Why do my straps do this, and how to stop it?

try it one time before you comment on it. it works nothing like what you’re describing.

 

I can’t try it, none of the trailers I’ve ever hauled had one installed. My theory is that the tie down plate become a thing as a result of that stupid regulation of not strapping outside the tie bar, which was later repealed.
Anyway, if you cannot wrap around it, just hook to it (which is what it looks like to me from the pictures attached to this discussion), it works exactly how I think. I hooked straps under the deck before, and if it gets loose, that hook end will just fly away. That’s just what it is.

 

I was just about to suggest that... at Western Express, my trainer called that a DOT wrap. Make sure you keep the strap lined up with the hook before tightening