I pulled a car out of sand yesterday with my D-Max. After nearly getting my own truck stuck, I could only tow with my own car facing forwards.

I put the rope around the leafspring holder (correct word?) with seemed very strong and obviously can take some force / weight of the truck over bumps. Was this a good idea? Was there a better one? I’ve been underneath today and am 100% sure that the only towing eye is at the front.

I don’t want an expensive tow bar fitted just to save an occasional stranger from sand, mud, flood etc. Are there any other options?

Why would a truck not have an eye at the rear?

Thanks

pic of similar (but mine’s f-in covered in sand and dust!)

that’s not a ‘car’

Screw -in towing eye?

Why would a truck not have an eye at the rear?

I guess because a truck would have a tow bar? Surprised it doesn’t come as standard.

Yes, you did do it right. If you are towing cars normally on road you can use the towing eyes ( the ones that screw into the chassis) but if you are trying to pull a car out of sand or mud you need to attach the rope to the vehicle chassis or, failing that, suspension arms of either car. Its a bit of a generalisation buy you risk shearing the towing eye clean out of the thread if you put too much force on it….tow rope and metal eye go flying…or you tear the bumper off if its made of plastic! Both not good.

Why would a truck not have an eye at the rear?

Why would it?

You did the right thing as you had limited options, but I wouldn’t make a habit of it. Off road recoveries can have huge (read easily lethal) forces involved. Make sure you get some training and the correct gear rated for the loads you might exert. This will include rated anchor points on the chassis, rated shackles, and a properly rated snatch strap. NEVER attach a snatch strap to the head of a towball though unless you like taking a chance on decapitation. And no, I’m not being over-dramatic…

I think the post above thinks you are on about putting the rope around the chassis of the towed car. I think you on about your truck. If so maybe you are missing the point. Towing eyes are for recovery of the vehicle therefore they are at the front. Any thing else is purely for light work and transportation. They are not for recovering others. That’s what a tow bar is for. I say this as you mention a reluctance to fit a bar suggesting its you towing.
Yanking something out of a hole needs a proper set up if you wish to avoid potential damage.
Spring hangers are strong but are funny shapes and not always crush resistant. They also cut ropes.
It sounds as if you want to be able to deal with the odd incident. doubt those come along very often. Just hang out for a towbar on ebay or buy used from a breaker.

Off road recovery can be very dangerous
Good article here
http://www.blitz4x4.org.uk/play_safe.htm

Towbars are generally easy to fit to these compared to ordinary car, no cutting of bumpers etc so probably a diy job
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=131075370422

Out in the Middle East where they do a lot of dune driving and have to pull eachother out of sand a lot, they have proper shackle style tow hooks on their cars, not caravan or trailer tow balls. Something more akin to what you’d see on the back of a tractor. I suspect they’re not strong enough to pull out cars stuck in mud.

If you attach a snatch strap to a tow ball, you run the very real risk of the ball sheering and flying through the windscreen of the vehicle you’re recovering, with potentially tragic consequences. This has sadly killed quite a few people in Australia.

Probably no stronger than a tow ball but stops risk of rope flying off tow ball

Thanks.

I was towing out a little Honda so although I appreciate the forces involved (everyone was clear of the towing strop), I put mine in low range, took my foot off the brake (it’s an auto) and that was enough to pull the other car. I didn’t need a running start etc.

It’s the third person I’ve helped in ~4 months but the first time I haven’t been able to reverse pull them out using the big eye at the front (the sticker says max 4,500kg load). I can’t see myself towing so although I like to be helpful when I can, the towing bar options available are expensive and also those square holes, not a ball for a socket. Like below and ~300 pounds.

I also remember being told that when you sell a car, people see a tow bar as a sign the vehicule’s had a harder life so worht less.

I also remember being told that when you sell a car, people see a tow bar as a sign the vehicule’s had a harder life so worht less.

But you don’t have a car, you have a big ****-off truck that is expected to have had a hard life

Backinireland – lots of reports from ccvs and rtvs of tow balls shearing off under snatch recovery.- they then prone to go through the windscreen of towing vehicle….but for these sorts of recoverys i would also use towbar.

mcph – The item you depict should do the job, but in the 50 mm square hole, instead of inserting a tow ball tongue, use one of these:

The hook at the front sounds like the one on our Freelander with that rating, and should be recovery-suitable.

On a vehicle such as yours many of us would see a towbar as s bonus if we were buying. That a coupe of hundred quid we would be spending when we got it home.
Have a look at a landrover site for ideas.

get a site hitch rather than a ball hitch for extra man points

Trail rat after first snatch recovery I left the Kerr in the garage
A bowler pulled my 110 out of a muddy hole, nothing broke but t h e rated shackle w as straightened
Slowly but surely after that

Can’t see anyone have a problem m buying your car with a towbar
Two . Options
Tell them it was for a bike rack only or r e move it and flog on eBay or gumtree

To be honest-i wouldn’t contemplate a recovery on a standard stuck vehicle-its not worth the potential litigation should something go wrong-especially on a road going Honda in this case.

i have a Defender 110- and i wouldn’t and havnt recovered anyone despite having a rear Nato hitch and ropes onboard. Leave it to the insured professionals.

A tow bar/tow ball is for towing-NOT recovery.
JATE rings, NATO hitches, bridles, shackles, Tirfors, winches, Hilift jacks etc are for recovery and need dedicated training in their useage.

agree with RNP, you presumably haven’t got a clue or you wouldn’t be asking on an mtb forum, a man should know his limitations, you’re opening yourself up to potential litigation if it all goes wrong, the other driver will happily wash their hands of any reponsibility if you damage your vehicle. Offer to give them a lift to the nearest farmer with a tractor.

I also remember being told that when you sell a car, people see a tow bar as a sign the vehicule’s had a harder life so worht less.

Maybe on a Ferrari, but not a pickup.

Why carry the ropes then RNP?

I stopped to tow a pair of crashed cars out the way of traffic once in heavy snow and ice first thing the boy said – we should take photos incase you damage my car …. Nah forget it mate ill just drive through the ditch,

Sad state of affairs really but rnp has it.

@trail_rat — good grief ..

My car used to have a front towing eye – simple recovery one — but no longer after it sheared off (no other damage) after the ‘puffer of 23 hours of rain.. really must get another fitted if only to make more standard recoveries easier..

backinireland – Member
Why carry the ropes then RNP?

He’s an uber ace rock climber, word.

backinireland – Member
Why carry the ropes then RNP?

I have a Transit van as well-its recovered that previously when the starter went.
Whether I have ropes or not does make any difference-I still wouldnt recover anyone.

Suppose it depends how stuck they are… I’ve pulled a couple of cars out of verges but both times they only needed a little help. (and it was immensely satisfying pulling a freelander out of the ditch I’d just driven out of, with my Focus…) Probably a couple of fat lasses would have been just as good on the end of the rope.

Thanks for all the replies.

You’re right, I don’t have much of a clue… nor can I afford to repair my, or the other persons car should anything go wrong. I’ll keep the towing strop well hidden. Not having a rope sounds nicer than, “no, in case you sue me.”

The thing is, I am a helpful person and I’ll feel pretty guilty not helping knowing I easily could.

The thing is, I am a helpful person and I’ll feel pretty guilty not helping knowing I easily could.

That’s easy as from all the replies here you know know you can’t easily help people and it’s all a bit riskier than you first thought, even the opening lines included

After nearly getting my own truck stuck, I could only tow with my own car facing forwards.

First rule of helping somebody, make sure there is not an extra person to rescue.

How would you have get yourself out if you were stuck? Sorry to sound harsh but there is more to off road driving than buying a big truck.

I was stuck, but only temporarily. Used a spade and a few bits of wood under the rear wheel and got out.

The week before a friend had been stuck in exactly the same spot. Pulling them out was literally 2 minutes. Attach the strop to both our front eyes, slowly reverse the truck, his car followed. That’s what I mean by “…easily could…”.

I’m well aware there’s more to it which is why, in my post, I followed people’s advice and said I’d say ‘no’ in future and have also contacted the local 4×4 club. I’d love to learn more.

Another vote for the “Don’t use a 50mm ball for recovery” here.
It’s definitely not an urban myth, I’ve seen it happen.
Luckily, it was an off road Land Rover with no windscreen doing the recovery in reverse, so when the ball hitch came flying backwards it went straight between the driver and passenger without doing any damage.

On a side note – what do you think of that truck? Had any problems with the DMax?

http://www.macmillan4x4.co.uk/Photos/recovery.html

Dashed – Absolutely love the D-Max.

It’s the first truck we’ve owned; previously had a Mazda 323, Kia Sedona etc.

We got a car for a) safety b) reliability c) accomodate a potentially growing family (1 child + 1)

I should say that we live in Thailand and the fuel costs for it are less than a 5 door petrol Fiesta. Labour costs are very low should we need it and parts are plentiful.

Thailand has horrific road crash statistics so one of the reasons for the truck was to feel safe… we do.

It carries 5 adults in comfort. The rear seat is wide and the two side passengers at least are a nice sculpted place to sit.

I’ve only needed the extra power / off road abilities twice and it’s nice to know it’s there. I seems to have almost limitless power (the front of the car will lift up if you put your foot down at 100km per hour) so it certainly gives the impression it could tow a house. I’ve seen an identical model pulling a broken down artic. lorry.

In the rainy season, there were some roads with big potholes, deep puddles, 1′ standing water and a lot of mud. Whilst ‘regular’ cars were driving along them mostly without issues, I did feel much safer in the truck.

It can be a bit tail happy (we got the 3.0l TDi). Trying to pull out into fast traffic in the wet is a nerve racking experience.

Although the leaf suspension at the rear is obviously not designed for comfort, I’ve been in the back for 4 hour journeys and honestly, it’s fine. I know some people can feel queasy but no one’s ever mentioned it to us.

The bed isn’t quite as large as a HiLux (Vigo), but more than enough for a trip to the supermarket, buggy, beach bag etc. I easily fitted 4 wooden pallets in the back yesterday and that was with the Carryboy on.

Ours is 5 years old but the previous owner had it, like us, as a family car – it’s had an easy life. Just had an oil change after 5k km (it’s done 120k km in total) and service. Tracking needed a touch of adjustment and that was it.

Going through the log book, the truck’s needed little more than oil and the odd adjustment here and there.

The only 2 very minor negatives so far;

1) When the engine’s started from cold, the revs were always a little high for 30 seconds or so before the auto box changed down. I had it checked as I was worried the gearbox might be about to do something terrible. Apparently it’s simply a ‘feature’ of the truck.

2) To change a headlight bulb you need to remove; the front grill, front bumper, air intake, air intake box / holder, battery and horn. Then you can get at the actual cluster. Because of the funny angle of the leads to the cluster, you’ve got to remove it from the car too, and then you can change the bulb! I was embarrassed to take it to a garage when the bulb went but felt better seeing the two mechanics spend 45 mins doing it.

The wife and I’ll be upset when we move to a country where a full tank costs more than 25 pounds and we can’t afford to run a big truck. Her dream car used to be a Toyota Fortuner

It’s now a no-expense-spared truck, “with an inside like a Range Rover”