A big no no......warning

[Bob&Patty]

Last Friday afternoon I hook up to the Horn and took it to our camping spot at a local CG. I had a ratchet type tie down laying in the bed of the truck. No big deal...RIGHT.........WRONG. About half way to the CG...someone put a 12 ga shotgun to my ear and pulled the trigger.

I soiled my underware, looked in my mirrors to see if all the tires were still there. Just spent $1200.00 for new GY's. All the tires were still on the TV and Horn. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw that the back glass on the Chebby was missing. HUH??? WHAT??? Where did it go??? I found out where it went....all over the back seat....thats where. Its now of those "what the @#%$^&^%" moments.

I continued on to the CG, just a few more miles and this is what I found. The tie down was gone...vanished....poooofed...no where to be found. There was 2 big dents on the back of the cab and just above that was a dent in the back glass frame. Another "OK I give up" moments. Upon futher investigation, this what had happened.

The loose end of the tie down had been sucked down between the cab and the bed. The strap had wrapped itself around the driveshaft. I think you all get the picture now. The buckle was what hit the cab and blasted the glass. The only thing left of the tie down was the strap....the ratchet and the hooks were gone. You could see where the hard parts were hitting every thing underneith. They could have punched a hole in the fuel tank. I found out today at work that this has happened before to one of our customers.

This now my WARNING.....NEVER....EVER... leave a loose tie down in the bed of your TV. At least when towing. The tie down had been in the bed of the TV for 2 weeks and never moved. Apparantly the turbulence caused by the 5'er caused this the happen. Tie down..$5.00....new back glass....$500.00. Lesson learned.

 

[debh]

thanks for the warning. i leave tie downs in the back all the time. will remove them now since im getting ready to head out the door for work.

sorry about your glass!

 

[Recovered from 25-May-2010]

Sorry to hear about the new truck Bob. I have heard of this happening before. Others have had this happen with the strap for their bed cover. Sucks under the truck, wraps the drive shaft and crack! No back window loss for them though. Thank you for sharing.

 

[dbylinski]

So sorry to hear about your damage and we know your pain. Ours was a block of wood and we still don't have the fiberglass repair estimate.

Anyone with a retracting bed cover with a draw strap needs to be aware of this as well. We had our strap follow the same path and the noise is awful. I can understand fully why you stained your shorts.

 

[dbylinski]

I've always, and I mean always secured the loose end of my tie-down straps back to themselves. As far as entire loose straps, I may have but rarely, typically I roll them up or throught them in front of the drivers seat.

Sorry this had to happen, I believe it still falls under the "Act of God clause" and insurance may cover it.

Best of luck thanks for the warning.

 

[dbylinski]

Wow Jim that's scary. We were both typing the same thought at the same time!

 

[Rockerga]

WOW! Thanks for the warning, I do that all the time, but NOT ANYMORE! Sorry to hear about your troubles though!

 

[truknutt]

I don't care who you are...THAT SUCKZ!! Sorry for your loss Bob.

 

[4ever]

Thanks for posting the warning. Perhaps someone else will be spared what happended to you. Just be thankful that no one was in the back seat and no one got hurt. This could have been much worse.

Ted

 

[mesteve]

Had something similar happen, although without the horrible ending. First day with a new roll top cover I unhooked the strap to clear the 5ver hitch. when I stopped, the strap was between the cab and bed. Lesson learned for me that day.

Sorry about the window and thanks for sharing.

 

[VixPix]

Hate to hear about your experience - glad nobody was injured. During lot's of towing with a new roll-top cover, the pull strap would flop around in the turbulence until it finally broke the hook (not the strap.) It caught my attention when the strap started slapping the back window - thankfully without the metal clip attached. So, I bought a heavy-duty replacement clip. Then whenever towing, I use a bungee cord to put tension on the strap which has kept me from a repeat occurrence. Just connect it to a tie-down hook inside the front corner of the bed and the other end hooked around the strap. The right sized bungee cord provides flexibility to leave the top completely open, or partially closed while subduing the strap's wild turbulence-induced flapping attempts for freedom.

 

[Jomax]

Not to hijack this thread, but I have a thick rubber mat (bed protector) that is cut into 3 similar size sections to fit around my fifth wheel rails, Is this a danger of blowing out too?? I would say the sections are 5/8 in thick

 

[jimtoo]

Yes, anything can and at sometime probably will blow out of the bed of a pickup. If it was all one piece, most likely not,, used one for years. But have had customers that cut them up and then loose pieces.

 

[Bob&Patty]

I agree with Jim. I have had wheel cholks blow out when pulling the 5er. It seems that a 5er creates alot of turbulence in the bed. Best not have anything in the bed that is not secured.

 

[newbie]

Great post. Sorry about the damage you incurred though. I will now make it routine to remove my straps and secure the loose ends.

john

 

[scotty]

Not to hijack this thread, but I have a thick rubber mat (bed protector) that is cut into 3 similar size sections to fit around my fifth wheel rails, Is this a danger of blowing out too?? I would say the sections are 5/8 in thick

Yes, been there, done that, bought that T shirt. Same mat, same picture. Still don't know where back portion of mat landed, but lost it, be careful.