thatguy

I am thinking of getting an emergency tow/recovery strap to keep in my truck to be used to pull me or someone else that was stuck. What size should I get? The ones you find in stores locally (walmart, kmart, northern tool) are rated 5k to 15,000 lbs (only 1/3 of that is the 'safe' working rating though) and cost typically under $30.. If you want to spend +$80 you can get some that are rated much higher it seems... <br><br>If my truck is +6,500 lbs what would size would anyone recommend buying? and what length?<br><br>Also.. Most of these have 'loops' (versus hooks like a chain) on both ends.. I can see how you can feed one end thru the loop to attach it to the first vehicle but how would you attach the second loop if you dont have tow hooks on the truck?? <br><br>And if it does have chains what do you hook that to?? they dont recommend wrapping the end around something and hooking the hook back into the webbing...<br><br>thanks..

Homestead

Forget Wal-Mart and those types of places. Head over to you local off-road shop or industrial supply and get a real strap. Mine is 5 inches by 30 feet and is rated at 65,000 lbs breaking strength. I've seen them as high as a 100,000 lbs breaking strenght. The good ones actually stretch and help with recovery where as some of the cheap ones just break!!! I've done some hefty yanks with mine and have never had a problem. <br> I'll admit to learning the hard way over the years and have had to replace a tailgate or two of mine because of using cheap straps and having them break. The other thing to remember is when hooking up to someone elses vehicle, let them hook to their truck while you watch. That way, if by chance you jerk a bumper off or something, it's their problem, not yours!! At the same time, by watching them hook up, you can make the decision as to whether you want to pull while it's hooked to that particular point.<br>As to hooking the strap up, never hook to a suspension part or to a trailer ball. A friend of mine had the passenger seat head rest cleaned of the seat after a trailer ball let go and came thru the back window. I've always had good luck using my frame mounted hitch with a ring system for the reciever. I know there will be a few of you out there that are thinking no-no, but if a clean relatively straight pull is not possible, I won't do it. I always pull from the rear, I would sooner lose a tailgate than a radiator.<br>It might not be the right way, but it works for me. I hope someone else can pitch in here and offer another angle. Just my two cents, hope it answers some questions.

thatguy

Homestead - How much did yours cost, if you dont mind me asking?.. <br><br>I didnt want to spend a lot of money (IE as cheap as possible but still do the job), but if paying more for a quality strap keeps me from replacing a rear window or tailgate it would be money well spend... hehe<br><br>thanks for the advise..<br><br>brian

turboblue

Brian<br><br>Buy only a top notch strap for what you are doing with it. Get the highest rated capacity you can afford. I think a minimum of a 4&quot; and 50K pounds. There have been several instances of people being killed because of a inferior strap and related attachments failing. Like Homestead said, never use a trailer ball as an attachment point. These have and will break if you hit them hard enough.<br>I think a good one can be had for $50-75.

Shovelhead

Also when using a strap, rope or whatever, place a blanket or a couple of jackets over the the strap between the two end points to slow the strap/cable/rope down if it should break.

midwestdually

[quote author=Shovelhead link=board=11;threadid=7622;start=0#73160 date=1038433734]<br>Also when using a strap, rope or whatever, place a blanket or a couple of jackets over the the strap between the two end points to slow the strap/cable/rope down if it should break.<br>[/quote]<br><br><br>yup..thats what i was gonna say....a floor mat will work as well

Desmoda

I've been using a 5&quot; strap for a few years... pulling only from the back! You've got a winch on the front if you can't pull from the back... don't you?<br><br>If your truck is going to see much off-roading, a good pull strap is one of those &quot;must-have&quot; items in my opinion. A good winch, or a monster pull-along if you're in pinch, a tree protector and some friends willing to get muddy are all big items too!<br><br>But I'm curious too... what does everyone else use to actually attach the strap to hook-less trucks? I've usually used a mammoth shackle I picked up at my local 4x4 shop, but I was wondering what else everyone else had come up with.<br><br><br>

phox_mulder

[quote author=thatguy link=board=11;threadid=7622;start=0#73136 date=1038428226]
The ones you find in stores locally (walmart, kmart, northern tool) are rated 5k to 15,000 lbs (only 1/3 of that is the 'safe' working rating though) and cost typically under $30
&lt;edit&gt;
Also.. Most of these have 'loops' (versus hooks like a chain) on both ends.. [/quote]

I had one of those cheap ones, got at Checker I think.
Leftover from my Toyota Tacoma.
I got stuck and that was the only thing I or the Ford that pulled me out had.
I just tied one end around my rear reciever hitch, not the ball part, but the crossmember part, and the other end to his tow hook. (I don't have tow hooks on mine, YET!)
The strap had metal hooks on both ends, but I didn't want those breaking, and flying through the window, so I just tied the strap and layed a couple of my floormats over it to slow it down. (was summer, didn't have coats or jackets)
Broke the strap twice, just tied it together on the breaks and tried again, barely got me out as it broke again.

My girlfriend that was with me gave me a replacement for Fathers Day, but got the exact same thing .
She figured since it was rated for 15,000, and my truck is under 7,000 that it was perfect, 2 times the truck weight.

I will be getting myself one that I saw at a local 4X4 performance shop, 5 inch, triple looped on the ends, rated for 65,000 breaking strength (I think).

Also have plans for a 12-15K Winch as well.

phox

DarrellB

I use a 4&quot;x30' Keeper recovery strap. I think it's rated to 40k. It has loops on both ends and I carry 2 big cleveses in my toolbox to use for hooking up.

I used to use a 2&quot;x20' Keeper that I bought from Walmart and I jerked the pi$$ out of it on several occasions and it never broke but it was streched out to about 30' when I finaly retired it to ATV use.

I think I paid $50 for my big Keeper strap, got it on sale at Tractor Supply.

DB

Homestead

I bought my strap about 5 years ago and I paid $85 cdn for it. Worth every penny!! Like &quot;turboblue&quot; said, buy what you can afford, but try to spend a little more.<br>As for hooking up to a &quot;hookless&quot; truck, I have gone many routes. I do have a 15 ton rated shackle, yeah, it's big but I know it won't break. I hook the shackle to a crossmember or something or back to the strap itself. I have also on easy pulls, wrapped the strap back thru itself. It's a no-no, but under the circumstance, it was a simple pull not a yank. The other choice is to get a 60 ft strap, have both ends hooked to your truck, and use a floor mat or whatever to protect your strap where it is wrapped around the other vehicle. This safely works if you are just putting pulling pressure on the strap not yanking it.<br>I guess the thing to remember, is to use your dicression as to whether you yank it or just put a little pressure on it and let the other truck drive out on it's own. Every situation is different. <br> I have left my truck stuck a few times just because there was no &quot;easy&quot; way of getting it out. It was safer and probably cheaper in the end to call a tow truck than let someone just yank and yank and yank.

Haulin_in_Dixie

Now let me figure this out. If you have a heavy tag along trailer and hit the brakes or worse hit the back of a car, the hitch ball will break off and you will have a new arm rest. The trailer tounge. : A hitch ball will carry that which it is designed for. A proper sized hitch ball will break the hitch first, been there. I would not use a cheap ball or a small shaft ball. The receiver pin is half the size of the hitch ball shaft if you have a quality ball.

bulabula

I have the aforementioned 2”x20’ 20k pound strap (with loops) to use in an emergency (for someone who slipped of the roadway) that will suffice. If you get your big truck stuck in a hole off-roading, you probably would need more strength. For litigation reasons, I wouldn’t pull a stranger if he was really stuck. I’d offer him the use of my cell phone to call AAA. My perspective here is helping someone who slipped off the road in the winter, not running the Rubicon.<br><br>As far as mounting points, I have a big old ball mount that I removed the ball and put a clevis on, and for the other end I have a 4 ft piece of chain with grab hook &amp; clevis for the other guy to wrap around the pull point on his vehicle. I don’t have tow hooks up front yet.<br><br>In the past I/we have wrapped a loop around the ball without issue and literally tied the strap around something on the other vehicle. If my ball/ballmount is rated to pull 10 thousand pounds and I’m doing the ****** and jerk hard enough to break it; in my opinion its time to call a wrecker, or clear all looky-loo’s away and proceed very carefully. I would lay money that my 10k solid steel ball mount would rip that 20k strap to shreds.<br>

Ballbearing

Recovery equipment<br><br>These people have a lot of nice stuff.<br><br>I've got a Warn 3/4&quot; receiver mount shackle kit for the rear. The shackle states that it has a 6.5 ton working load limit. This kind of worries me. Although that is the biggest one that they sell and I have seen numerous other companies and books that recommend this size shackle. I guess it's OK. Anyone have an opinion on this?<br><br>Also, I have the tow hooks on the front and they are only rated at 5K a piece. What happens when you do a double-line pull at 12K using one of these hooks as an attachment point?<br><br>As far as the straps with hook on each end. I wouldn't get any. Most of the organized off-road events (Jeep jamboree, etc) won't allow them due to safety reasons.

Homestead

I agree with Haulin in Dixie to a point. A trailer ball is rated for whatever your particular ball is rated for. Your hitch pin like you said is half the diameter of your trailer ball shank. But you half to remember that your trailer ball is only mounted in &quot;single&quot; shear where as you hitch pin is mounted in &quot;double shear&quot; Big difference!! <br>In double shear you are basically trying to rip the center out of the pin, where as in single shear, you are trying to bend it over which brings up the risk of the strap completely coming off the ball or worse yet, the ball snapping off!! A 7000+ lb CTD getting a 10 or 15 ft run on a recovery strap is going to put some stress on a few components!!!<br>As we all know, ratings as to strength have a safety zone built into them. Buy a higher quality trailer ball or tow chain or strap or whatever and chances are pretty good that a 10,000 lb rated something might survive a 20,000 lb pull. Where as a cheaper off shore product may not even survive it's &quot;rated&quot; capacity. Quality products are usually over built to a certain percentage (usually a minimun of 50%)to give that safety margin.<br>Like most people here I'm sure, price doesn't dictate quality when it comes to safety related items such as brakes, steering, recovery type stuff. You get what you pay for. I'll pay more before I'll compromise. Motorcycle helmets are a prime example, How much is your head worth? A $100 helmet or a $400 helmet.<br>I don't profess myself to be anything special when it comes to this topic or any topic for that matter, I just want to add my .02 cents here and there and hope that someone else chimes in with thier opinion or advice. I think it all boils down to using your better judgement in a recovery situation no matter how big or small. Just be safe!<br><br>I apologize for blabbering!! :

Haulin_in_Dixie

[quote author=Homestead link=board=11;threadid=7622;start=0#73390 date=1038503189]<br> A 7000+ lb CTD getting a 10 or 15 ft run on a recovery strap is going to put some stress on a few components!!!<br>[/quote]<br><br>Ok, people do things different. I would never put my truck through a 10 or 15 ft run on a recovery strap. I have been in trucking all my life and ran a towing company for a few years. A few inches, maybe, but not 10 or 15 feet. If it won't come out pulling with at the most a slight shock, it does not come out.<br><br>On the liability thing, I keep a couple of releases with me for that purpose. They sign a release taking full responsibility for any damage.<br><br>On the amount of stress that you put on a chain or cable, I had a large ford with 600 Holmes booms on it for several years which was my driver. The booms had 7/16 cable or wire rope on them. They had a breaking strength of 17,500 pounds. You could not believe the equipment that I pulled out of holes and lifted with these cables. And this was with shear pulling power as the winches had the power. The truck was 15,000+ pounds and one cable would skid the truck on dry pavement with the air brakes locked with a trolly valve. This was heavy stuff that a CTD could not think of matching. So on a straight pull, a 20,000 pound strap will handle anything that the Dodge can think of pulling. As most likely a 10,000 pound would. I use 5/16 chain for that purpose.