30 USES FOR ZIP-TIES: TIPS FROM OFF-ROAD RACERS

30 USES FOR ZIP-TIES

Fantastic plastic fabrication, off-road-style By the staff of Dirt Wheels

Whether you call them “cable wraps,” “tie wraps” or “zip-ties,” off-road racers are finding more and more creative uses for the tools originally intended for electricians. If you’ve looked closely at the Factory Polaris Racing Pro R builds of Cayden MacCachren and Brock Heger (January 2025) and the Honda Off-Road Factory Racing Talon of Zach Sizemore (March 2024), those in-house builds are very clean with only a few zip-ties visible. Running electrical wires inside frame tubes is clean, but care must be taken to prevent chafing points and to protect wires inside looms. Otherwise, a malfunction in a race will take extra time extracting wires and troubleshooting the problem.

Other teams use zip-ties for anything and everything, way beyond bundling wires to keep them out of harm’s way and organized. Here are but a few creative ways UTV and ATV racers use zip-ties to bulletproof their rides. And, if you ever find yourself in handcuffs, stick the pull-tab into the ratchet mechanism to go hands-free in seconds (carry it in your back pocket).

RACER’S USES FOR ZIP-TIES

1. Attach spare lug nuts to the frame with zip-ties. If a marksman drops a bullet at the shooting range, it doesn’t go into the gun.

2. Zip-ties are great for securing nets or wings in the A-pillar triangle. Tabs, bolts and nuts weigh more than plastic.

3. Use small sections of fuel line or vent hose and zip-ties to secure oil, coolant, or vent hoses while also insulating it from heat sources.

4. Secure push-to-talk radio wires to your steering wheel and stem, leaving coils slack for steering.

5. Use small zip-ties to secure insulation to your hydration system hoses; your water will stay cool longer.

6. Use zip-ties to mount your multi-tool case to the cage, as you’ve got to have the cutter handy to release those spare lug nuts.

7. Can-Am X3s have exposed master-cylinder reservoirs where they can be damaged by roost. Marc Burnett protects them with weather stripping held on by, you guessed it, zip-ties.

8. While coated stainless steel brake lines are fairly stiff, they still can be damaged in races, so secure them to the frame and suspension arms as needed with zip-ties.

9. Bundle a wad of zip-ties to your B-pillar or cage with more zip-ties. That way you’ll always have some on hand.

10. Zip-tie your transponder to your frame, intrusion bar or front bumper as far forward as you can without exposing it to roost.

11. Coil your tow strap, loose harness ends, and spare Y-strap ends to prevent flapping, fraying and other damage, and secure with zip-ties.

12. Secure spare CVT belts on your cage and B-pillars so that you can quickly access for speedy belt changes.

13. Even though you’re strapped in, extreme impacts can cause helmet-to-cage or frame contact. Zip-tie foam cushions to the tubes to soften the blow.

14. Speed up driver and navigator swaps by securing your radio wires to your fresh-air hoses so you don’t have to fish for them.

15. Mount door bags for tools, rags, energy bars, octane booster, etc. Marc Burnett marks the SCORE courses and has bags for hammers, ribbons, and staplers.

16. A ripped CV boot lets the grease escape, and the CV eventually fails. Zip-ties and koozies are good ways to stop the bleeding.

17. While most race builds have solid mounts for the jack, pre-runners often carry a scissor jack under the seat. Keep it from flopping around by zip-tying it to the seat mount.

18. The plastic pin retainers on most fire extinguishers are pretty flimsy; zip-ties are a more secure option.

19. Attach and secure coolant overflow hoses with zip-ties instead of hose clamps.

20. Most wire connectors in looms have plastic-tab anchors, but it’s a good idea to use a zip-tie on each side to make sure the connector can’t detach.

21. Tom St. Peter attaches a bungee cord to Code’s fresh-air hose so it’s always in the right place.

22. Desert racing rules require competitors to carry safety reflectors to alert others that a vehicle is stopped for repairs. Zip-tie them to the frame or cage.

23. Large zip-ties are great for securing CVT ducts to the cover and routing them to cooling airflow.

24–25. Marc Burnett uses zip-ties to route and secure hoses to cool the rear inner CV joints and anchor DEI aluminum heat shields to hoses and wires close to the exhaust.

26. Since lighting changes depending on the length of the race, LED wiring looms are usually external, so they need to be secured to the frame, A-pillar or bumper.

27. Dirt bikers put zip-ties on their fork legs to see if they’re using all available travel and for tuning. That works on shock shafts, too.

28–29. RZR Pro Rs present a special problem when using limit straps on the rear shocks. Wayne Matlock wraps the left rear strap with DEI aluminum heat shields and secures with zip-ties, and he anchors a bungee with ties to pull the strap away from the headers when the shocks compress.

30. Racers secure GPS antennae with sections of fuel hose and zip-ties to A-pillars for a secure and clean install. Here, we also see frame cushions, wings and cube LED wires secured by zip-ties.