Front hitch question

[BK]

Steve, thats sweet, gotta get me one.



#ad




There ya go Okie-Go... perfect. short and sweet perfect.



I use the strap to tow them off the beach, but I since I got the winch I figure why add the abuse onto the truck. I'll bet the folks you run into on the dunes are better drivers than the most of the folks I wind up pulling out on our beach. Ever since the SUV crazy. . we get those that figure they now have their allmighty 4X4 and wont get stuck. . they chew up the beach and keep on the throttle till they sink it deep. Most I come across I air down their tires to 12lbs. . when I ask them, they say they did... . check em, their at 38lbs. . so what did they air them down from???

Then they say. . "well , I got big tires on my amazing 'truck'... . " they really have 235x75x15... . but it's bigger than their Volvo's tires I guess.

So usually we can just air them down and drive them out. . to their utter amazement... . but than there are those that also decide to tow their trailer out for the 1st time and just dont air anything down. And some just dont learn, repeat offenders. Most of the time gotta air them down and winch them out of the pits they dug spinning the wheels... And on occasion. . they blow something... trannies, drive shafts. . clutches. . all because they dont know how to drive and air down. The beach attracts the mom on saturday with the SUV full of kids after soccer practice... most just dont understand. . if it's stuck, "gotta come free if I just push the gas pedal harder"... .

Ughh, they're destroying the place.

We got a law passed about 15 years ago to make it a ticket if your not airdown on the State beaches. . havent been able to get the county or towns to pass the same law. But we did get the county to post signs saying you should be aired down to 15psi.



Ohwell, I'll get off my soap box.



Bob

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

LOL - man does THAT sound familiar!! Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) for us you have to drive up a sand hill (a little over two truck widths) for about a 1/2 mile to get onto the dunes. The newbies get stuck on the entrance road if they don't air down. The fortunate part is they don't get stuck in bad situations, the unfortunate part is they get stuck on the entrance road and unless they are on one side or the other stop traffic onto the dunes. I carry a core removal tool and pressure gauge with me, first thing I do is check tire pressures - 99% of the time we just air them down properly and then tell them to hop in and get moving (which almost always works). If they are aired up all the way and there's a long line I'll just hook the strap to em and drag them up the entrance road to get them out of the way. Depending on their attitude at that point I will either help them with airing down or leave them stranded there. I don't beat on them too hard - I was a newbie 8 years ago when we aired my brothers truck down to 30 psi ( ) and got stuck on the dunes - sure seemed like low pressure to us at the time!! LOL



Okie, for what you're looking for you'll have NO problems with any of the solutions out there. At the first GLTDR meeting I had a guy get stuck in my yard with his 2wd truck (really 1wd - no LSD) and a 5er. He had nothing to attach to in the front - we ended up hooking my strap to his front axle after basically removing his air dam (so it didn't get busted) - pulled him out no problem, but you have to have faith in the "puller" that he'll take the slack out of the strap before pulling so that he doesn't yank you out. Given your usage I'd definately go with the front receiver, the warn clevis/shackle, and a good quality strap (Keeper is thus far my preferred strap).



-Steve

 

[BK]

So you got them too... I've been dealing with them for almost 25 years... but it's only gotten really bad in the last 12 - 15 years.



The best is the newbees that have seen all the cool driving scenes in movies of people driving through the surf. . where the water gently breaks and sheets up on the beach for 25 yards... . But by us the breaks are right at the beach edge and the sand gets really airated (sp?). And quick sand develops.



They drive along thinking it's cool , splashing through the SALT WATER surf ... and the next thing they know their no longer splashing water. It's like someone threw an anchor out and their taking water on through their doors and sinking faster than a cinder block into the air pockets till the body sits in the sand.

As the waves break, it starts to either bury the truck or bring it out if the tide is coming in.



Okie, it seems after much typing and fun, you've gotten a real good feel for what you need as Steve just summarized.



Goodnight Gents...



Bob

 

[Okie-Go]

Thanks for all the comments and reading, Very informative. I am kinda leaning toward the front hitch with the clevis set up. My uncle will be on the tractor and when I got pulled out before it was a smooth pull with no jerking at all. He even mentioned he needed to get straight so it would be pulling even on the rear hitch. I also like the idea if needed to put the hitch-haul in the front reciever to haul an ice chest or something, of course that is if it don't block the air flow to the radiator. Thanks again!

 

[RACE427]

Draw Tite

I installed the Draw Tite front receiver on my truck with no problems. You can hardly tell it is there. It works great with my frony rack set up to mount a cooler when I go fishing or hunting. I do not see any problems if I had to pull myself or someone else out of a jam with this setup. Draw-Tite is first quality hardware!! Simple enought to install, about 45 minutes with hand tools. Hope this helps!! Tony G