A practical design method was proposed for the reliability-based wind resistant optimization of transmission line towers. Firstly, the failure modes and their key elements were identified, and their safety margin equations were established. Second, the failure modes with a reliability index of less than the target reliability index were optimized by strengthening its key element. Lastly, the system reliability index was calculated, and the failure mode with the least reliability index would be optimized if the system reliability index was less than the target reliability. An optimization example of a tower under several wind speeds was given and the results show: 1) there were key elements in the whole failure path, and the structure would be well strengthened if the key element was strengthened;2) it was a method in which the weak points were eliminated directly to strengthen the whole structure and it was very effective; 3) as the wind speed increased, it would be less effective; and 4) the method was simple and its results were reasonable.