Off Roading Cars Without Recovery Points

[skillsaw]

A tip... . if you use chain to pull, when you double the hook back to the chain to make the loop (if applicable), use a little duct tape to hold the hook-to-chain connection. Nothing worse than getting all set, everybody's in position, & you go to pull & are not hooked to the car because the hook had a bit of slack in it & jumped off the chain!!

Another Duct tape innovation!!! Quack! Quack!



Enjoy,

-Erik

 

[JMarhofke]

All vehicles have some sort of "tie down" or recovery point. They are needed for transportation. The majority of the "jap" cars have a visible loop or hook. Other vehicles may have a "slot", for a "T" or "R" hook, or a "mini J" hook. You just have to know where to look. Unfortunately with a society full of "sue happy" people, I no longer offer assistance to pull someone out of a snowbank. I will offer to call the police or a tow truck. A good tow company as the equipment and the know how to recover "stuck" vehicles. Plus, they pay a very high insurance premium for this "privilege" of recovery. If you, or someone else gets injured, or a vehicle gets damaged, would your insurance cover you ? On another note, I do prefer a good "recovery strap" over a chain, due to the fact it "absorbs" the "shock" load if a "jerk" is required. With all of the plastic pieces, and lower air damm's, a strap is less likely to cause damage. Also, a piece of old fire hose can be slid over your strap, and moved around to protect it from cuts & abrasions.



Jim

 

[DKarvwnaris]

Unfortunately with a society full of "sue happy" people, I no longer offer assistance to pull someone out of a snowbank. I will offer to call the police or a tow truck.

If you, or someone else gets injured, or a vehicle gets damaged, would your insurance cover you ?

This is avery good point, to date I have yet to ever have a problem with this, I hear our state has passed laws now that if you pull a vehicle out of a ditch, you can be charged with helping to flee the scene of an accident. It is supposed to target drunk drivers. Go figure, I still won't leave some poor family stuck in the middle of nowhere if there is no cel coverage or help available. Judgement is my best friend, if its unibody, I tend to think twice unless its an easy pull.





On another note, I do prefer a good "recovery strap" over a chain, due to the fact it "absorbs" the "shock" load if a "jerk" is required. With all of the plastic pieces, and lower air damm's, a strap is less likely to cause damage. Also, a piece of old fire hose can be slid over your strap, and moved around to protect it from cuts & abrasions.



Jim

I like recovery straps for warm weather assistance, but as of last year, I won't use them in the winter anymore. I had a strap that was fell into a slushy puddle and formed ice up in the webbing, it snapped in half while tugging out a Ranger pickup. It was brand new with steel hooks on each end.

A 50 ft 3/8" chain w/ a protective sleeve (2" fabric hose section) are all I use now once the snow hits. You can shake the ice loose on them and shorten them down much easier than anthing else.

Cables are good, but make me nervous, Back in my Navy days, I saw too many safety lectures showing them break and recoil into things much thicker than automotive sheetmetal or flesh to trust them for tugging on. Winch lines are even a last resort for me, I try to keep them as short as possible and use chain to make up the difference.

 

[DKarvwnaris]

By the way, have you guys seen the email going around with the idiots trying to pull a GEO Storm off a snowbank with a little Nissan frontier pickup? Absolutely hysterical, incredible morons to say the least. I don't have a place to post it online, if there's a place to upload it here, I will.

The entire back of the car,... well, you have to watch it. :--)

 

[rbattelle]

I discuss chains a bit in the next TDR. Get a good grade of chain, either Grade 70 "transport" which is usually gold colored, or grade 80, usually black. 80 is approved for lifting, 70 is for load binding. Be sure the hooks are equivalent in grade, not "high test" or grade 40. Better chain is not heavier, and you can use a smaller chain (less weight) for the same strength. For the Rams, I like grade 80 in 3/8 with a working load limit of 7100 lb at a safety factor of 4. For smaller stuff, 5/16" would be enough at 5300 lb (6600 and 4700 respectively in grade 70). Avoid the cheap hardware grade 30 and lower stuff. Even grade 40 is heavy for its capacity. 1/2" grade 40 is rated 9200 lb and weighs 3 lb per foot, vs. 1. 5 lb/ft for 3/8" in grade 80. Grade 80 in 1/2" is rated 12,000 lb. Occasionally you can find grade 100 in rigging shops with 8800 lb rating at 3/8" diameter. If you find some "remnants" you can pay very little, but at regular price, grade 40 and 70 run about $2. 30 and 2. 99 per foot (3/8), while grade 80 is $5. 90 (and gr 100 is 6. 30) from a supplier whose catalog is handy. I got my chains from a big rigging shop (Jake's wire rope) in Las Vegas when I lived there. As remnants, they were cheap, a fraction of their regular price.

Do places like TSC sell these kinds of chain? Can you point me to a website where I might order some high quality chain on a per-foot basis?



-Ryan

 

[pwknapp]

I carry a 8x10 tarp to put over the tow strap or chain. Amazing how this "parachute" keeps stuff from flying.

 

[MKoth]

I prefer straps much more then chains. I usually have a few 4" x 30' straps in the truck, they have been through a lot and show no sighn of fraying or weakness.



I will not use a strap with hooks on the end, like the kind they sell at wal mart, I have seen too many tailgates dented and even a few windows broken from these types of straps.

 

[DKarvwnaris]

I prefer straps much more then chains. I usually have a few 4" x 30' straps in the truck, they have been through a lot and show no sighn of fraying or weakness.



I will not use a strap with hooks on the end, like the kind they sell at wal mart, I have seen too many tailgates dented and even a few windows broken from these types of straps.

You are right, I mispoke, I had/ have "D" rings in the ends of my straps. They work in some factory truck tow hooks, but mostly for hooking into the receiver hitch tubes. I have doubled the straps back through them before without damage to the straps.

Still prefer chains in the winter to straps. Summer time I grab whatever is closer in the toolbox usually my straps.

 

[MMiller]

The whole secret with chains is, NEVER yank. They will work almost for ever if you pull them tight then apply the power. When using them to remove stuck farm equipment I was taught to pull the chain tight, then let the clutch out all the way. The snap will break chains. Of course out wheeling in the middle of the night I broke this rule, but the chains were always over kill for pick up trucks.



I realize that yanking is sometimes the only option, but it is how straps, chains, clevises, and everything else breaks.



Dunno about what to do with todays cars, I just say "I hook up my end you hook up yours, and red and I will be gentle. "



I NEVER take money for helping people, unless they call me at 3 am, on a dirt road stuck up to the rocker panels.



Michael

 

[MKoth]

I NEVER take money for helping people, unless they call me at 3 am, on a dirt road stuck up to the rocker panels.



Michael

Same here, but I have been known to take an adult beverage or two for compensation. :-laf



Matt

 

[rbattelle]

I was just reviewing this thread in light of the recent blizzard activity many of us have seen.



Still don't have a single "rescue" to my credit this year!



After this thread, I did pick myself up some 3/8" transport (grade 70) chain and a couple 3/8" (7100 lb WLL) chain hooks for the ends. Only about 8 ft. of it, since I just needed something to connect the vehicle to my tow strap.



Ryan

 

[mcsinfl]

Another tip that I discovered the hard way, make sure their wheels are turned straight. I pulled a guy out with his wheels hard cut over, start pulling, hear a bunch of noise as the front fender proceeds to get ripped out by the deep snow. If his wheels would've been straight, they would have followed the entry path back out.

 

[bmoeller]

I'd like to use a chain instead of beating up my tow straps, but I'm always very afraid of breaking a chain. I know it's bad bad bad to mix metal and nylon... what's a good size chain that I don't have to worry about? 3/8 seems beefy but it would certainly be the weak point in my equipment

I have a 5/16"x 14' high strength chain. Don't recall the grade, but it is what they use on transport trucks or flatbeds. I've pulled over 32k# with it, and have not broken it or even stretched a link on it at all. Bought it at a farm store in Des Moines. Now called Valu-bilt.



Slow and steady pulls. No jerking.

 

[JFlagg]

I have some good chains I could use, though I haven't had a chance yet. One inch links/schedule 80 Aquired them from the military, they were recovery chains from a six wheel drive 5 ton wrecker. They probably weigh more than some vehicles I've pulled out:-laf Though I prefer straps if I have to pull you out, couldn't passup some free chains!

 

[MCummings]

By the way, have you guys seen the email going around with the idiots trying to pull a GEO Storm off a snowbank with a little Nissan frontier pickup? Absolutely hysterical, incredible morons to say the least. I don't have a place to post it online, if there's a place to upload it here, I will.

The entire back of the car,... well, you have to watch it. :--)

Buddy,



It's posted earlier in this same thread. Page 1 my friend. .



Merrick

 

[DiTrani]

I watched a CAT front-end-loader pull a diesel pickup pulling a ~25' boat that was stuck in the sand (to the axles) at the bottom of a boat ramp at low tide, using 3/8" G70 chain (pretty sure, it looked just like my G70 chains).



I was sure either the chain or the tow hook on the pickup was going to break, but nope.



I wouldn't worry for a second about breaking a G70 or G80 5/16" or bigger chain pulling a car out of the snow. I wouldn't use it to pull another diesel stuck in the mud, or anything like that, but cars in snow are usually nothing.



I also not worry about breaking people's cars and alway hook up my strap or chain myself so I know I'm not going to break anything. Life's too short for that kind of worry.



Did a lot of little yanks the other week when we had that snow->rain->drop-to-5-deg-F storm. Tires frozen in 6" of ice at the curbs.

 

[DZink24]

I missed a heck of an opportunity! (18 wheeler)

Last week at work, one of our 18 wheelers sat dead in a below-grade dock at Wally-world. Wouldn't even turn over, (dead alternator or something). International w/48' box and 8 pallets of product on board. The driver had to call the shop, the lead tech ended up coming out with the company's 2005 Chebby 3500 chassis cab (tool boxes on back) Dmax. Hooked it up (chain) dropped to low range 4x4, and yes, eventually ended up walking it out. I still get picked on for not being there to give it a try with my truck, he says I couldn't do it, I think I could have, (with a pallet of salt in back).



What I was always told, when helping out someone, they hook up to their vehicle, and they are to keep it in N when getting pulled, so they don't find your rear bumper when you free them.

 

[Schlickenmeyer]

Yeah, me too. I missed two stuck at work, beached in mid turn. No chains.

What kind of money is a good chain going to cost? The pic of me pulling a semi out would be worth a couple sheckels.