Hi all,

Thanks for all your feedback. I guess I didn't elaborate enough. The tow rope broke about a foot from where it was attached to the F150 - it had not been wearing on any part of the truck or rubbing on the ground. When it broke we were in my friend's driveway that was about 30 degrees incline.

**Update: I decided to buy the 6"X30' tow strap with loops from tractor supply - it is rated at 55,000 pounds! I know it is probably overkill but at least I can be 99% sure it will not break this time! Now I am wondering if I should buy any hooks to go with it? Or should I just make the loops work?**

Get two or three of those D-shackles. You should be able to rig something up with them most of the time.

X2, unless one of the rigs involved has tow hooks (or built in shackles,) you'll need at least 1 D-ring. If you're already going with a 6" strap, adding a few d-rings won't take up much more space, and will allow you to attach to just about anything.

I have pulled many vehicles out of tough situations but I do not think I would tow a vehicle on a public road again with a rope after a very scary experience I had about 25 years ago.

A friend of mine in college had 2 cars; a large old beater that his wife drove to work and a smaller car that my friend used to commute to school. The big car broke down in the city and my friend and I went in the very early morning (well before rush hour) to tow it home with the smaller car. We used a heavy thick synthetic rope to connect the vehicles together (I do not remember what type) and there was about 30 feet between the cars. I was in the vehicle being towed and remember I had steering and some braking, my friend knew the 50 mile back-road route so he drove the front vehicle. We made it out of the city OK and onto the country gravel roads, we went over some railroad tracks and started down a long hill that had a one lane concrete bridge at the bottom. The large rear car I was in started gaining on the small car in front so I lightly applied the brakes, this is when things went very bad. The rear car I was in swerved sideways across the road repeatedly as we quickly headed for the bridge and river. The front tow car was also being thrown around and looked like it was going to broadside into the bridge, then be slammed by the car I was in. As luck would have it the rope broke between the two cars, with the rear car ended up in the adjacent ditch and the front car on the road facing the wrong direction!

I was really freaked-out by this but since we had no money for a proper tow truck, traffic was backing up and we had to clear the site before the police came, we re-tie the rope together (now even shorter) and slowly managed to get the car home (where it was later sold for scrap, DUH).

You do stupid things in your youth and this adventure was one of mine. This event could have ended tradically for both my friend and I or especially if another innocent driver/pedestrain happened to be at the site.

Since that time I have not towed any vehicles any long distances with a rope; its tow truck, flatbed, solid towbar or nothing.

My 0.02 cents,

Mike

Ok - what size/dimensions of a D-Shackle do you recommend? Can you give me any links please?

Thanks!

I would recomment that you get your recommendation from a local supplier in your town. Look up rigging. Show them what you are trying to do. Let them explain the loading requirements. IF YOU CAN DO YOUR OWN CALCULATIONS - here is a hardware supplier.

http://catalog.thecrosbygroup.com/maininterface.htm

I have a few Warn 3/4" D rings (came with my winch), but brand doesn't matter that much. Just run down to Home Depot, or an industrial / farm equipment store, and save yourself the shipping costs.

Here are a few examples to give you an idea of what to look for:
http://www.quadratec.com/products/product_search.php?kw=d+ring&submit=Go%21

As far as D Rings go (I call them shackles which is what we refer to them as in the construction industry)) There is some difference concerning the manufacturer of them. The Crosby Group is in my opinion one of the best manufacturers of shackles and lifting gear. At work we have Crosby shackles and then we have the china shackles. The load limit on them is really quite significant. I use shackles and nylon straps quite extensively at work (ironworker/rigger/structural welder) and that is what i have in my vehicle for off road recoveries. As far as towing a vehicle while i have done it a dedicated tow bar is the best method rather than straps or chains and having to rely on the malfunctioning vehicle's braking system.

Then again my recovery bag contains wire rope, a come a long, various shackles and straps and on my three way tow hitch i have welded a picking eye so i can use that as an attachment point at the rear.

regarding your tow rope Colbyhouse is it actually rated at 55,000 lbs because i would like to see that strap it must be a four or six ply in my opinion.

Does anyone have one of these straps (from Cabela's)?

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...p&noImage=0

It is billed as a "recovery strap" which implies the elasticity I'm after. However, listed right beside the above strap at Cabela's is a sibling strap, a "recovery strap" that has HEAVY METAL ATTACHMENTS, which would be terribly unsafe!

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...ndexId=cat20145

I'm not sure if Cabela's knows what a "recovery strap" (a.k.a. "snatch strap") implies ... elasticity (my planned usage is not towing, rather getting cars unstuck from snow). Also, they list the non-metal recover strap as being 3" and having a rating of 27,000 lbs. Most 3" straps I've researched are more in the 15,000 lb range. Is this more evidence that Cabela's "recovery strap" may not really be a snatch strap?

p.s. - I'm considering the Cabela's strap only because I have a bunch of Cabela's club points that basically make the thing "free" for me. I'm also looking at this "receiver shackle" from Cabela's:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...ndexId=cat20145

Any comments on this device? I think Warn is a respected manufacturer of these type of things.

colbyhouse


Try one of these,I have never used one, it looks like it should work. I'm going to order one unless anyone has a good reason not to.


http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0038447522016a.shtml