.I do not think they are needed BUT you should replace the winch strap every few years. I replace mine every 3 years. The sun is very hard on the material. I T-boned a person who ran a red light. I was doing about 50mph and did not have time to brake even slightly. The boat stayed on the trailer although it did slide about 3 feet forward. The bow strap was pulled out of the winch slightly but did not fail. The two rear straps were pulled out of their ratchets but the ratchets remained operational and those straps were tight! It was quite a high energy collision. I had a mild concussion from the impact and retina damage from the airbag. If the straps were going to fail, it would have been during this accident. DISCLAIMER, all involved in this accident survived and fully recovered.
