Thread: So what is a D3 rated recovery point?

Garry - no, it wasn't a stupid question at all, it was a very smart one to do with safety. Sorry if my reply and others were a bit short, wasn't the intention.

I should add that the standard caveats about recovery applies. You're most at risk during a snatch, and if the casualty vehicle isn't moving then do something to free it rather than just keep on pulling and pulling.

Just because the points are strong does not mean the recovery will be safe. This may be obvious to some readers but I assure you it is not obvious to others who consider using the correct equipment some sort of magic license to do whatever silliness they choose with impunity.

Celtoid yes your logic is sound, there have been no reports of problems with the points. One could always argue there's a first time, but you can also argue nothing is ever perfectly safe, such as the train I am sitting on right now may fail and crash. I'm taking that risk though, just as offroading and recovery is a considered risk. But I'd best post this quick just in case ;-)

If you recover safely the recovery point can fail and nobody gets killed unless you're very unlucky.

Even if you did pay for independent testing you'd get a carefully qualified report to avoid anyone saying "yes, you can snatch off these".

Just FYI, back in 2007 (when I bought my D3) I ended up calling LR UK on this issue and after much effort got through to one of the guys arranging the G4 Challenge. He confirmed that LR Legal eagles (and most other manufacturers) wont use the term "rated" as there are different interpretations globally (in legal terms) what that might mean. Its that simple. The handbook refers to each point as "tow points", again to reduce liability.

He then said whilst he couldnt put it in writing LR had advised G4 entrants that independent testing indicated that Front and Back were "rated" to a minimum of 6 tonnes each. In all G4 Challenges there had never been a failure of either recovery point - and no customer complaint had ever been recorded at that time globally by LR UK. The front point on the Disco, RRS and RRV are recovery points not just shipping tie down points. In his words "this is as good an answer as you are ever going to get".

Finally, gghaggis did fit (for competition work, as the above ofcourse doesnt satisfy scrutineers!) after market points to his old D3. Photos were on this site I think ages ago. Suspect he will see this and respond...

I fitted additional recovery points to the front of my D3 for scrutineering purposes back in 2006. This was after many an argument with the chief scrutineer, LRE in England and myself. The short version was:

* LRE believe the factory points safe to 6 tonne for recovery - they don't rate the rear one higher because the limiting factor is the bar it is attached to, not the hook per se.

* The chief scrutineer here in WA wanted a hook that was "rated" at a min of 4 tonne. As I pointed out, there was no "rating requirement" for the way it was attached to the vehicle (or more precisely, what the shock load on the supporting structure is). It's just "assumed" to be greater than the hook.

So I attached a 4 tonne recovery hook with 4 high tensile M8 bolts to the same bar the front recovery hook was on. We never used it, as the rating for the LR one was (in my eyes) higher.

Have never heard of one failing, and we use ours a lot!

Cheers,

Gordon