I just got some of that E Track tie down plates for my trailer and was wondering what the best way to attach it to the trailer is. I got 5 foot sections that have 30 holes down each side for a total of 60 for each track. I have 4 of them. My trailer is an open trailer with a wood 2x6 deck. I was going to use 1/4"x2 1/2" bolts to attach it to the deck but do I need to use 60 bolts, or can it be something like every other hole or even every third hole. Remember all these bolts will only be going through wood except just a couple which will go through the metal braces underneath. Even if I do use all 60 bolts, will this still be strong enough?

Thanks

Ron

I have never used E-track, but my engineering understanding of it (yes I am an engineer) is that it gets is strength from distributing the load over a large area. So you can use a number of smaller bolts to do the work of only a few big ones.


So 60 sounds like overkill and it probably is, but it should be the strongest.

Make sure you hit the holes that are over the the frame rails- most most the strength is there, and then done on every 3-6" in between. Use grade 8 hardware/bolts.