Gonna go 4-wheeling in the Pine Barrens, NJ, this weekend. Very nervous about it. The truck (4Runner) is running Yokohama Geolander H/T-S's: street tires! Not even all-terrains! As soon as they hit a patch of mud, those wimpy treads are going to pack up with mud and turn into racing slicks in an instant. I've got tow hooks front and rear, plus a strap with hooks on both ends, but I still feel under-equipped, and certainly under-experienced.

Wish me luck! I'll be going with a large group of like-minded delinquents, most of whom are outfitted with knobbies, winches, snatch-um straps and the like, so I know I'll be safe; I just don't want to be a PITA for the guys who already know what they're doing, and who have already invested a small fortune in their rigs so that they could enjoy days like this coming weekend.

 

get a hookless strap..straps with hooks are accidents waiting to happen.
every organized run I have been one prohibits your type of strap

 

Please bring a camera and post up lots of pics for us. Like when said strap breaks and slingshots through someone's window... Or you're stuck at the entrance to the trail with drag slicks... Or any other carnage or fun!

 

Thanks for the heads-up. I don't fully understand the problem, but I'll cheerfully take your word for it. There's no time now to buy a hookless tow strap, but I'll just leave my current one inside the truck. It's still in its original wrapping paper, and there it will stay until I can buy a hookless one.

Advice like yours is precisely why I joined this forum. I need to learn what's going on, and quickly, before I injure someone! Thanks to you, that learning process has now begun.

 

The Pine Barrens is super fun! you'll have to let us know what part you're starting at.

Last time I was there all I had were street tires too!!

 

Why are you having to go on such short notice that you can't adequately prepare?