Whenever I catch a little crosswind, my tarp blows and stands up almost vertical. I now have two straps holding the support arms down against the tailgate. It is such a pain to get out and have to hook everything up everytime. Every other truck I see on the road just rolls their tarp out and they are gone. Do I need to get stronger springs for the arms? Do I need a longer tarp so that it will lay down into the bed more? I have very limited experience with a dump truck and am wondering what is going on here.
It is probably best to go to a shop that does dump truck tarps and have them repair it or install a new tarp system.
Is your tarp material screen mesh or solid canvas? On my single axle International dump I had a solid canvas tarp and I was having to secure it a lot of the time due to winds. My Western Star Super 10 has the screen mesh and I never have the problem. Also, the Western Star mesh tarp is new so the springs are stronger than the older solid tarp. I suspect that could also play a part.
No mesh. It is solid. Your right, that is probably the biggest problem. Maybe I should look into a mesh tarp. ON EDIT: I just did some checking and it appears that my tarp is made for hauling asphalt. Thos mesh tarps are pretty inexpensive so I think I will go ahead and get one and try it out.
You should be able to sell your solid tarp to an asphalt guy. They are pretty expensive. If it is in good shape, you may even come out even on the deal. Good luck.
Like Bob says, the mesh tarp will help. You might just double check that the dealer installed all of the springs that will fit, and that none of them are broken. Is this for the International in your photo's? Looks like an Ox Body with a Rolls Rite tarp?
The darn thing is brand new! I have hauled ~300 loads so far and 90% of those were mulch. I am going to order a mesh tarp tomorrow and run it for a few weeks. If that solves the problem, I will have a brand new asphalt tarp for sale! I took it to the shop last Friday to have them check on an engine fan problem and I am gonna have them check the tarp springs. There are 4 on each side and one of my employees said that his truck had 6 on each side. Do they make springs rated differently or are they basically all the same?