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Best recovery option?


Mutley

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Some of you may have read my earlier post on "Nearly lost the Defender"?

Now i am not totaly stoopid! Though the wife can put up a good atguement to say different!?! I have a quality 8ton tow rope and two 4.75ton bow shackles with blue pins and stamped WLL plus acouple of lorry staps.

But during the course of getting the Defender out i had no choice to use the front off side chassi towing eye. And boy did it have a job to do! Thankfully it held even when we had to pull it almost at right angles!!! Anyway that trauma is gladly behind me, but on cheking the Defender over and stroking it, lots of stroking, patting and more stroking.....OK enough already it's only a motor! Well not to me!..... I digress, back to the thread, checking the motor i noticed the chassi towing eye we used was slightly bent. Not much considering what it went through, so was wandering would replacing them with MOD jate rings  or the Luke towing/recovery eye (looks like nylon strap/loop) be a better option, god forbid in simular situation? Or is there better options besides DONT get in that situation!

 

Edited by Mutley
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Jate rings are a good inconspicuous option if you don't plan to purchase a stronger than standard bumper. Oh and if you don't have a tow bar, fit a pair at the rear too.

I would suggest though that you use both sides together, with a bridle rope to spread the load.

This is the kind of configuration I mean.

5a65e758c39c7_Bridlerope.JPG.89dbb04d7c974707d5b1dcd03d3ab409.JPG

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The eye that you used sounds like the tie-down eye for securing the vehicle on a boat or aircraft deck, or a trailer.  They're not for towing or recovery, and are likely to break the bolts when pulled sideways like you had to.  If you're really worried, then jackable sills, rock sliders or whatever else you call them, fitted with side recovery points at each end, would be the best option.  They'd only need to be an attachment point to get a shackle through, but with one at each end, you could stabilise the vehicle very well, and even use them as a fulcrum to drive the vehicle out in an arc around the ground anchor point.  Mounted at that height, they should stop both sliding and rolling over.  

You could also use a screw-in eye with captive nuts and spreaders on the inside of the sills, as a cleaner looking alternative (rubber caps to prevent dirt getting into the threads when not in use would be a good idea).

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Tose eyes Snagger and Ralf are discussing are used by Land Rover for recovery !!!!.

Me I do recovery DIFFERENT to everybody else. I recover from the axles. That way you don't pull the body and chassis from the axles

 

 

Edited by mmgemini
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4 hours ago, mmgemini said:

Me I do recovery DIFFERENT to everybody else. I recover from the axles. That way you don't pull the body and chassis from the axles

 

Mike, I agree that the axle is a good place to pull from. However, most 4x4s I end up recovering at play days generally have their axles very well buried/submerged in the mud. If they don't have suitable accessible recovery points fitted I invite the driver to attach my strap around the axle themselves. They're not often that keen on the idea despite my suggestion that they could always stay in there. Although the look on their faces is priceless I've learned not to trust what they THINK they've attached to.
I had a Jeep Cherokee driver attach the strap to his steering bar last year. Needless to say it didn't end well for him, and this of course leads to getting the blame for his truck getting damaged!

So I guess you can understand why I like strong bumpers with integral recovery points on an offroader.

This is how the idiots roll. Not even a towbar if I recall.

Recover.JPG.c57fabef0fa80fd591621bdc5aef7917.JPG

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5 hours ago, mmgemini said:

Tose eyes Snagger and Ralf are discussing are used by Land Rover for recovery !!!!.

Me I do recovery DIFFERENT to everybody else. I recover from the axles. That way you don't pull the body and chassis from the axles

 

 

They're still weak, regardless.  As for recovery by axles, great when they're accessible and the vehicle is safe and stable, but I wouldn't fancy getting under Mutley's in that circumstance.

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When I've needed to do a recovery I've always used the rear axle or rear tow-hitch.

And sometimes a Tirfor!

One thing I never understand is why when doing a recovery so many people try to pull the stuck vehicle out forwards: to me this is just dragging it further into the problem!

Makes far more sense to me to drag it out backwards, following the route it went in - that way you've at least got some knowledge that it's actually possible.

"It went in that way, it's got to be able to get out the same way".

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Tanuki I remember, now youve said it. My shift foreman had to go and recover a single decker bus. They had to jsck on the wheel rim but I now remember beting told to pull out the way it went in.

Has anybodtgot the picture of the blue 90 ? that pulled the chassis off the axles ? 

 

 

Edited by mmgemini
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Steering guards with integral towing eyes are a good thing. But if no guard, a decent forged JATE ring would be an improvement on the lashing rings, which do a surprising amount of damage when they go ping on the end of a nylon towrope.

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6 hours ago, BogMonster said:

Steering guards with integral towing eyes are a good thing. But if no guard, a decent forged JATE ring would be an improvement on the lashing rings, which do a surprising amount of damage when they go ping on the end of a nylon towrope.

I'm not a fan as I've not seen many steering guards which look as solid as a proper JATE ring.

Also they make great ploughs, I prefer the uprated steering bars approach rather than protect the weak!

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I've seen many a mishap recovering 4x4's stuck in good... I agree that taking them out the opposite way to that which they got stuck is normally a safer option. But I personally think that the best observation that I can make is avoid snatch recovery at all costs... once momentum gets involved something is going to give, quickly :blink:

I'm wondering if a pre-installed strap on the rear axle wouldn't be a better bet? There must be away to install something and hold it out of harm's way, say with some thin cable ties... that would snap off when pressure is applied..

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Recovering by the axle is just begging to crush a brake line, or damage the breather... plus putting your strap underneath the vehicle where it could damage things when tensioning. Can't say I'd ever do it if I had any other option.

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Are but damned if you and damned if you don't... it is possible to rip crossmembers off the car, and it is equally possible to drag the axle off and leave the rest behind... A rear tow hitch on a drop type mount is the best of all worlds as it connects to both the chassis rails and the cross member.... sometimes you really can't beat a hi-lift jack and a shovel! From watching some of the Utube cockups it is very obvious that immediatly you get stuck, stop... otherwise you will dig a very deep hole for yourself... and try and recover in a upwards direction... as they say everyone needs a little lift every now and then. Trying to bulldozer your way through a wall of mud is not that easy, it's better to try and get on top of it!

Edited by miggit
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56 minutes ago, elbekko said:

Recovering by the axle is just begging to crush a brake line, or damage the breather... plus putting your strap underneath the vehicle where it could damage things when tensioning. Can't say I'd ever do it if I had any other option.

how ?

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