How to Secure a Vehicle to Your Trailer

If you’ve never secured a car or truck to a trailer, you may not realize just how difficult it can be. Not only are a number of important tools required, but you need to be extremely careful or you’ll end up damaging both your trailer and your vehicle. To help you get the hang of tying down a car, and ensure you have all of the necessary tools on hand, we’ve written up the helpful guide below.

Tools You’ll Need

Before you try loading up a vehicle into your trailer, you’ll need to be sure that you have all of the necessary tools on hand. While straps and hooks are arguably the most important equipment required to secure a vehicle, we also want to encourage you to purchase a helpful set of wheel chocks, just to be safe. If you haven't already, be sure to double-check the anchors on your equipment before purchasing any hooks, as some models may not be compatible with your trailer’s anchors.

How to Secure Your Vehicle

To begin securing your vehicle, you’ll first want to place your wheel chocks down behind each of your car’s tires. Next, take your straps and wrap them around the wheels or chassis of your car. While either method will keep your vehicle safe and secure, experts agree that attaching the straps to the car’s wheels or axles is often better for its suspension. Once this is done, grab the hooks at the end of each strap and attach them to your trailer’s anchors. Use the adjuster located on each belt to fix the strap so it’s just taut enough to hold your vehicle in place. Now your car is secured to the trailer, and you can drive confidently!

Missing some of the helpful equipment on our list? You’ll have no problem finding it at our location here in Tucson, Arizona! Here at APC Trailers, we offer a number of helpful trailer accessories, parts, and models for sale, and we proudly serve the nearby cities of both Phoenix and Casa Grande, Arizona.