the bottom often gets a banged up roof. So be careful and don't get stuff too close, and anticipate the container being thrown around a bit, so secure it laterally too. I'd ask the shipping company for advice. Maybe you could purchase some of those trolleys that go under the tyres or something. I dunno, maybe..

My car ended up coming on a ro-ro boat anyway, but I really don't recommend that!!!!!

 

[Silver98]

When I moved my car to Europe, the movers wrapped the wheels with some nylon nets that were tied to the container's floor. It proved sufficient. No damage at all. Just make sure that nothing touches the aluminum suspension.

--------------------
Michel
<font color="red">I love the way she takes her top off</font>
<font color="#666666">
My Viper Page
</font>

 

[VENM8R]

The nets sound pretty good. If you can't...
I have used the method below on regular vehicles with success. I have not ever tried it yet with a viper. (There is hardly any room to do this and it is tedious at best).
See if they/you can jack up the car and then place some 4"x 4"x 6" or 6"x 6"x 6" (wood)dunnage underneath the vehicle (where ever it won't cause any damage of course) and still have the tires touching the floor as you don't want to extend the suspension any more than you have to. You should have enough room then to use straps.

 

[Casey]

Straps are a must, depending on where the hooks are located you could be OK with clearance. I would think there will be many of them in a container as they are made to carry all different sizes of cars.
I would get some wheels stops(blocks, etc) for the front and back of all four wheels(both cars) also, get some 4x4s and run them from the walls of the container to the side of the wheels on all four corners as well. Bring some short pieces of 2x4s to help with the side, to make them real snug.
I think that will be enough to keep it in place! It worked for my Viper in the trailer when my brother blew a tire and jack-knifed my Escalade w/trailer/viper at 40mph! Car didn't budge, thank God!
Good luck!

 

[Yves]

Thanks everybdoy !

Casey - what do you mean by 4X4s and 2X4s ?

 

[GaryA]

I'm not sure exactly what the configuration of the container is, but I transport Vipers in my enclosed trailer all over the country and they don't move more than about 1/4" ever. I can't imagine that a ride in a container is more "violent" than going down some of the highways in the US.

What works for me is to use the ratcheting straps and connect them to the shipping holes located in the front and rear frame rails. I haven't used them yet, but a lot of guys use the "R" hooks instead of just hooking directly into the holes in the frame.

I cross the straps (left to right and vice versa) in the front and back. This prevents any lateral movement. I put the ratcheting mechanism closer to the D-rings and in front of or behind the car. This keeps them well out of the way and allows for "snugging" down of the suspension. I don't know if you have the luxury of hooking the straps in front of or behind the car (as opposed to directly underneath) in the container, but this seems to work the best.

Good luck!

 

[Casey]

I figured that would be hard to understand. Sorry!

The 4x4 would run straight from the side of the wheel to the side of the container, but it is impossible to get the exact length of the 4x4s, as you may need 26" on one side and 18" on another. So you run the 4x4 let's say 2ft, and put the 2x4s sideways between the 4x4 and wall to make it very tight. You may even need some thinner pieces to make it real tight. Does this help? Depending on the size of the container you can estimate the length you will need from the wheels to the walls.
Here comes a great diagram for you! LOL

wheel =========|||wall

====is the 4x4

|||| are the 2x4s, | is one 2x4

Did that masterpiece help?

 

[GaryA]

Wow! Casey, I never knew you were an artiste! hahaha!! It looks like some of that European influence has rubbed off on you!

Merry Christmas, Pal!

 

[Casey]

Thanks Gary! Happy Holidays to you as well!
Not sure how much has rubbed off on me, I still bring bags of Starbucks coffee over here with me!
Say hello to Jason and his family also!

 

[PHILIP]

I have a drawing of what I propose to do when my car is shipped, I can email it to you as I do not know how to post here.

It consists of two rails the full length of the container and four cross rails the full width of the container, I then plan to have the rails positioned under the car and fix the cross members ensuring that the car cannot move and tying the frame around the wheel so that it cannot come apart from the frame.

 

[SoCal Rebell]

There are 4 holes in the frame rails to tie down a viper correctly, 2 just behind the rear wheels facing outside and 2 just to the rear of the front tires facing the inside. You should use "R" hooks but you can hook a 10,000 lb strap with hook to the frame, you should cross them in a "X" for less latteral movement. Use 4 10,000 lb. straps to be safe, the container could flip over and the car would still be secure.

 

[Mopar Steve]

Be sure to mark the container... "THIS SIDE UP"