Vehicle recoveries

Chris In Milwaukee

Ain’t no mo’
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Did my first vehicle recovery with the 4Runner yesterday. Minivan stuck in my neighbor’s snow-filled ditch, bottomed out to the belly. Little bit of this-n-that with my neighbors, their kids, snow shovels and a strap, pulled them free from certain peril. Got to use 4L and everything. I feel like a real man now.

Goddamned minivans have shit for recovery points. Ended up climbing under the car and wrapping my strap around his LCA and hoped I didn’t rip a wheel off. We were gentle and all went well.

Vision: A minivan pulling out a minivan...
 

4runner DOA

Hold my beer
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Did my first vehicle recovery with the 4Runner yesterday. Minivan stuck in my neighbor’s snow-filled ditch, bottomed out to the belly. Little bit of this-n-that with my neighbors, their kids, snow shovels and a strap, pulled them free from certain peril. Got to use 4L and everything. I feel like a real man now.

Goddamned minivans have shit for recovery points. Ended up climbing under the car and wrapping my strap around his LCA and hoped I didn’t rip a wheel off. We were gentle and all went well.

Vision: A minivan pulling out a minivan...

:useless:
 

theesotericone

Build It Beat It Break It. Repeat
Fredo Baggins
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jEpaZ8Jl.jpg
 

Jko

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Don’t most Vehicles have a spot to bolt a hook into the bumper?
And the hooks in the spare tire compartment?
 

kasnerd

Danny's Red Headed Step Child
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Don’t most Vehicles have a spot to bolt a hook into the bumper?
And the hooks in the spare tire compartment?
no, those are tie downs not recovery points. J hook is the best way to snatch a modern car. any tow truck drivers/experience on here? usually hook to the inside of the LCA.
 

Slim-Whitey

Canadian hoser, Eh?
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no, those are tie downs not recovery points. J hook is the best way to snatch a modern car. any tow truck drivers/experience on here? usually hook to the inside of the LCA.

The huge majority of small cars have some form of recovery hook on them. Particularly Japanese and euro cars. Most domestics don't give a fuck.

Honda welds a loop onto the subframe front and rear, for instance. Our civic has them.

Euro MFGs usually have a popout plate in the front and rear bumper with a hook that is attached to the frame which the bumper substructure attaches to behind it. And yes, that IS a recovery hook.

The LCA is a bad spot, in my opinion (been out with a tow truck a few dozen times when I was in my late teens). I always liked wrapping around the front subframe if I could. It is always beefy, it bolts to the unibody in several places, and you can pull from center in most cases.
The issue with that is that so many vehicles are covered underneath by plastic shrouding.
 

Jko

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no, those are tie downs not recovery points. J hook is the best way to snatch a modern car. any tow truck drivers/experience on here? usually hook to the inside of the LCA.
So they take the the tie down hook and put them with the spare tire? Ok
 

PCTaco

36 Hour Build
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I pulled a 2wd F150 out of a culvert a few weeks ago. Fucking thing didn't have any tow hooks, had to wrap around the front frame rail.

They were fucked in a place with no cellphone coverage due to i-80 being shutdown so I figured I'd stop and help them.
 

Chris In Milwaukee

Ain’t no mo’
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The LCA is a bad spot, in my opinion (been out with a tow truck a few dozen times when I was in my late teens). I always liked wrapping around the front subframe if I could. It is always beefy, it bolts to the unibody in several places, and you can pull from center in most cases.
The issue with that is that so many vehicles are covered underneath by plastic shrouding.
Yeah, I certainly looked for a better spot. This thing had all kinds of plastic covers on the underbody, with zero access to anything that wasn't a suspension member. It was honestly a total PITA. I looked all over that thing (Chrysler minivan) for a decent place. He asked if I could use the hoop coming up behind the cargo area (liftgate latch hoop). I said only if he wanted me to rip the back of his car off :)
 
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I have wrapped a strap through one of the wheel spokes. I will post a video later.
It was my niece’s Kia stuck in my yard with a stump in front of it so she couldn’t go forward. She couldn’t find the tow eye and I was scared of messing up the plastic bumper if I hooked to any thing else. I only had to pull it a few feet
 

kasnerd

Danny's Red Headed Step Child
Joined
Aug 15, 2019
Messages
4,791
The huge majority of small cars have some form of recovery hook on them. Particularly Japanese and euro cars. Most domestics don't give a fuck.

Honda welds a loop onto the subframe front and rear, for instance. Our civic has them.

Euro MFGs usually have a popout plate in the front and rear bumper with a hook that is attached to the frame which the bumper substructure attaches to behind it. And yes, that IS a recovery hook.

The LCA is a bad spot, in my opinion (been out with a tow truck a few dozen times when I was in my late teens). I always liked wrapping around the front subframe if I could. It is always beefy, it bolts to the unibody in several places, and you can pull from center in most cases.
The issue with that is that so many vehicles are covered underneath by plastic shrouding.

yea you can't get to anything aside from the a-arm. those euro bolts are shit and can't control the drag as well because it's only one point in the corner. obviously if the frame is there ya go to the strongest/safest point.
 

Slim-Whitey

Canadian hoser, Eh?
Know it all snowfake
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Have used the euro bolts on VWs. They're decent pieces.

Can't speak to others though..
 

Rockdawg84

Confidence the feeling before fully understanding
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Oct 22, 2018
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NW Tucson
here is a recovery by an Fzj80 winching through a come-a-long anchored around a 1st gen tire to pull the 3rd gen back onto its wheels.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="
" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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