What size recovery strap?

[Croftylad]

I posted this in the 2wd camper section and got no replies so I thought I'd try here!

Hi everyone,
Over the recent half term holiday (UK) I took my family cycling. Trouble was the car park was on a grassy slope. We
also had quite a bit of rain the previous day. Needless to say the car park was quite boggy. I started to drive down the slope towards where all the other cars were parked in our 2wd Transit when I suddenly thought 'I'm not going to get out of here!' Luckily after considerable wheel spinning and shuffling backwards and forwards I managed to get out.
Any way you can probably guess the next question. There were a few 4x4 in the car park but probably none of them would have had a suitable recovery strap. I therefore thought this would be a useful piece of kit to own. So what size and length do I need for a vehicle with a max weight of 3.5t. Any suggestions gratefully received.
Many thanks
Antony

 

[rickc]

Hi Antony: How will a strap connect to your van? It's likely that you have a tow point, either a hole/hoop or a hook somewhere at the front, maybe one on each side. It's really important to know that these are not rated recovery points, just tow points. There's a huge difference. If you have a hole/hoop on your truck then I would strongly recommend keeping it simple and getting a 20' or 30', 2", 20,000lb tow strap with looped ends and a tow shackle (maybe two, one for each end); a 3/4", 4.7T should be fine. This will allow you to connect to a truck and let it pull you out by towing. Be really careful how you attach to the tow truck; never use a trailer ball.

A snatch recovery is a whole other issue. If you don't have a good connection point on your truck then snatching, using an elastic snatch strap, can result in damage to your truck.

If you are not sure what I'm talking about, go to YouTube and search. There are many really good videos that explain the techniques.

 

[Happy Joe]

Having seen quite a bit of destruction on and off road: I would not recommend using shipping tie down points (which many folks think are tow points but are not) for vehicle recovery.
What I do is; install a minimum of four 10,000 pound each (2 in front and 2 in back) rated, frame mounted, recovery points on each new (or new ,to me, old) vehicle. (typical unloaded vehicle curb weight less than 4,000 pounds).

I normally use, (with caution) kinetic style (stretchable, >15%) recovery straps rated at 20,000 pounds or greater breaking strength. (one resides on each vehicle along with clevises (2 rated) a Svensaw and at least a USGI (not chinese) e-tool.
Experience is key to recovering vehicles with minimal damage; hammering the throttle greatly increases the chance of damage no matter what is being used for attempting vehicle recovery
Tires of the proper tread type and properly reduced inflation pressure are important (remember to air them back up to safe pressure levels for on road use afterward; do not use them on the highway at reduced pressures).
Lockers or limited slip differentials, when properly used, can hide a multitude of sins.
...more than 50% of not getting stuck is experience.

Enjoy!

 

[Croftylad]

Those replies are great. There's not a lot of scope for additional mounts due to the plastic bumpers. Might be able to neatly drill holes through them and attach additional mounts to the chassis. Will have a look. Both of you mention 20000 pound recovery straps which I think is about 10 tonne in metric. Thanks again for your input. Sorry to appear dull but what is a Svensaw or a USGI?
Antony

 

[jgaz]

Svensaw is a folding, wood cutting saw. Stores very compactly.
https://www.rei.com/product/404013/sven-folding-saw-21

USGI is a United States Government Issue entrenching tool aka: folding shovel. Lots of low buck, cheap, Chinese knock offs for this item. Avoid these, many are junk!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SOPJG4/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_tai_i_-1hgBb3A2FF96

 

[Happy Joe]

Yep! I use the USGI (issued to soldiers in the US military) trifold shovels because they store compactly (usually under a seat) and have survived everything that I have thrown at them for 30+ years; like excavating/cleaning out fire pits and digging the snow out from under the vehicle so the tires can reach the ground... (mostly they just dig cat holes for sanitary purposes)... (I have never had a chinese knockoff trifold shovel that worked acceptably; destroyed several even trying to dig in very light powder snow)

Its getting a bit dated now but here is a snatch strap comparison from Australia;
http://www.unsealed4x4.com.au/issue012/#23
I believe there was an update but cannot find it.
BTW, the last one that I bought was from ARB (a bit spendy) but ARB products are good and stretchy straps are getting relatively hard to come by at least locally.
Enjoy!

 

[evanroman]

Gear is correct in that Bubba Ropes are pretty much the gold standard but that isn't your question. I use standard snatch straps due to the cost of Bubba Rope and I use them so infrequently. So far the 18k to 20k straps have worked well for me although snatching a loaded 3/4 diesel truck from a deep mud pit may not work so well. My concern with the higher-rated straps/ropes is that they are also harder to correctly load and stretch with a light truck.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Get an actual shovel... E-tools are definitely not the best way to go about digging out a vehicle.