Stehl tow dolly tire strap question

Thanks for all the input. I did not use the pull into technique, I was pulling as far forward as possible, as one thing I notice is that if I didn't, it wouldn't always tilt back into position for me to lock down after driving it up onto the dolly(which I always did before strapping down the tires, so may have to change that procedure, strap down the tires then lock into place where it pivots). There is a good possibility that some stretching did occur, since it is brand new.

I know some of the interstates we were on did not help, as some were in really poor shape and cause a lot of bouncing in the RV, so I can only imagine what was happening on the tow dolly.

I also have a Steil tow dolly for 10 years. I have never had a strap loosen up or come off. My straps fit on both sides of the tire and the top. When secured on the winch the only way to loosen is by stretching. You must make sure the handle is at rest and tighten enough to squeeze the tire. you must also insert the u shaped clip facing away from the tire to ensure it cannot come out of the steel loop that holds it.

The pull into position method has been extolled here many times. In addition it has been further recommended to tighten the tie down strapS to the point of compressing the tire somewhat. The effect is increased tension on the ratchet device thereby increasing the likelihood the tension will be maintained. As far as the comment regarding the safety chains, use of the chains would be mandatory in my mind. As far as tightening the safety chains to secure the toad to the dolly is concerned I don't know how appropriate that would be. It would be simple to do, given there is enough room between the toad hook point and the dolly hook point using a boomer.

Yep, I had this problem when we towed with a dolly. Had a wheel come completely out of its strap once. Like you, was frequently tightening, adjusting the straps, and never got to where I could trust those straps. Due to that mistrust, I upgraded to very heavy duty safety chains holding the car to the dolly, to make sure the car would never get loose.

One thing I did that helped: Even though instructions say to drive car right up until front tires are up against front 'stop' or whatever on the dolly, I'd instead come within 'bout 1" or so and stop. Then, when tightening the straps, it'd pull the car forward the rest of the way, and the straps would be tensioned more equally front to back. Doing that prevented a wheel from ever getting completely out of a strap again, but the straps still got loose occasionally, and I never could trust them.

Ultimate way I solved the problem: Sold the dolly, spent a bunch more $$ and set up our vehicle to tow 4 down. :) My lack of trust in those straps was the main reason we went away from using a dolly.

We briefly owned a Stehl Tow dolly. Came with an RV we bought and we only used it to tow our car home. It worked fine, but I recall that the previous owners had two sets of those straps. They first used it with a smallish car, then went to a small SUV that still had much bigger tires.

Rude to answer a question with a question, but:

Are your strap assemblies too small to cradle the toad tires solidly?