Thread: Using the Towbar as a recovery point.

Originally Posted by wardy1

Getting back to the original question, and taking on board all of the very good points made.......
I personally wouldn't be using a towbar with only 2 bolts holding it on.
If you choose to do it, make sure everything is in a very straight line so that there are no forces placed at an angle to the bar. If this happens I'd imagine that a large proportion of the stress of a snatch recovery would go to ONE bolt.(I'm not an engineer so stand to be corrected)

I had this type of tow hitch attachment on a Ford F100 4WD some years back and I welded the tounge along it's sides and back where it attaches to the tow bar, left the bolts in as well, never had an issue , regards Frank.

Originally Posted by Kevin B

Thanks for the info guys, at this stage its my only option in an emergency situation, ok im off on a 4 day trip in a few weeks somwere were carrying recovery equipment would be recomended, I will only use the tow bar in an extreme emergeny and even then I will not use it to snatch with, my basic recovery kit consistests of 2x 4.7t d shackles and a 20m 5t winch extension strap, which if the need asises (im going with a nissan and a toyoto so it pob will lol) I will use to gently asist a vehicle out of what ever siyuation gets it stuck, were we are going is not extreme so I dont envision vehicles bogged to the body in black soil, however it might just be that a vehicle needs gentle assistance to get traction again thats all, better to have something than nothing at all

If that's all you think you will need why not get a set of Maxtrax..

A few notes from Tom Sheppard's book 'Land Rover Experience', published by Land Rover:
- attach the snatch strap to a rope 'bridle' attached to two chassis mounted towing shackles, part # RRC3237, on both vehicles.
- use a safety rope attached to the eye of the snatch strap and the trailer hitch to 'catch' the strap in event of towing point failure.
- maximum step back for defender 130 on wet grass/mud so as not to exceed maximum load of 3.4 tonnes on the towing point: 2.3m assuming strong acceleration in second low gear.

Usual failure point is the tow hitch, not the snatch strap.

He has an impressive photo of a bogged Rangie that has both windscreen and rear window taken out by a tow hook which ripped out of a rusty chassis on the towing vehicle.

The general message seems to be - proceed with caution!

Originally Posted by Westie

- attach the snatch strap to a rope 'bridle' attached to two chassis mounted towing shackles, part # RRC3237, on both vehicles.

i always use a bridle on land rovers and even carry one in my series as well.

BUT you need to be able to get a straight pull at it...

Originally Posted by turkeybrain

... The owner of the vehicle is planning on upgrading to proper rated recovery points before using snatch straps or other recovery gear again...

-Martin

On a lighter note, coax him into upgrading to a proper 4x4 while he's at it...

I do however agree that kinetic recoveries should not be your first option (as it appears to be when ever you see a recovery these days). The commercial side of things have overtaken good sensible advice to novices and "snatch straps" are sold to any bumkin who's read about the need for a "recovery kit"

A bit of prep (possibly even a bit of hi-lift if the car is capable of receiving a lift) , insert maxtrax or the like and off you go without any violent energy transfer.

Originally Posted by Loubrey

On a lighter note, coax him into upgrading to a proper 4x4 while he's at it...

I do however agree that kinetic recoveries should not be your first option (as it appears to be when ever you see a recovery these days). The commercial side of things have overtaken good sensible advice to novices and "snatch straps" are sold to any bumkin who's read about the need for a "recovery kit"

A bit of prep (possibly even a bit of hi-lift if the car is capable of receiving a lift) , insert maxtrax or the like and off you go without any violent energy transfer.

Totally agree, I have never liked snatch straps, ill take towing or winching anyday, and its not a safety thing, snatching just looks unnatural to me....

Saying that if I cant pull them out gently with my current setup, looks like they stay there....

Well I know for certain that the front and rear(towbar) recovery points are tested on the D3/4 to breaking point by Land Rover, I've seen the video of the testing.

So I am quite happy to use these points for recovery, the weak point is the strap, hitch pin or bow shackle.

I've seen some of the halfwits out there that think that the best way of recovering someone, is to tear off at the fastest speed they can, which is always going to end in tears, if you know the gear your using and take all the precautions and do it gently, 9 times of of 10 you will do the recovery.

I try and use the winch as much as I can, less chance of something bad happening.

Oh and BTW, I have a rigging background, both a crane chaser and driver.

Baz.

I know the gear is all rated but they should come up with a rating for the idiot doing the snatching – Some guys go for maximum runup and then belt the crap out the accelerator when they could have achieved the same result at half the speed. I have seen one guy reverse PAST the side of stuck vehicle in WA’s black mud and then gun it – his snatch rope broke.