Tarp Straps

Tarp Ties Buying Guide

A tarp strap holds the tarp, not the cargo. Keep the two jobs separate. Cargo securement is arithmetic with legal consequences, and the hardware that does it lives elsewhere in this hub: ratchet straps over the load, and chain binders and lashing chains on the loads with edges that saw through webbing. Those hold the freight to the deck and count toward the FMCSA aggregate working load limit. Tarp straps come after that, once the cargo is already tied and the tarp is pulled over it. Their only job is to keep that tarp tight against wind, so it protects the load from rain, road spray, and debris instead of ballooning loose and tearing itself apart. Treat a tarp strap as a load tie-down and you have an unsecured load, because a stretch of rubber has no rated working load limit.

Natural rubber or EPDM: the compound sets the lifespan. This is the real decision, and every tie here is offered both ways. Natural rubber is the more elastic compound, stretches farther and snaps back harder for the money, and it stays pliable in the cold, which is why it is the default for general trucking and the lower-priced option in each length. What it does not love is sun. Ultraviolet light and ozone attack natural rubber over time, drying it out until it checks and cracks. EPDM, ethylene propylene diene monomer, is engineered for exactly that exposure: it shrugs off UV, ozone, and heat, so it holds its stretch far longer on trucks that live outdoors, run the sun belt, or cross the desert. Pay the small EPDM premium for straps that see hard sun and heat all year; run natural rubber where cost and cold-weather flex matter more than service life.

Size by the gap you span, not the weight. Length here is the strap body, and you pick it by the distance from your tarp grommet to the anchor point at rest, then leave room to stretch. The run goes 9, 15, 21, 31, and 41 inches. The usable reach is longer than the name: the 9 inch tie measures about 12.5 inches over the crimped hooks and stretches safely to roughly 16.5 inches, the 31 inch runs about 35 inches overall with a max safe stretch near 47 inches, and the 41 inch reaches about 45 inches overall and stretches to roughly 62 inches. Short ties handle tight grommet-to-rub-rail gaps and hold the most tension; the long ones bridge wide bows and deep side drops. A strap stretched near its safe limit holds its bite; one that hangs slack lets the tarp flap. Keep a couple of lengths on the truck rather than forcing one size to do everything.

The S-hook, the grommet, and even tension. Both ends arrive with a crimped, tempered-steel S-hook finished in zinc plating to fight corrosion in road salt and weather. The temper leaves them formable, so you can bend a hook open or tighter to match a stubborn grommet or a D-ring without it failing. Rigging is simple: hook one end into a tarp grommet or side D-ring, stretch across to the opposite anchor, set the second hook, and repeat at even intervals so the tension is uniform and no single section carries the whole tarp. Space them close along the leading edge and any seam, since that is where wind gets its first grip. Where a tarp edge rides over a sharp corner or an exposed strap crosses one, add corner and web protection so neither the tarp nor the tie abrades through, and reach for the reversible banners in flags when the tarped load runs oversize.

Buying by the box and pulling the cracked ones. Tarp ties are a consumable, and Kinedyne packages them 50 to a box, fully assembled, so a box runs from around $49 for the 9 inch natural rubber up to about $130 for the 41 inch EPDM, roughly a dollar or two per tie depending on length and compound. Keep spares in the side box, because these are the item you lose and wear out fastest. Inspect them the way you inspect everything else: pull any tie that shows surface cracking, dry rot, or UV checking, that has gone stretched-out and lost its snap, or whose S-hook has straightened or corroded through the plating. A dead tarp strap lets the tarp lift, and a lifting tarp at speed can shred itself and whatever it was protecting long before you notice in the mirror. At these prices, retire the questionable ones and move on.