Stuck Expedition Truck - how to recover - discussion

waveslider

Outdoorsman
The OP also asked:

2. What tools/upgrades would you take to avoid or help with recovery?

I'm not 100% sure what happened from these photos, but it would appear that a dash-mounted inclinometer/tilt gauge might have prevented the predicament in the first place?
 

Mundo4x4Casa

West slope, N. Ser. Nev.
I don't see any sign of a winch on the front of this one. If it did, maybe a 30K pound electric, you could rig the line down low to go through 2 or 3 snatch blocks attached to those trees to spread the anchor strength and attach back to the rear left side of the rig. You had better have a sturdy fairlead. We've caused fairlead havoc by winching too heavy a load at too much of an angle. It would help to have a couple other vehicles with winches, deadmaned, fore and aft pulling on different trees down low through snatch blocks, but this adds more complexity to the move. In my experience (over 500 winch events on 8 different winch rigs over 50 years) if you only have one recovery vehicle it must be at least as large as the recoveree to be effective. I don't see much leverage advantage going over the top with 30K pound straps as the roof is full of solar panels and it may actually parallelogram the camper box. If the object is to get out under any circumstance, then a couple straps across the top would add more leverage. I would estimate where the wheels will actually touch terra firma again and dig a ditch in which to land. Done that too. Another tack is to do like the old days with locomotives that went off the rails: build piles of falsework under the load as you jack the thing up with 3 or 4- 20 ton hydraulic jacks (on jack boards, of course) which would require some digging, 6X6 timbers, and lots of help and time. Dangerous? Hell yes. This is the way they move houses too. Another much more hair brained idea if damning the torpedoes, is to get a big HYster front end loader and lift the low side with several 30K straps around the bucket, little by little enough to get all wheels on the ground and use the same winch lines to trees through snatch blocks unloading as the rig moves forward under it's own power. Done this move before too.... on a much smaller scale. Hydraulic action is the key. What this photo really tells me is that there were two mistakes in play. 1. Too high a center of gravity. Heavy stuff needed to be down lower. 2. Operator error on how much side hill the camper would take. If he knew where the edge was, he could have used a shovel or paid those people standing around to dig a trench on the high side to lower the angle of lean of the tires. I know how much my old rigs could take, especially my old CJ-8 which I laid on it's side or slow rolled over on it's lid a dozen times, one time dislocating my shoulder which since the roll 20 years ago has become useless. Next week I go in for a total reverse shoulder replacement using all titanium parts. At least they're lightweight. It was coming out of the Little Sluice, Rubicon. Here am i in agony eventually using a tree saver as a sling. We still had to drive the Rubicon but I could only steer with left hand and use the pedals. Jeanie did the shifting on the NP 435.

 
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Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Looks like you have to get that wheele out of the hole first. Jack that wheel out, if it's strong enough to jack on. Then just winch it back upright. I'd put my spare on then, incase we damaged that wheel. Maybe a wrecker could flip it back over without that.

Or just spend 4 months digging under it until it flops over up right. Like a giant stone in the stone age.
 

Madbodhi

Observer
I would start by emptying the truck of all contents. Then dig a big hole under the front tire to keep the vehicle from sliding rather than flipping upright. I'd then take down 2 trees to make a pair of 15-20ft levers. From there it would depend on what recovery gear was on hand. Ideally strap the levers in an A configuration to the axles with the bottom of the posts in a hole and run a double or triple winch line to the peak of the A. It would require a winch that was mobile but if you really were all on your own then pulling the cables,battery, and winch can be done if you have a front mount. It could absolutely be done but for one guy it would be 2 full days or better.
 

J!m

Active member
That's a big job to self recover.

Yes, empty the truck. Might as well set up camp first, so you're not building camp in the dark exhausted. If needed, scout the local water source. Get on the radio(s) and see who might be able to hear you to send help. Possibly the military.

Now, assuming the box is structural (enough), Id dig under the rear corner enough to insert an air bag. I carry one (never used; only tested) and if that was my rig, I'd have a bag with sufficient capacity.

Then the fun starts. You'd need to rig to the trees on the underside of the truck side (so you can right it) and I can't see those clearly in the photo. You may have to daisy chain rig several trees at the base. Then, using the non-existent and/or PTO driven winch (powered by the non-running engine) start the pull as the bag is inflated. This would probably require a block ahead of the truck, to limit the side pull on the fairlead (yeah, the one not present on the rig) which would be anchored to... The Pull-Pal maybe?

Better to have MANY vehicles and hands. Do a direct pull on the roof (straps wrapped around the box, attached to the frame, same as a semi-trailer righting when it rolls off highway) supplemented by the airbag. Multiple trucks. Each truck anchored to the tree bases behind them. To limit speed I'd perhaps block it (double-line pull) for the trucks rolling the truck back over. Then a third truck (or pair of trucks) pull it forward onto solid ground once it is upright.

Self-recovery on a rig that big/heavy requires a lot of training beyond what a typical trail guy might have. And the equipment necessary is a lot bigger and heavier as well.

Just for a bit of perspective, I put my 110 nearly in the same situation with a drainage ditch on the side of the "road" where the grass was all cut flush and the ditch was not visible (although it was my own lack of focus that caused me to go in there) and it took a 101FC anchored to a 90 to get me out of that. Another, similar, but in deep snow filled ditch, we dug out as much as possible and relied on a tractor-trailer to get me out of that (might have been the Alaska highway in Canada but I'm not certain now). I wasn't coming out otherwise, and it took a good 50-75 feet of pulling before I could get traction to get out of the ditch. That truck shown probably weighs twice what mine does...
 

olly hondro

mad scientist
Hey Aernan, our trucks have those giant pullout anchors for airlift purposes. I was going to remove those, but maybe I should keep them as sturdy recovery attachment points. Your thoughts? Not exactly self recovery, but effective :)
 

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Vinman

Observer
I know the first step I’d take is to make darn sure the transmission is in gear and the e-brake set before starting any recovery attempt.
 

Metcalf

Expedition Leader
I see a winch on the rear bumper. I would re-purpose that to pull the vehicle back over on its wheels. With enough rigging and mechanical advantage force won't be an issue. Having enough stored energy to run the winch could be an issue. The batteries on that truck should be pretty large. I hope the roof has some solar panels that could be used to charge the batteries for a few different attempts.

That would most likely require using multiple trees to create a strong anchor on the uphill side. You could also dig a large hole and bury the spare tire that is on the back.
 

Peter_n_Margaret

Adventurer
Never tried it, but I would have a go with the Warn 16.5ti with remote mount and 4.5m "extension cord" plus a snatch block.
It can be attached to any point on the vehicle and always points exactly in the direction of the (synthetic) cable.
And I would definitely use the trees (or several of them) as an anchor.
There are 4 house batteries @ 115Ah each plus a 120Ah crank battery (All AGMs that can easily be linked together) and 600W of solar on the roof.
07-10-19 to 23 009E.jpg
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
 

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67cj5

Man On a Mission
First off I would Dig out below that front wheel that is on the ground so when the truck tilts the wheel can drop in the hole, and dig a trench very close to the under side of the truck the whole length of the truck so it can tilt in to the trench and stand up as you winch it, by digging a trench it will stand up on its wheels a lot easier, Then You need Air bags to go under the top of the Body so some shallow holes need digging under there too, And a 12,000 Lb 12v/25v winch on a portable mount so you can hook it up to trees or an Anchor etc even a 3200 KG Tirfor type winch would right that truck because they have a 5:1 safety test limit which is 16,000kgs or 16 Ton, even a 1600 kg one would do it with a snatch block,
 

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