Using a snatch strap

Ryan,

Go and join a club, and do driver training with them... This will help you in all aspects of 4wding, and answer lots of basic questions.

If you have a towbar with removable tounge, then remove it, put the snatch in there and use the pin that holds the tounge in to secure the snatch.

To each their own, but on all driver training courses Ive done, they say dont use the ball as the strap can come off, and missile back at the car behind, or other damage COULD be caused.

Hooks are only $20, why wouldnt you buy them ??

Ryan,

Your going to get a huge response from this one & the general flavour will be to NEVER use you towball as an anchor point for the snatch strap. The reason being is that in the rare case of the towball breaking it then becomes a lethal projectile & flying in the opposite direction of the force. This is usually towards the bogged vehicle & in the vicinity of the driver in that vehicle. You are better off utilising a purpose built point for using the snatch strap for both the front & rear of the vehicle.

Ryan,

I agree with the others for the reasons stated. As truckster said, tow hooks are cheap and easy to fit yourself so I don't know why you wouldn't get them fitted. Something you didn't ask, but I feel compelled to address is what if you're being snatched forward. Whatever you do, don't attached the snatch strap to the bullbar. You really need tow hooks front and rear. Another thing we always do, regardless of what the snatch strap is attached to, is place a blanket or hessian bag across the middle of the strap. If something breaks, this helps slow and ground the flight of the strap.

There is far more to snatching than hooking up a strap though, so I strongly urge you to get 4WD training or/and join a club. Not only will you learn about safe vehicle recovery etc, you'll also learn driving techniques that will help you NOT get stuck. The club scene can be a lot of fun too!

We've had a couple of BJ40's and they're a great truck for having some fun in. Get some training and go enjoy yourself.

:o) Melissa

Thanks guys. I dont have a bull bar but i do have another bar, which the bull bar bolts onto i guess, dont know what youd call it, a nudge bar maybe? Anyway on the left of it theres a hook so i assume thats to attatch a snatch strap to.

I dont know how id attatch the hook onto the back of my car, id have to drill holes through the steel there and i dont know how id do that...
buggered if i know why toyota didnt put one on there straight from the factory! Did they use the towball back in the 70's??

Anyways my mates are quite good and have taught me a lot about 4wd'ing when i go out with them. But your right i think i could really benefit from a good course and i might do it.

Ryan most tow balls have a rating of two tons,the snatch strap is rated eight or nine tons you tell me which will break first.Buy the right gear before you kill someone.

Go to a 4WD specialist mechanic and get him to advise you on what you should use. Ideally he will fit 2 rated tow hooks at the front and 2 more at the rear end of your truck. Even fitting the tow hooks has to be done properly as the wrong bolts, corroded chassis, etc will be unsafe.

We straightened a tow hook on a Discovery we winched out of quicksand one day using a X6 superwinch and snatch block (6 ton force on the hook). Luckily we got the truck out before snatch block came off so the correct hooks are vital.

JOIN A CLUB - they are very helpful in our experience with training and good advice plus you get access to great rreacks that the public cannot get access to.

DO NOT USE THE TOWBALL, as others have said, you may kill someone.

Ryan I agree with everyone, go and join a CLUB !!!!!!

You need to do this before you go off road again and get the advice you need.

Ryan.
I have been a member of a 4WD club for about 13 years.

For your information snatching a bogged vehicle would have to be one of the most dangerous things that you a likely to ever do in a 4WD. It is a practiced art not just hook and pull. With practice and skill (taught to you) if is an effortless exercise.

A few years ago my club went up the Tallering peaks and we were doing a bit of river driving and as expected people got bogged. At one stage we had to hook 2 snatch straps together to get a vehicle out but not before one of them snapped for whatever reason. The rear half of the broken strap fell dead in the water, the energy being absorbed by the bag slung over it, but the forward strap cannoned into the rear of the snatching vehicle stowing in the tail gate and getting jambed solid into the tiny little gap between the tailgate and the pillar. I couldn't even get a screwdriver in there let alone the strap.

And then the sum of all worse case scenarios. About 2 years ago a farmer in Esperance got bogged on his property. He radioed his wife who upon arrival hooked her end of the snatch strap over the tow ball and away she went.

The tow-ball sheared off went though the windscreen of the towed vehicle and killed her husband. What more proof do you want.

A hook is so designed that if overloaded, it will straighted out but not part company

Hooks to the front and rear are a must. The best place is always bolted with high quality bolts to the chassis.

Here I can not over stress, shot cuts result damage or in the above case, in tragedy!

Regards

Okay, some ones got to be different. I say using the tow bar is OK but..
50 mm tow balls are rated at 3500kgs. This figure relates to its towing capacity not its strength. A Australian standards compliant tow ball must be able to hold a load of 8.7 tonnes for a minimum of 15 seconds. Most snatchum recoveries would be less than a third of this load.

I also recommend that people should not be afraid to use a shovel first. It does help to reduce the load. Secondly a couple of gentle tugs is a lot safer than one big one.

Heres what can GO WRONG with vehicle recovery.

There is a pic somewhere around in a mag, of a recovery gone terribly wrong, it was of a Jeep with a shackle that had gone thru back door, rear seat, front headrest, steering wheel, and windscreen, and the shackle was resting on the bumper bar of the car.. Its like a missile, you would have less chance. If it hit you, dont worry, it only hurts while the pains there, .000001 of a second...

Dont suppose anyone has it do they?? Email it to me ?? PLEASE!

Thanks for all the reply's guys. On my towball it says its rated at 3500 lbs. But after hearing all these stories about how someone has died and people have been injured i think i might just go down to a towball place and hopefully they can fit a hook for me dirt cheap! I didnt realise it was so dangerous, all my friends use the towball to snatch each other out al the time. The guy i brought the car off is a mate and he's snatched people out with the towball a lot! I didnt wanna spend much on the car since i paid $1500 for it and its a bit old but i guess if its nice and cheap to put a hook on it'll be worth it...
Cant really put a price on someones life can you!

Along with all the previous posting, I have to say that Russell Coight (Glenn Robbins) is not doing anyone any favours by dropping a snatch strap over a towball on his TV show.

I enjoy watching the show just for a bit of a laugh. And I know his mistakes are what makes it funny. Most people that frequent this forum would know that's not the way to do it and there are inherent dangers involved.

However there is a significant number of people who are none the wiser on this, are not member of clubs, have not done training and have not asked anyone knowledgeable about how to recover a vehicle. It's those people that might try it and then kill someone. Can you imagine .... "But that's how Russell Coight did it!"

And really, dropping a snatch strap over a towball, doesn't make for funny TV anyway. Or maybe I'm just getting too old, grumpy and picky. Hell I'm not quite 40 yet!

Perhaps some would like to comment on the use of a Hayman Reece style towbar for snatch strap use. I have been to two 4x4 specialist shops that sell a specially designed tongue that allows attachment of a snatch strap, but both advised that the manufactuers of the tow bars wont completely endorse their use.

As I have a Surf, trying to attach tow hooks at the rear in an accessible position is almost impossible due to the chassis rails being so high up under the body. Attaching hooks to this position and using a strap would result in the loss my rear bumper, and I cant afford one of those heavy duty jobs.

Not having a recovery point at the back is always in my mind, and has often restricted how daring I am willing to be. I was hoping that the Reece style bar would overcome this concern.

Russell Coight is a legend...................

hi all
just had jump in on thi s topic may be a bit late but here goes,
as aqualified 4x4 instructor i can answer the question of using tow ball for recovery never never never use the tow ball as it is rated for adead pull only & can not stand up to a shock load deaths have resulted from the use of the tow ball.as for removing the pin on a hayman reese hitch the pin its self is mild steel & there for not rated for recovery We have in our postion a writen respons from hayman reesestating under no secumstances do they recommend the use of thier hitch for snatch recovery.proper rated hooks are cheap than the life you may take,please make sure all hooksare attached dirrect to the chassis of the vehicle with high tensile bolts,remember if you are doing the recovery ie not being recovered you are legaly responsible for the outcomes of that recovery & may well be held accountable for your actions
if you wish more info on this subject feel free to contact me
regards Bruce H