jholland

I am a new member. Any advice on towing a stuck 88 pickup out of the mud. Is the front tow hook strong enough to support the pull or do I need to tie to somewhere else on the front? Apparently this model has only one front hook. It has four wheel drive. I will have to use a portable winch as I believe another vehicle would get stuck too. Thank you.

Paul H.

yes you can use the hook. I was towed out of a ditch once using the front hook.

Sequoia'd

Your front tow hook is made for exactly this situation!

Here's a few tips though:

DON'T Jerk it out unless you are using a snatch strap.

Use the power of the vehicke in 4WD to help free from mud along with the winch to ease the load on the winch.

Stay clear of moving vehicles and of the winch line while under load.

NEVER step over a winch line that is under tension... lay a coat or other heavy clothing object over the line to dampen the fly or snap in case the line breaks!

If it's super stuck. clear a path in fron of the wheels in the direction you are going to help it get rolling. This means somebody will have to dig in the mud. It will really lessen the load but I'd make the "digger" ride in the back on the way home!

Rammedic

We need pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tc

Depends - the holes it bolts to are a common rust area. I ripped mine out doing a recovery... but that IS what it's there for!

Where are you at? I'm sure you could get people from here or TTORA to help get you out the safest way possible.

95yoder

yea, i second the saftey percautions....i had a tow strap/hook fly about one foot away from my jaw once..since then im all bout safety..how ya go about it all depends on whats pullin ya out...if its somethin with lots of horsepower, like an f250 or somethin, just put your yota in neutral, let the truck pull ya less chance of either pullin agianst (yes ive had a buddy that had a brain fart and had it in reverse..dont ask) and when ya do break free and your gunnin it you might shoot out onto the other truck ..seen that too..but if its smaller like another yota then ya gotta do what ya gotta do. good luck

Elton

welcome to yotatech and good luck on getting it unstuck

boriswebs

Ive pulled out allot of trucks using my front tow hooks. I have the Stock hook on the passenger side and one from 4wheelparts on the driver side. About safty ive jerked hard trying to pull out bigger trucks then me and never had a hook break. BTW welcome to Yotatech

drew303

I've only had to be yanked out 3 times. Twice in the same spot (2 attempts, months apart) and once from ruts that were two tire sizes deeper. LOL

Everyother "stuck" situation I've somehow been able to dig, rock, and power my way out of. It's the ones where you are high centered on your entire chassis are the ones when a tug is needed.

Point im making is to assess the situation thoroughly before you drag friends out with expensive rigs to pull you out. Most situations you can somehow get yourself unstuck. IME.

However, if you are truely STUCK, always use a damn tow-strap! I don't care who the hell ya are it's just plain stupid to use a chain. I've seen chains snap and almost take out front windshields.

Hell there was some video going around the web a few years back with a chain breaking and going through the cab of a fullsized Dodge pickup. DONT lose your head over a truck!

anyhoo, tow-strap, you dont need a blanket but its always added safety. Winches use some kind of jacket, blanket incase it snaps.. The hook on the front is adequate if the bolts are tight, not rusted etc... but you should have two loops (left of the hook) and one on the right. They work adequate to get unstuck to.

Some people will never "get it" when it comes to getting unstuck. I've pulled some dumb a$$es out before and its nothing but annoying. GEt off the pedal means get your foot off the pedal! ... bah, LOL .. be smart, listen to whoevers pulling you out and do exactly what they say.

As for a winch pull, slow and steady and as stated before use the power of your truck to help you get moving..dont just expect the winch to just "pull.... cough *drag* you out. thats how trucks and people get hurt.

goodluck and post some pics! trucks stuck are always Kodak moments!

tc

1. Use a RECOVERY strap not a tow strap. Recovery straps stretch and limit the impact forces on your frame. Tow straps do not stretch. Absolutely, do NOT use a strap with hooks - just loops.

2. The blanket/weight thing is only important with wire rope (like on most winches)

jholland

Thank you all for your excellent suggestions. I went out today with two 50# bags of small rocks-gravel used for concrete. Dug around each tire as best I could and dropped rocks in holes. Put in low 4 wd and it came out with hardly an effort. Land had dried up somewhat, which probably helped. Thanks to all. Next time will probably be the winches, etc. I very impressed with the web site. Need all the help I can get, late for a 58 yr old to 4wd, land, etc.

harpen123

unless there is rust around the hook I will be impressed if u break the tow hook.

rhah

Some serious damage will be done to your truck before that tow hook itself breaks. It is Forged Alloy Steal. Being towed out of a ditch a few times, or pulled out of a mud pit isn't nearing enough experiece to discredit anything about rigging and offroad recovery. If the tow strap is synthetic or natural fibre it will stretch just like all you recovery straps and Brand Name "Extreme Offroad Recovery" equiptment that are synthetic. Chains don't stretch, Cables don't stretch. Why not use a towstrap with a hook? If you rig it properly theres not reason for anything to go wrong at that point. If you run bowline with a over hand loop and sling that hook in the loop is sure that heck isn't going anywhere. Something else will break. Several times with my Toyota I've pull out 3/4 ton, 1 ton, and jerked out a 5 ton peg deck truck out of the 10m wide safety shoulder cut on logging roads with my toyota tow hook. Working as a Heavy Equiptment mechanic in the bush for 14 years, you quickly learn about recovery. Stuck is having a D-9 Dozer bogged down in a marsh with dead timber laying on the bed of the marsh pinching operator in the cab. Stuck is a 6 ton Peterbuilt with 25 tons of timber drop through a colvert late fall.

Hi-Lift Jack with Steel Forging not Cast Iron. (Cast Iron is the complete red Hi-lift)
Chain and a Fibreope, if you think 30 feet is plenty for example, double it. You can never have enough of any supplies when your in the bush.
Come-Along with maxium capcity in your budget, and shackels. They can be used as a snatch block, lock a rope around your diff or whatver.

tc

No, it won't stretch. Synthetic materials can be engineered to perform a variety of different ways. Look at a stretchy recovery strap vs a synthetic winch line.

Do a search on here and TTORA for all the pictures of broken windshields due to tow straps with hooks. There is no reason to risk it.

rhah

False information is avaiable any where on the internet. Like I said in my original post, if it is rigged up properly there is no reason for any fault at that certain point other than the quality of that piece. Every think that the hook became unhooked or was swallowly hooked after the pulling and recoil motion? Sythetics do take shock loads, always have play in them. They are not engineered for complete rigidity. The "strechyness" will be there all the time everytime, just the tightness of weave, type of braid, and type of synthetic used controls the stretch/durability. Depending on manufacture tow straps will always have a certain amount of stretch for the reason of towing. Continous shock loading. Anything rigid will suffer fatigue and that is the reason for any sythetic/nature fibre rope esp during the transit of a uncapable vechile for on road towing. Refer to the Machinerys Handbook if you still insist on your post, not a forum.

deserttoy84

whats the big deal here. use a strap that rated and dont jerk it. if you both have hookd use the straps without metals hooks

4x4Lamm

rhah is correct, everything will streatch, even a chain, but he is also splitting hairs. The important issue here is how much stretch there is. A recovery strap can stretch up to about 30% to absorb shock loads and give you a recoil power advantage. Don't ever tow with one for a long distance though as it will ruin that quality. A tow strap is more static and will not handle shock loads well more than 1 time, if that. It works great for long, steady pulls and will stretch a tiny fraction of that of the recovery strap.

Anyone who says the stretch factor is not important however is full of it. Try to convince me there is no important difference between my T-Max winch extension strap and my Explorer ProComp recovery starp. Or, just ask any rock climber or rope rescue technician if they care if their rope is static or dynamic.

Lamm

harpen123

Ive always heard its bad to pull stuff out in reverse(anyone have any idea if this is true). I dont really have a basis for this but I usually wrap my logging chain around my trailer hitch or rear shackles.

tc

The rear diff and the front diff on 3rd gen 'runners and all Taco's is weaker in reverse because the load is on the coast side instead of the drive side.

harpen123

I actually made a whole thread on the issue, but that does make sense. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f31/pulling-out-backwards-104086/