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STARTING AND OPERATING
V
EHICLE
R
ECOVERY
If you drive off-road, you may encounter a situation where
you will need to recover your vehicle. Vehicle recovery
should always be given consideration before attempting a
questionable obstacle. You should never go off-road
driving without the ability to recover your vehicle from a
situation. Having another vehicle with you usually works
best for most situations. The first thing to do is assess the
situation. Why are you stuck? Are you hung up on
something? Would it be easier to go forward or to go
backward? Can you still move the vehicle? Is there an
anchor point to winch to? Are you alone or do you have
another vehicle to help? Is there high risk of vehicle
damage during the recovery process? Answering these
questions will help you determine the best method of
recovery. If you can still move the vehicle slightly and the
only issue is slick ground, then rock cycling your vehicle
would be the first choice. If you have ample room, an
additional vehicle and there is low risk of vehicle impact
on the surroundings, then using a tow strap to the vehicle
tow hooks would be fast and easy. If the vehicle is severely
hung up or in a situation where great care needs to be
taken during the recovery, then nothing can do the job
better than a winch. If you are severely hung up on
something you should jack the vehicle up and stack
something under the wheels to allow the vehicle to roll off
the object without causing further damage. This should be
tried before attempting any recovery method.
Rock Cycling Your Vehicle – Rock cycling your vehicle is
one of the easiest, fastest and most commonly used
methods. This simply involves shifting your vehicle
from DRIVE to REVERSE, while applying throttle after
each shift. During this process, for additional traction,
try turning your steering wheel quickly left and right no
more than a quarter turn. If you are stuck in mud, sand,
or snow try spinning your tires during this process to
clean the debris from the tread and improve the trac
-
tion. You want to create a rocking motion with the
vehicle. This helps build vehicle momentum, which
hopefully gets you out. Remember to ease off and on
the accelerator before and after the shift. If after a few
rock cycles your vehicle is not free, stop and try another
method of recovery. Continuous rock cycling will only
cause unnecessary damage to your vehicle and the
environment.
Using The Tow Hooks With A Tow Strap – Tow straps
are a quick and easy way to recover your vehicle from
minor situations if you have a secondary vehicle which
is not stuck. The tow hooks on your vehicle are
designed to take the abusive force generated during
vehicle recovery. Do not use the bumper or any other
vehicle component as an attachment point. Using tow
straps requires coordination between the two drivers.
Good communication and line of sight are required for
a safe recovery. First connect the tow strap to the
correct attachment points on both vehicles. There
should be a least 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 meters) between
the vehicles to allow for a safe recovery. If necessary
join two tow straps together using a 1.5 inch hard wood
dowel. This will keep the straps from becoming knotted
and is safer than using a clevis pin if the strap breaks.
Next have the tow vehicle back-up, leaving two to three
feet worth of slack in the strap. Then the tow vehicle,
using light throttle, should accelerate tightening the
strap providing the pulling force needed to free the
vehicle. The vehicle being recovered should assist in
the recovery, at the time of the snap, by slowly spinning
the tires in the same direction as the pulling vehicle.
After the vehicle becomes free, the driver of the previ
-
ously stuck vehicle should signal they are free and
should hit their brakes stopping both vehicles. The
driver of the pulling vehicle should let off the throttle
without using the brakes, once signaled by the other
driver. This sequence is important to avoid having the
recovered vehicle hit the pulling vehicle.
CAUTION!
Pulling the vehicle off an obstacle, without first clearing
the object, may result in additional underbody damage.
CAUTION!
Damage can occur when spinning your tires at an
excessive high speed. Do not spin your tires faster than
an indicated 30 mph (48 km/h).
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