4X4 RECOVERY GEAR – YOU ONLY NEED IT WHEN YOU NEED IT!

4X4 RECOVERY GEAR – YOU ONLY NEED IT WHEN YOU NEED IT!

Written by: Rodney Wills • How many of you actually carry recovery gear when your out wheeling in your 4X4? Is your idea of recovery traction mats the use of your WeatherTech® or Back-Off Yosemite Sam Floor Mats? A winch in your “recovery vocabulary” is a manual hand-winch aka “come-along…” You’re not alone!

The above photo is an excerpt from my ADV80 – IH8MUD.com Thread: Snow Day in Big Bear, CA – Feb 15th, 2010. And yes, I got stuck! Real stuck!

Wheeling your 4X4 Toyota Land Cruiser, if you actually wheel it, at some point result in getting stuck and will require some type recovery assistance. BUT WHY? (A) We want to explore the limits of what the rig is capable of, or (B) We are simply driving beyond our technical “know-how” (C) We’ve exceeded the limits of the vehicle itself. 

While most people will be safely wheeling with other 4X4 enthusiast as you should (highly recommended), but there will be that one time when you may be by yourself and the simplest of situations will put your rig in a non-progression circumstance. Maybe you are on your farm property and setting a fence on the other side of the creek and you simply got stuck attempting to cross at the creeks low-point. Without walking all the way back to the barn and grabbing the tractor to extract you, do you have the means and equipment of a self recovery? Typically, we just need a minor amount of assistance to get us moving again. That is if you didn’t overdo it with the skinny pedal attempting to horsepower your way out! If you dig a deep trench and bury your axles, you are going to be in for a time-consuming extraction!

BEFORE I HAD A ELECTRIC WINCH

Before I had a “real” bumper-mounted electric winch and 34″ tires on the ADV80, it was equipped with the stock 31″ tires that would allow my low hanging undercarriage to hang me up on the simplest of rocks! I managed to find and old cheap “come-along” hand-winch for my self-extractions and while I’m sure it is not rated for such a heavy rig extraction, I would attempt to NOT put myself and rig into overly bad situations! BUT, I did I want to both learn to drive the AWD vehicle and learn the capabilities of the rig itself prior to outfitting the rig with larger tires and lockers. Between the stock jack and the “hand-winch” I’ve freed the ADV80 from a few sticky situations! While with friends I would be more aggressive in putting my ADV80 into sticky situations.

IF HAND-WINCH THIS HAND WINCH! THE WYETH-SCOTT HAND WINCH

I want to talk about the hand-winch first. If you are wheeling with someone else, their vehicle can be your mechanical recovery power with the use of the C4RS Kinetic Rope. But if you are solo-wheeling, a hand-winch could be the centerpiece of your recovery kit. Tree straps, tow straps, shackles and the bits are all the assisting extracting items, but something has to do the work! A hand-winch, hi-lift jack, PTO or electrical winch are the “working force items” of your recovery kit.

I will openly admit that the hand-winch I own is a rather cheap version and luckily the recoveries I’ve performed with it have been “minor” recoveries. BUT, I’be been truly LUSTING over the More Power Puller from the Wyeth-Scott Company. I’ve spent my “fair share” of late night internet stalking and these guys are at the top of my hand-winch pick list! Wyeth-Scott has been manufactured in the USA since 1934!

SAMSON ROPE AMSTEEL BLUE

Once I came across the MPP Wyeth-Scott hand-winch, they give you the option between steel cable and AmSteel-Blue synthetic rope. AmSteel-Blue is a high-performance 12-strand single braid of 100% Dyneema^® fiber, that yields the maximum strength-to-weight ratio, very low stretch, and is stronger than the same sized wire rope—but it’s so light, it floats. These guys are supplying line across a wide range of professional industries that rely on the lifting and towing! https://www.samsonrope.com/defense/amsteel–blue

HI-LIFT JACK

The Hi-Lift Jack may very well be the visual symbol of 4X4 Self-Recovery! I have an old 48″ version that I started carrying in my 1985 Toyota “prerunner” pickup truck back in the early ’90’s. I’ve used it more on other peoples rigs than my own, but the as the saying goes, if you don’t have it is the day you need one!
https://hi-lift.com/company/our-history/

C4RS – CUSTOM 4WD RECOVERY SYSTEMS

C4RS are experts in off road recovery. Custom 4WD Recovery Systems, better known as C4RS (C-Fours), was founded to offer high quality custom & production off road mobility recovery gear & systems, along with top level & hands on mobility & recovery training for military & civilian markets. Our equipment & tactics are based on a lifetime of off road, overland & outdoors experience, our professional military & SOF instruction, along with almost a decade of owning & operating a complete 4 wheel drive outfitter & custom garage.

All C4RS recovery gear is spliced in-house, is MADE IN THE USA and C4RS straps are manufactured locally in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of Colorado. All C4RS items are BERRY & TAA COMPLIANT. Custom splicing, product development, product field testing & manufacturing are available. All custom bearing products are independently load tested & field tested by multiple parties.

Red Line Land Cruisers is the Colorado Springs stocking dealer for C4RS.
See the C4RS product line on our ecom section of our website: C4RS Custom 4WD Recovery Systems SYNTHETIC WINCH LINES

All C4RS synthetic winch lines are spliced at C4RS using Samson® 12 strand Amsteel Blue® Dyneema SK-78 & come with a 12’ drum wrap & 10’ abrasion guard. Choose a winch line that is a minimum 1.5 times and preferably closer to 2 times, the strength of your winch. Additional factors come into play when choosing a winch line diameter/strength such as weight of the stuck vehicle, driving/winching habits, mire factor, rigging & others. C4RS Winch Lines come with an upgraded powder coated gusseted tube thimble, or Factor 55 Splicer.

 

C4RS OFF ROAD RECOVERY KITS & SYSTEMS

C4RS along with their strategic partners have developed, and continues to develop & test, numerous Off Road Recovery Systems for light mobility platforms & full size vehicles up to 1ton. An approximate appropriate vehicle weight range is listed with each kit.

Medium Full Size – Appx: 4000-6150 lbs.

• Basic                $178

• Advanced         $541 

• Expedition       $1,058
• C4RS System  $1,492

Heavy Full Size –  Appx: 5500 – 8000 lbs.

• Basic                $220

• Advanced         $650
• Expedition       $1,200
• C4RS System  $1,657

RECOVERY KIT CONTENTS ADDITIONS

For all recovery kits add the following:
1] Bow Shackles should be a quality shackle (ie: Crosby, Van Beest, etc) with a 4 ¾ ton WLL (working load limit) & a minimum 6:1 safety factor. Do not use cheap hardware bow shackles!
2] ARB Winch Line Damper
3] Master Pull Winch Blocks 

4] Eye Protection
5] Gloves
6] Bag

---

MEDIUM FULL SIZE RECOVERY KIT – BASIC

(2) 1/2″ Soft Shackle Standard
(1) 2″ x 20′ Tow / Rigging Strap

---

MAXTRAX MKII SELF RECOVERY BOARDS

MAXTRAX MKII Self Recovery Boards Traction Device – Compared to other recovery methods, MAXTRAX are considered by 4WD training experts to be one of, if not the safest option on the market MAXTRAX require minimal technical training to safely and successfully use.

MAXTRAX Recovery Boards are a simple and innovative way to get your vehicle out of a messy situation by giving it traction it needs to lift itself up and out of the mud, sand, or snow. Officially recommended by the International Four Wheel Drive Trainers Association (I4WDTA) MAXTRAX have been used in the most extreme conditions on all seven continents. From expedition leaders in Antartica to elite military units around the world, MAXTRAX produces products you can count on when the going gets rough.

FOR THE GLOVEBOX – FACTOR55 RECOVERY MANUALS
   Factor55 Recovery Manuals
https://factor55.com/product-category/recovery-manuals/

See our post:
4X4 Skills, Training, Recovery – Colorado Schools for Off-Road Driving