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Weld-on Tie Down Points

DirtDonk

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Bronco Guru
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Nov 3, 2003
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Yeah, I hear you. And you two are probably correct.
But it still seems to me that the relative strength of a strap is that all the fibers are working together. But the point load of a pressure washer could attack individual threads. Especially as they spread apart under pressure. Which might not even be a thing of course, as they are pretty tightly woven and held together after all.
But it still seems off.
Luckily I don't pull out the pressure washer often enough to bother with it for cleaning straps. So I'll live in blissful ignorance while using the garden hose and trigger sprayer.😁

Paul
 

Steve83

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...the point load of a pressure washer...
Even if you use a 0° nozzle, the water doesn't stay in a point for even a couple of inches. It slows down & spreads out almost instantly. Try it with something that's significantly weaker, like a tomato or melon. See how close you have to get for the water to cut the skin. Or try it with the tail end of a strap - the end you pull through the ratchet, where it doesn't matter if some of the fibers are cut.
 

ntsqd

heratic car camper
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I'm not likely to use a pressure washer on either a winch line or a strap. Not because of the potential damage that the spray might do to them, but because any grit on the surface has a high probability of getting driven further into the weave by the high pressure spray.
I guess if you spray parallel to the surface of the line or webbing that won't happen, but I don't know how you might do that consistently.
 

nvrstuk

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Just a Bronco driver for over 50 yrs!
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Next time I have the pressure washer out I'll shoot the loose end of my knotted together red Warn strap... :)
 

nvrstuk

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OK.... sitting here on the deck after eating a late lunch & unloading my car trailer, stacked high 3X with dead pine/fir/poplar branches that I spent yesterday cutting off the lower trunks so.... I don't want to start another project cause my wife is making granola and we're going out for ice cream (regular treat) in the Bronco on this perfect 85 deg day after she's done... I'll report back as I find it hard to believe my pressure washer won't eat it up... curious George here... lol
 

nvrstuk

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Just a Bronco driver for over 50 yrs!
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Well, here's the results. 8Honda Hp, 3.6 gpm/2800psi

30 sec appr 1-2" away. 45deg & 30deg tips. Friend lost my 0 deg.

Looks fuzzier to me on the surface. Should have put my paint remover spinner/circle tip on. Too late now...

Also, I thought I'd pretty up that strap while I was at it... you can sure see the clean/dirt line!
 

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Steve83

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Friend lost my 0 deg.
I have one similar to this - it's very handy.
$12 2@$7.50ea https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GTXVTVP8/?tag=classicbroncos-20
3@$6.50ea https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GTY5T9DZ/?tag=classicbroncos-20
Looks fuzzier to me on the surface.
I'm not seeing anything in the pics that looks like PW damage. What's your on-the-spot IRL verdict?
...spray parallel to the surface of the line or webbing..., but I don't know how you might do that consistently.
Spool it out, hook it to something, take a little tension on it, and have a blast. For straps, stretch them down the length of your trailer to give them a flat surface to lie on.
 

nvrstuk

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Just a Bronco driver for over 50 yrs!
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What I was thinking that it was going to create more damage.

It really doesn't look like it's hurt at all but it looks a little fuzzier.

I don't think it's a good idea to hold the pressure washer one inch away and do this though.

The other thing I did do was I checked all the sewing thread patterns, and it looks like all my Vulcan ones, and even my 25-year-old straps that all I use for anymore on is for hauing hay, they're all sewn properly.
 

DirtDonk

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Nice bonus.
Think I’ll keep that chart handy for future reference.

Thanks for pulling out the equipment to do a real world check. Sounds like standard pressure washing isn’t going to compromise a well made strap.
Interesting point brought up earlier, though, about forcing dirt and grit into the fibers. But at this point that doesn’t seem like a big problem either.
Eventually? Long-term? Still hard to say. But probably not.
 

ntsqd

heratic car camper
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Jan 30, 2005
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5,953
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Upper SoKA
Looks to me like most of the grime will be blasted off, but I'm still going to use a more gentle method. When I was rock climbing frequently some of us would use a laundromat to clean our ropes. No soap, just run the machine like it had some in it and then hang it to dry. The concern was what the soap would/could do to the rope and since we didn't know no soap was thought to be safer.
With tie-down straps having metal bits I think a simple soaking in a slightly soapy bucket will be the go-to. Same for the tow-strap, tree-savers, and dynamic recovery straps & ropes. That partly cut one of mine is just about due.
 
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