Recovery Technique Q&A

[Joe]

Seems to be a far bit of discussion in the SEQ 4x4 Training Day Trip Report thread about recoveries so I thought it may be a good idea to start new thread.

Anyone is free to post up questions and anyone who knows the answer or (more importantly) has some real world advice is welcome to post a reply. This thread is not intented to be the be all and end all in recoveries, but rather a healthy discussion on various techniques. Bare in mind that the answers you give could result someone using the technique, so please post responsibly. If you can let us know how you know something it would also help us qualify the answer.

[ag9111]

Reading the post you have highlighted. I have always been of the opinion, you only use the mimimum momentum that is required when snatching. If it doesnt work after two attempts, re-evaluate. Dig, winch, whatever. I have seen a snatch strap break and i'm very wary of them. Great when used well, but deadly in the hands of a moron.
Saying that, the forces involved in winching can be just as horrendous if done wrong and i have walked away from winching situations when the people involved would not listen. I have 20 odd years 4wding and some of the people i have been away with, you seriously wouldn't feed.
Darwin has got it all together in my opinion
Good to see people learning the right thing to start with. Lets face it Chicky needs all the help he can get.

[Joe]

Some good points there ag. Dave spent a good hour or so talking us through safety issues in regards to recoveries. I am also of the understanding that a couple of gentle snatch recovery efforts is the way to go followed by winching (if available). The most important piece of info ....... stop, have a cuppa and assess the situation. A few minutes talking and thinking beats a long time dead.

[daryn]

Good thread topic Joe, well over due.

[Fnordy]

Likewise 6-7 4WD's over 20 odd years and equally wary of incorrectly used snatch straps. Personally I would say there are as many answers as there are ways of getting stuck!!!

I like MaxTrax & X-jack for sand, diff lockers for rocks, powerline runs etc... and correct tyre pressure in all situations.

Not really a fan of traction control for serious off-roading but I guess it has it's place too!

Cheers

[borngeek]

great idea Joe!

Sand recovery.. The nutter that decided to gun it up that huge sand dune only to get 3/4 up and hit a sand drift plataeu of some kind and buried deep.. (seen it many times at Kurnell in the day)

Hard to get anything but the best setup sand vehicle there...

Other than all the digging first.. To get at least vision of the diffs.
How do you safely pull them out?
Is it safe to pull them down risking them sliding into you?
What if they are not square with the dune... ie. precarious and dangerous position.

other than looking the other way how do you remove that nutcase and get them on their way?

Very novice questions but I am a novice

[Joe]

Once enough sand has been dug out from behind the wheels etc, then you should be able to drive it down slowly. This is where a set of Maxtrax would be invaluable . Well worth the $300 odd. If they are not square with the dune, then maybe you need to politely tell them to go and get some training or sell the 4WD.

But more importantly BG, if you are not happy about any aspect of the recovery, then don't do the it. Simple as that

[4wd26]

sand can be dug in such a way as to "make the vehicle straight again"
In that situation I would not be attaching any other vehicle, gravity will take care of the recovery once the body is clear of the sand.

[boycee]

Bg. If it's a navara get it sideways and roll it back down the hill, that way you won't have to pull them out later in the day.

[ultimate]

Nice work guys. One point I was also told is never do a recovery in reverse as it puts way too much stress on your CVs.

I know I did it at Geraldine but blowing a CV would have been small price to pay to be the one who pulled fridgie out

[The Alberto]

Hey All - great subject (especially given that the majority of my mates drive Hiluxes and Navaras!)

Can someone please post what is generally accepted as the best way to winch up a steep Rocky/Shaley hill please. I have used a couple of techniques and they have always worked, I just want to make sure we are doing it right - I have done heaps of 4x4ing, but mainly on sand and in mud. This is the first truck I have actually bothered puttiing a winch on.

Ta

[borngeek]

Bumping again.
Just had a mate post this on spacebook.

Story. He works in remote areas building and maintaining long range comms towers. Rope access, adrenaline man... NUTS.
He came across this office jockey in a hire car doing random checks on sites in a hire 4wd. No mobile access, no sat phone, no recovery gear, no idea how to use his UHF and 100's of k's from the nearest town. My mate found him by pure chance..
BUT;
What is wrong with this photo? (and dont say it is a toyota )

recoveryissue (Small).jpg

[killa]

Bumping again.
Just had a mate post this on spacebook.

Story. He works in remote areas building and maintaining long range comms towers. Rope access, adrenaline man... NUTS.
He came across this office jockey in a hire car doing random checks on sites in a hire 4wd. No mobile access, no sat phone, no recovery gear, no idea how to use his UHF and 100's of k's from the nearest town. My mate found him by pure chance..
BUT;
What is wrong with this photo? (and dont say it is a toyota )

recoveryissue (Small).jpg

No brainer, towball.

and for anyone that questions why:

http://www.4wdqld.com.au/news/latest/96 ... iques.html

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western ... 6118702921

[Sky Miner]

A clasic oldie but you get the picture of what "NOT" to do....... "Language Warning"........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhqfrMJo ... r_embedded

[nuklz]

Never snatch a GU patrol with a factory alloy bull bar by attaching to any point on the bullbar no matter how chunky it looks. Have seen a few come of and smash the rear of the recovery vehicle. One to the point the tray of the cruiser had to be replaced aswell as he damage to the patrol.

[fridgie]

These guys have managed to cover just about every single thing you SHOULDN'T do when trying to recover a vehicle, in the 1 recovery

Reckon they are very fortunate someone wasn't killed, surely 1 person there had the brains to think....this isn't right

How NOT to recover a vehicle


So how many things can you pick that they did wrong??

[godzilla_rising]

All I can say to that is You certainly are right Fridgie, I dont know how someone wasnt killed there.

Now I know I am only new at all of this, but I have learnt a lot, but firstly the winching procedure at the start? Their own car/battery wasnt set up properly, so they had to get another battery. Shouldnt the car also have been running, maybe help the situation.

The fact that they were all standing around an undampened winch cable while using the winch and battery technique...definitely going to be in the way if something was to go wrong, which ended up happening with the winch attempt.

Now I havent done any 4wding in mud, but surely if its that deep you can at least dig some of the crap out of the way yeah?

And then the snatch attempts? The first rope didnt even look like a snatch strap, it looked like they were just hooking up to towballs, then they joined two ropes together with a shackle, people were standing too close, and then it let go! The amount of stress that was put on that shackle, no wonder he couldnt get it undone at the end

No doubt I have missed a few, however I do know that I would be getting in my car and driving off if I saw any of that happening...maybe after saying something along the lines of "stupidity, gene pool and at least try once to get them to stop"

[Cowboy Dave]

Use of the towballs both ends was what left me cold. Just plain scary.

[snowman]

how close was the towbal AND connection assembly to coming off

the mate in the bogged car could not have known how close he may have came.

[Sky Miner]

You just shake your head and wonder about their logic with this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcHrkhHXoHo&NR=1

[Hymie]

Bloody Brits can't do anything right!

By all means the shackle not taking out at least the back window was a disappointment and the fact not 30 secs before the winch cable broke how many were standing in the danger zone. I was sort of expecting the second snatch strap to break if the towballs didn't give way.

There you go Chopper add that to your web site as a "Pick The 10 Things Not To Do"

[fridgie]

Never, ever, EVER use a chain and a snatch strap together!!!

http://www.lorellasprings.com.au/rhettsaccident.htm

[snowman]

" The chain was connected back to itself with fencing wire"

[viking shippy]

Or join chain together with fencing wire???

[fridgie]

I wonder how many people in remote areas do the track grading like that.

Personally, I'd use a full chain from tyre to vehicle....