Do not use, can and have KILLED

[Woof]

Photo courtesy of www.offroadwa.com

[MEGOMONSTER]

There will never be enough education on toe ball recoveries.

[Maxhead]

There will never be enough education on toe ball recoveries.

Very very true mate, Unfortunately there will always be people that think they know better. Whats even worse is manufactures who make a product so called "recovery loop"which looks strong enough to recover from and people make the honest mistake of recovering from it. I'm talking about the loop that is held with 4 bolts. Shame shame as they know the dangers of recovering from that loop point.

[taslucas]

Very very true mate, Unfortunately there will always be people that think they know better. Whats even worse is manufactures who make a product so called "recovery loop"which looks strong enough to recover from and people make the honest mistake of recovering from it. I'm talking about the loop that is held with 4 bolts. Shame shame as they know the dangers of recovering from that loop point.

It's not that people think they know better. The fact is that they don't know the danger. I think it's great that forums like this and us concerned 4wders are trying to get the word out. I think the vast majority, once told of the danger will learn and it is only a tiny percent of people that will know the danger but snatch off them anyway.
Also, it's all about th force required to recover the vehicle. As said before, if it's bogged to the belly in thick mud fully loaded with a trailer on a hill it's gonna take a hell of a lot more force to pull out and so much so that you may even snatch the whole tow bar assembly out where as if it's simply stuck on a little bit of wet grass then the rear hoop or front factory hook will probably be fine to give a gentle pull.
At the end of the day though it's always best to err on the side of caution and be safe.

At the least, get a hitch receiver there only 40 odd bucks!

FanTapstic!

[threedogs]

Thats why its important to join a club or attend an off road driver training course.
Bad habits are passed on. Plenty of ppl swear by that loop and they are wrong.
and sadly the message is not getting through, never use a towball for recovery, ever

[Diesel-Mate]

Can we just take the tow ball out and use the pin to hold a snatch strap in?

[Winnie]

Can we just take the tow ball out and use the pin to hold a snatch strap in?

Yes mate that is acceptable.

If you're happy and you know it tap a post!

[taslucas]

As with all recoveries - stop, think/assess, and take your time - small pulls will usually drag someone out if a bit of common sense (apparently not all that common?) and a bit of muscle (dig, track build) prevails. Been driving off road fairly seriously for 28 years as a passenger and/or driver, and am still yet to see a need for massive pulls like the ones you see on YouTube and the like.



Scotty (Bigrig)

I think that point is one that should be highlighted the most.

Also:
The young guy that got killed not far from here a few years ago was smashed through the head by not only the towball but the the towball sleeve as well. In that circumstance it would have made NO DIFFERENCE if they had a shackle instead of the towball. Another problem was highlighted there and it was what a lot of people have already said; Maintain your recovery points. The reason the whole sleeve assembly came out was because someone had welded it in instead of using the pin. Salt water had been trapped inside and after years had corroded the sleeve so much that in some points the wall thickness was down to 2mm and therefore it snapped easily. So its not as simple as "use a shackle". As scotty said above there needs to be common sense, good maintenance of gear and an ability to comprehend the forces involved in the recovery.

[Bloodyaussie]

We had to use just the pin on a recovery and it was so bent after the recovery if it had been a Chinese pin it would have snapped for sure.... I would never like to rely on one again and prefer just to have the right gear!!!

[wolften]

Very good points, but a picture is better than a thousand words.
Post a pic of your recovery points please.