My First Recovery - Lessons Learned

[TheCzar]

I didn’t put a winch on my Gen2, but found a great option from another FRF member, a SuperDuty Come-Along. It will pull a Uniloader! $500 vs $2500 for my Warn.

A superduty com-along...never would have thought of that

 

[TheCzar]

Yikes. $1250 a pull... that’s a bit on the spendy side. I’m just going to leave it at that, lest the thread devolve.

Right?!?! Figured there were cheaper options in Vegas

 

[Ruger]

What a gentleman. Excellent!

 

[John M BUNMAN]

Yikes. $1250 a pull... that’s a bit on the spendy side. I’m just going to leave it at that, lest the thread devolve.

It is Vegas

 

[Winchester30]

I had the pleasure of pulling out a stuck Ram 1500 today as I finished my last quail hunt of the season. Thought I’d share some takeaways as it was an interesting situation.

I carry extremely basic recovery gear, which was never used until today. The off-roading I do is mostly desert roads - no rock crawling, not much mud or snow, and I stay on pretty well-established trails. Well, today I ran across someone who decided to drop down off the main trail to hit a hill. When he couldn’t make it up that hill, he tried to reverse back up onto the trail he dropped off of. Back wheels made it, then he bottomed out. He was completely stuck and was blocking my only way out.

I pulled out my ARB snatch strap and soft shackles and had him out in a couple minutes.

Takeaway #1 - having the snatch strap with me probably saved hours of either digging or waiting for help. Even though I haven’t gotten stuck myself, the strap is now worth every penny because it allowed me to get home on time. Oh, and help someone else

Takeaway #2 - I’m glad the Raptor comes with factory recovery hooks in the front of the truck. It made this process super easy, as I had to pull him out in reverse.

Takeaway #3 - I carry high quality cable cutters in my hunting vest in case the dog gets into a snare (it’s happened to one of my dogs, not fun). Well, these came in handy because the guy had a trailer hitch cover held on by a cable lock he didn’t have the key to. My Felco C7 cable cutters did the trick and allowed me to drop in my hitch pin to attach the snatch strap. I’ll keep a pair of cable cutters (or maybe bolt cutters) with my recovery gear going forward. Leatherman/SOG pliers would not have gotten the job done.

I didn’t get a picture of him stuck, but snagged one after I pulled him out. As I left he said, “I’ve never been pulled out by a Ford before”, haha.

I’m more interested in how was the quail hunting?

 

[GCATX]

Nice work! Not to be that guy, but just an FYI, when possible it's best to pull with your truck going forward. Gears in the axles are cut for better engagement going forward. I've seen front gear sets get trashed when they are pulling in reverse on someone that's really wedged. Mostly a non-issue unless they are really stuck.

 

[Oldfart]

A superduty com-along...never would have thought of that.

I wouldn't have either. I have 2 hanging in the garage, I'll have to throw one in the truck.

Nice work! Not to be that guy, but just an FYI, when possible it's best to pull with your truck going forward. Gears in the axles are cut for better engagement going forward. I've seen front gear sets get trashed when they are pulling in reverse on someone that's really wedged. Mostly a non-issue unless they are really stuck.

I wouldn't have thought about that. I always try to help people out if I can.

A couple of months ago I pulled into a spot at the local gun/hardware store. As I got out, I saw a guy trying to get a flat off of an old Neon for a woman. When I asked if they needed help, he said he stopped to help her but couldn't budge the lug nuts with the crap oem wrench he was using. They both were shocked when I opened up the back of the truck and pulled out a 2 foot breaker bar and sockets. Neither of them ever thought about actually being prepared for goofy stuff. Even with a bar I could just barely break them loose. I think someone way over tightened them and then they rusted fast. I warned her if they snap off it's not my fault! I was surprised they didn't break the studs.

 

[Heinz]

I’m more interested in how was the quail hunting?

Tough season for California quail. Got on a good group of them here, but they were smart birds by the end of the season. Couldn’t bring any down on this occasion, but didn’t stop me or my bud from having a great time.

 

[Heinz]

Nice work! Not to be that guy, but just an FYI, when possible it's best to pull with your truck going forward. Gears in the axles are cut for better engagement going forward. I've seen front gear sets get trashed when they are pulling in reverse on someone that's really wedged. Mostly a non-issue unless they are really stuck.

You know, I figured that’s the case and was wondering if someone would confirm for me. Luckily it wasn’t a harsh pull at all, and getting to a point where I could turn around would have been 100+ yards in reverse around a bend.

I also didn’t like staring right down the strap as I pulled in reverse… was REALLY counting on that hitch pin on the Ram holding up, haha.

 

[Sage]

Along with the mentioned stuff, I carry quite a bit for "me". Several quarts of oil (rock in the pan once), a lot of water (think leaking water pump, had that happen once), and a serpentine belt and wrench (had that happen once). The happened once's were not in my Raptor!