Tow Line - Kept in Car

I made this tow line last winter to keep in my car. The specs are as outlined in the attached doc. It has movable tubular webbing for chafe guard and the same webbing on ones loop. I figure I'll put the unprotected loop on my car which has fairly non-chaffing attachment points. It does not stretch much. Some people are against this because it results in sudden shock loads on the line and vehicle. They have a valid point, however, I like that little kinetic energy is stored, so if the line breaks it should mostly just fall to the ground.

I'm far from an expert on the matter of towing vehicles, but this seemed sufficient to pull my Subaru out of a snow bank, or hook up between trucks to assist one up an icy boat launch/ramp.

What do you folks carry for this purpose?

I didn't need this during the recent storm! +1 for Nokian WR2s

Really nice work on those splices!

I don't know much about rope strength, but a 9mm rope seems rather thin for towing purposes... I notice that most ropes sold are about twice as big, or maybe I'm confused on rope diameter... I'm sure more knowledgeable members will chime in on diameter / strength considerations.

I carry two, both are purpose bought for the job:

- One elastic with hooks on each end, will extend about 2-3 times its length. For towing you really want as much elastic as possible, if the rope isn't taut it will go under the rear vehicle and very likely snag on the wheels.

- One regular rope with spliced loops. For pulling out of the snow bank. If you have limited room in the direction of the pull, too much elastic is a real pain in the butt.

A breaking rope is a lethal hazard, elastic or not. Take care!

I'm realizing I think of this as more of a "get unstuck line" not a "tow line" for moving a vehicle a great distance. I don't have anything I keep w/me for that.

Nice job.

Reminds, me... I have a 150 ft Blue Water static rope from my younger days that should really be retired. I could cut it in half and put 75 ft in each vehicle kit. No need for hooks, knots are more versatile.

But
I
just
can't
bring
myself
to
c-c-c-cut
it.

Just think how cute the coiled rope just 75' or less would be!

Yeah, the AMSTEEL BLUE doesn't hold knots famously well and there is the endless debate of which weakens line more, certain knots or certain splices.

Ultimately I spliced with other users in mind. My father or brother could easily be using this w/o my presence someday and they're far less familiar w/knots than I (though I just know the basics) so I figured the splices are safer. The splices did consume a lot of line though!

Hmm, thinking about this, I have to look at the shackle I keep w/this for attachment, I wonder if it is up to the spec of the line!

You usually want stretchy if using a vehicle to pull another out, the idea being to multiply your vehicle's pulling capability by converting mass x speed into kinetic energy to unstick the stuck vehicle. If you just pulled slowly forward until a non-elastic rope or chain got tight and then tried to pull, you would need to put more horsepower on the road and could easily lose traction before breaking the hold on whatever the stuck vehicle is hung-up on.

Non-stretchy is for use with a winch or come along attached to an immovable anchor (tree, boulder). Amsteel rope is sold to replace steel aircraft cable on recovery winches, so it doesn't stretch much.

I always carry a 30' of 4" web snatch strap (stretchy), 12' of non-stretch 3" web strap (tree strap), 12' of heavy chain. In the winter or when off-roading I add either a 2-ton come-along or a Hi-Lift jack, or sometimes both. I've used the snatch strap several times, and the chain, tree strap and come-along a few times, to get others unstuck. I've been lucky enough to never get seriously stuck myself.

What do you use the chain for? My uncles always use chain for vehicle to vehicle removal, which I feel is pretty dangerous.

elaborate please

As in, he (my uncle) uses chain to hook from his truck to another and rip it out of a snow bank, up a ramp, etc, which as far as I know chain has little stretch and thus would be bad similar to how my line is bad. So I'm curious what Mark_M uses chain for, I'm guessing w/the high-lift or come-along.

R

Retired climbing ropes perform their final service as tow ropes. I have always been impressed with the performance of dynamic ropes when unsticking vehicles. The rope seems to store up energy and then out it comes....

I did manage to break a 3/8" rope once, pulling a motor home across a creek. Pretty spectacular! I would stay clear of the path of any towing apparatus, regardless of its dynamic properties.

That line looks awsome, and if it pulls your out that is great! Stretchy is the way to go, if I may say. that lets the person pulling you use a little bit of speed and belive it or not the stretchy tow strap does less shock to both the vehicles in question.

In reguards to the "killer backlash" of a snapped tow line, the key to this is less the stretchy aspect and more the weight of the object that has snapped. A heavy tow chain that breaks is now not only flying with sotred energy but with weight, that weight is what makes it truly dangerous (this is also why we don't put clevises to join two short pull straps)

I have pulled out vehilces with as little as the 1/2 inc tubler webbing (I threw it out immediatly aftwards) due to coming across a stuck mail man and having my climbing gear in my friends car, we had to flag down a 4x4 to do the pull out. Funny the guy with the 4x4 didn't have a tow strap,, kinda selfish of him.

As for what I carry in my truck:
1 30'x2" tow strap (stretchy)
1 20'x3" lifting strap (NOT stretchy) 20,000 pound rated
1 10'X4" Lifting Strap (NOT stretchy) 36,000 pound rated
1 16'X3" Lifting strap (NOT stretchy) 27,000 pound rated
1 20' 10ton tow chain (chain hook and tow hook)
1 12' 10ton tow chain (chain hook and tow hook)
4 6ton Shackels
1 2" reciver hitch tow atachment with shackel

And that is just the towing part of the truck box.

I also carry a Black dimond avalanch shovel and a treching tool.


Yes,, I could almost extract a tank. though I think my truck would have a hernia if it tried.. LOL

I may have to get a stretchy line as well...my home was to avoid the risks of kinetic energy build up thinking that my car is so light that most 4x4s I'd flag down for a hand could pull me out w/o having to buildup speed, but should another car try and give me a pull the stretch would probably be a good thing...now to pick a nylon webbing strap!

I found this article pretty helpful:
http://www.keystonekrawlers.com/Mods/Misc/Recov_strap/recovery_strap_tech.htm

Nice article. Thanks!

The quoted article is good. It does however, omit the most useful of the recovery tools - rope. Straps with loops are great IF they are the correct length. In my experience they seldom were the perfect length.

I prefer a 3/4" poly rope. This is usually rated at ~9800#. Poly usually is rated to stretch 50% before it breaks. I plow with a truck that weighs 6200# ready to go. To hook onto the vehicles I twist the rope and feed it back thru itself twice about a foot apart. I bag up the extra rope and leave it behind my vehicle. I have found that the rope is strong enough to stop my truck under full throttle and pull it back on pavement without breaking.

I use a chain on both ends, and a quality strap to connect the chains. We're talking a good quality chain with clevis, etc., very strong hardware. The chains keep the strap from getting chewed up by bumpers, frames, etc...

I used to carry a very heavy chain in the my Blazer and then Bronco, and used it to 'unstick' people, and once to get myself unstuck. The trick to using a chain is to be smooth. With the chain I was using there was virtually no stored energy, because there was no measurable stretch. The main danger is in ripping parts off the car, in my experience.

Towing a car with a length of chain is pretty difficult. I have done it a few times, for distances of less than a mile. In all cases is was my 5000lb truck pulling a 3500+lb car. The last time I did this it was pulling an old (70's) Ford LTD. I let the owner of the dead car attach the chain on his end. Some slack developed in the chain, and when I rolled forward and took it up, the kinetic energy of the truck very nearly pulled the chain hook *through* his bumper.

As far as getting people unstuck, I would rather use a winch or a chain than a strap. IMHO if you need to use kinetic energy to unstick someone, you don't have an adequate solution, you have a dangerous situation. If I had a strap, I'd want one heavy enough that it wouldn't stretch much.

The use of kenitic energy is a trick that is often used when getting someone out of deep snow or mud where there is a bit of a "suction"

the key is to use the right tool for the right job, and knowing what tool is for what job. Then again, isn't that why we are all here.

UpstateTom, I have to agree the best tool to extract someone is a winch, (I prefer using the new synthetic winch line,, better physics if things break.) The use of a winch lets you apply force in a gradual controled (we hope) manner that will give you time to see if the force applied is apropriate and effective. Regretably not many people drive around witha winch on the front of there vehicle or a multi-mount winch in the bed of there pickup or back of there SUV, regretably I am not one of them.

I keep a strap with loops in my vehicles, as well as a D-shackle or two. Usually this works out fine for most tasks. Last winter I actually used it to drag a K5 Blazer on 40" tires off the main road with my Envoy (the drive shaft broke and the pinion fell into the rear and locked up). Pulled it about 100ft no problem.

With that said, I still keep plenty of heavy chain up at our shop. Usually it's used with the rigs for keeping equipment tied down, but it also comes in handy for towing, lifting, ect. I've never had any problems using chain for a tow line, however the stuff I buy is much heavier duty than anything you would find at a typical hardware store.

All interesting input. Thanks. I think I'll add a strap. Chain seems a bit much for a relatively light Subaru.

Exactly right. If you're using a come-along or especially a jack as a come-along, or a winch, you want as little give in the line as possible. Otherwise you wind up pulling all the stretch out of the line but not moving the vehicle much, (or, in the case of the short pulling length on the jack, not moving at all).

Edit: Found this link on using a High-Lift as a winch: http://vimeo.com/1027546

Even aircraft cable has some give. Chain, on the other hand, doesn't stretch at all. But it's heavy as hell and bulky, and will rust if it stays wet.

BTW, I always throw a couple blankets or coats over the strap, cable or chain, about 1/3 and 2/3 the way from the end, just in case the line snaps. I've never seen it happen, but stories abound of injury from the flying cable or chain hitting bystanders.

I used to use chains most of the time and tow straps some times.

Chain is good and has a lot of control.
You need to tighten up until you have some tension before actually pulling.
It you jerk the vehicles you will damage the vehicles and likely break your chain.

No jerking the load!
Shock loads are very severe loads.
The same is true with cable, rope or straps.

With a full-size V8 Blazer or Bronc, locked front and rear, bigger tires, and full frame chassis, you have a lot more weight, traction, power and hard mounting points than most of us do with smaller, lighter SUV's. I run a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder and a 2000 Jeep XJ, and these are fairly light vehicles with smaller V6 engines. I've been out in some bogs with the XJ and found I just don't have the traction (on sand or mud) or horsepower to finesse another similar class vehicle out of sticky mud. But with a snatch strap I can generate enough momentum to yank another vehicle loose of the "suck" without risking damage to the limited hard points available on these unit-body designs, and once the suction is broken I can usually pull the rest of the way out of the muck without another snatch.

I've done a fair bit of off-roading and a snatch strap recovery is considered a safe and routine exercise. I always throw a couple blankets, jackets or towels over the line to dampen it if it should break. But from what others have told me (and this has never happened to me), if a strap does break, even with a lot of tension on it, because of its weight and large surface area, it doesn't pose the injury/damage hazard of wire cable or chain.

Winches are good too, especially if you're all alone. But many a time I've seen them overheat and shut-down before the stuck vehicle was recovered, or just not work at all for unknown reasons, or the recovering vehicle drag itself towards the stuck one instead of the other way around. If I get serious about building-out my XJ I'll probably put on a winch, but it's a low priority for me.

As for distance towing in an emergency, again I'd go with a snatch strap. As you observed, it's inevitable that some slack will develop in the line. I once towed a water-locked Jeep YJ about 3 miles through the NJ Pine Barrens on sand roads to get to pavement and waiting flat-bed, so my buddy could avoid a $1,000+ off-road recovery. I know I would have done some damage if I had used a chain instead of the strap.

With all respect, that's a very tricky game to play. Yes, you can apply a lot more shock force by "taking a run at it." But it substantially increases the possibility of a) the tow line breaking and whipping back, b) one of the vehicle/tow line connections failing under shock load, or c) damage to the vehicle(s) themselves.

The best and safest course is always to take up the slack on the tow line, whatever kind it may be, and then apply force. For stretchy lines, this will provide plenty of "spring." For low-stretch lines like cable or chain, a slight amount of sag will provide some of that spring (better combined with a short stretchy piece if possible).

In any case, IME, if you have more than a few inches of slack in your tow line, you're asking for trouble.

EDIT: You guys beat me to it in the last few posts. I need to refresh the thread before I post anything!

Make sure you get one that's rated 3x to 4x the weight of your vehicle, and with web loops, NOT HOOKS, on the ends. You'll also need two D-Shackles to connect the strap.

Here's a video on how to use the strap:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JBnxSqpuCM

If you don't have a tow hook you can wrap the strap around the frame of hitch receiver or chassis frame and then close it with the shackle. Don't hook up to an axle, cross-member or part of the suspension, as you'll definitely bend or even remove these parts from the vehicle (I saw a guy pull his driveshaft right out of the transmission when the axle he was hooked to got pulled almost off). But most vehicles have tow hooks, or a socket into which a tow hook stowed in your OEM took kit screws-in. If you don't see them under the bumper check your owner's manual.

A couple tow-rope stories… who knows, may impart some wisdom.

About 30 years ago I was a young pup working in rural central Alberta.
A colleague of mine went off the road going down a small valley & ended up in the weeds about 40 feet away from the road.
Snow was about 3 feet deep.
He had a tow-rope of the stretchy variety & I had another.
I was in a Chev ¾ ton 4x4 with tire chains on all 4 wheels.
Started out just pulling gently til the ropes tightened up.
He didn’t budge.
Backed up & took a bit of a run at it.
Hit the end of the stretch & jerked my 4x4 backwards 10 feet.
He didn’t budge.
Backed up as close as I could get, then pinned it in 4-low.
Hit the end of the stretch & the tail-chain on my end of the 2 stretchy tow ropes broke.
The remaining bit of chain & the clevis slingshotted towards the stuck truck at about mach-1& sheared the side mirror off clean as a whistle.
We called a tow-truck.

Another time I was driving on the highway in Northern Alberta.
Freezing rain had made the pavement as slick as a curling rink.
I was likely going 20-mph or less when a Jeep Wrangler passed me, going about 50.
Then he did about 4 donuts on the road & off into the ditch.
Of course I stopped.
When I got out of the truck, I fell down, that’s how icy it was.
Again about 3 feet of snow & although he had 4x4, none of his tires were touching the ground.
I offered to pull him out with my tow rope, but he insisted on using his winch.
Even though I had the far heavier vehicle, it would not stay on the icy road.
He was just winching me into the ditch.
I finally convinced him to try the rope, which popped him out with ease.

My favourite tow-rope story:
A bunch of us guys were out dirt-biking in a river valley, leaving the women to set up a bar-b-que & picnic.
One of the girls drove my buds 2-wheel drive pick-up onto the sandy beach by the river & got it stuck.
My wife-du-jour backed my 4x4 up there & got out my towrope.
She had it properly attached to my tow-hook, but they couldn’t find a tow-hook on the front of my buddies pick-up.
Us boys rolled up on the bikes just as the girls were taking the slack out of the towrope.
They had it woven all through the grill of the truck.
We got them stopped & just fell to the ground laughing.
Another minute & they would have ripped the grill off the truck.

OK, here’s a winch story, although it didn’t happen directly to me:
A colleague was out in the wilds of Kazakhstan looking for some old suspended wellsites.
He was in a Landcruiser with a Kazakh driver and a translator.
No roads, just some trails.
They came to a small dried creek-crossing.
My buddy instructed the driver to put it in 4x4 before attempting it, but the driver just went in 2-WD & got stuck.
Only after they were stuck did the driver explain that the 4-wheel drive didn’t work.
The steps of Kazakhstan grow no trees, but my friend is a resourceful guy.
1st he pulled the winch-cable out almost to the end.
Then he & the translator dug a hole in the earth about 2 feet deep & 4 feet across.
This was a tough job using only a wheel wrench & their bare hands.
Finally they took the spare tire, attached it to the cable & buried it in the hole.
After the hole was filled, he told the driver to winch himself out.
Only then did the driver inform them the winch didn’t work.
They spent a long, cold & uncomfortable night in the Landcruiser.
We found them the next morning

And this is why I am OK with iritating people by asking seeminly obvious questions like "does that work?" and "can we just check?" I have ticked off my fair share of people with my anyoning questions, but they have prevented a few true issues.

I have to add the truck I drive now is 4x4 and I do take it slightly off road but I usualy reserve it to pull people out and to get through dificult roads. then again if you saw the paint job you would wonder if I even drove it in the winter.

In my experience the first thing that is missing is the spare wheel !

I've got a shackle in my car. It isn't rated as high as my line is, but if it were, I don't think it'd fit through my facotory tow points.

Roberttheii:

you might be suprized. I found some military shackels that have like 15,000 pound rating that were considerably small.

Just out of curiosity what kind of tow points are you talking about? better question, what kind of care do you drive that will tell you the rating of the atachment points,

Also if the shackels exceed the weight of the car by 2 times then you should be OK, even if they don't match the tow strap.

Interesting! I've often wondered what sort of ground anchor could be improvised. Given that and come-along could solve all sorts of problems. Any other ground anchor stories out there?

a company called Master pull has a soft ground anchor that actualy digs in deeper as you pull against it. the anchor colapses down for storage.

I have seen and used stakes in the ground in a picket fence technique to create anchors.

i wallowed off the lane to my cabin more than once trying to bull thru deep snow in my Honda and used a come a long anchored to a tree to get be back on the track..and then walked up and got the snow blower..which i should have done in the first place---if your alone the cable puller is the only choice and you may have to do it in several pulls..

I'm no expert, but some random thoughts.

* Unless you understand the properties of the line you are using (and the procedure), using it to extricate or tow your vehicle can very dangerous. Climbing rope, and random stuff you might be find at your local box store are very unlikely to be suitable for safe vehicle recovery.

* Amsteel Blue, the line referred to in the original post is a high tech fiber called Dyneema, which IIRC is a Spectra/Nylon blend, and is not comparable to most of your run of the mill line of similar thickness.

In fact, it is sold as winch cable.

* Winch line, or lines with similar properties, is NOT what you want to use to pull your vehicle out using another vehicle! Look up a technique called "snatch recovery" or "kinetic recovery" and understand the process and get the proper gear.

* The "tow hook" on your Subie, probably isn't! This is probably a tie down and it is unsafe to try to use it as a tow point. In general, you'd probably be better off with a tow hitch and a receiver shackle bracket.

* Understand the properties of your line. Especially some of the high tech lines, while they may have some very impressive benefits, people often overlook they sometimes have gotchas. Like being very slippery and not holding knots, to losing all their strength if bent around too sharp of an object.

* Your recovery system is only as good as its weakest link. Understand all the links.

* Check out a TIFOR or "hand winch" over a come-a-long. Black Rat Hand Winch Working with a hand winch

Random links:

* Tom Moyer - High Strength Cord
* Recovery

My suggestion? Get a proper recovery strap and associated equipment, understand the attachment points on your vehicle, and read up on vehicle recovery.

Good luck.

-john

If you go 4-wheeling enough you get to learn all the various ways of recovering stuck vehicles -- both good and bad. About the funniest one I've seen was on YouTube where a guy got his jeep stuck in the mud and his buddies tied the winch to his roll-bar and proceeded to rip the body of his truck right off!

I've never seen a pull go wrong if a stretchy recovery strap was used properly. Between mud and snow I've probably pulled two or three dozen cars and trucks with snatch straps. Not all of them required a running start, but several did. But if you've mastered the static-line pull then I guess stick to what works best for you. In any case, it's not as controversial as suggesting to use paracord to rappel in an emergency. ;^)

Burying your spare is a well known trick with off-roaders and is mentioned in most courses on the subject. Saw a trail buddy use a Pull-Pal once and it worked OK after it finally bit into the sand (he wasn't stuck, just showing off his new toy). I'd like to get 30' of that nice dynamic recovery rope from MasterPull, but at over $100 I'm hoping Santa is reading this forum tonight because I've been an exceptionally good boy this year!

I'm sure people will disgree w/my conclusion but I think I'm going to go for 1 inch nylon rope w/a breaking strength of ~25k lbs. I'll splice loops into each end. It seems to have similar stretch properties to nylon snatch straps and I like it better, because it is rope. I have more confidence in my ability to maniuplate rope as needed than webbing.

I'll keep my Dyneema for length and slow, no jerk, pulls, and because I love it.

Shackles I have to look at. I believe my front point is actually referred to as a "recovery point" in my manual, but I'll check.

I have a hitch in the back that I use for rear hookups.

Roberttheii:

just a thought if you are using the back tow hitch as a pull point, try to find a Reciver Shacle Bracet that will fit your hitch. putting a line on the ball can sometimes make for a quick and deadly cannon ball if the tow strap sheears off the tow hitch ball

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Winches-Winch...p;t_pn=EXP69312

And if the point on the front of your car is called a "recovery point" then it is probably rated to take a pull out of the snow or what ever got you stuck.

Agreed - "recovery point" sounds promising. Agreed, use a proper receiver shackle bracket when using the tow point.

Also, in my concern about the various suggestions, I forgot to mention that you did a beautiful job on that line. While I have some concerns about using a fairly static line, the Amsteel Blue is a great material, and is quite strong. Certainly if used carefully it probably will do the trick, and as you pointed out is small and light enough to always be in the car.

-john

I have loops spliced into my line (and will on future lines as well), I just put the loop into the receiver and put the pin through it. Noted that it has abbrassion/angle potential, but I'll inspect lines and cover them as needed.

Being in a small car, I have relativly limited storage. I could put things on top of my storage area in the hatch back area, but the more I have there the more likely I am to take it out when I'm going on a road trip, etc (for space) and thus less likely to have it when I need it.

Since I own a Jeep that I've built for serious offroading, I keep the following in it:

30'long 3" wide 30,000 pound rated snatch strap
8' long 3" wide 30,000 pound "tree saver" strap
20' heavy duty tow truck chain
receiver hitch-mounted shackle bracket
beefy front tow hooks mounted directly to the frame
a few 3/4" D-rings
a snatch block
a 48" Hi-Lift jack

That's pretty much all my recovery-type gear.

I fried my winch one day and need to buy another one (burnt up the solenoid pack AND the motor), but I should be good until I lay hands on another one.

I use Spectra/Dyneema string for flying kites. It that use, it is known for very low stretch and being very slippery. Both desireable for stunt kite flying. But because it is so slippery it does not hold knots well (that's an understatement!) You "sleeve" it where you need to tie knots. You thread it through an external sleeve (similar to the covering over the 7 strands inside paracord), and then tie your knot in this added sleeving.

I should never have to tie knots in it, as I've spliced in the loops featured in the photos. That said, we do tie knots in dyneema sailing. Usually just a bowline. I wouldn't trust my life to it, but it hasn't failed on a spin sheet while I've been on board. That said, it is smaller strand than my towline, so that may help w/knot holding.

+1 on that. Never use the ball as a recovery point. Aside from the risk of tearing it off the vehicle, you'll find it's very hard to keep the strap from slipping off. If you don't have a hard-mounted recovery point, wrap the strap around the hitch receiver frame, or get one of those hitch recovery shackles (they're only about $50, IIRC). Hint: stick a rag, extra gloves, sticks, whatever in the loop as they can tighten-up pretty good and be difficult to get apart.

Be careful with that... I have not done much in the way of recovery work since we rarely get deep snow here, but I have spent time reading over the years to know what to buy for my equipment. Using the pin in a receiver this way can be iffy since it is meant to hold a hitch or similar gadget in place rather than a rope or strap. It is designed to not simply shear off when tension is applied to the hitch, but it will not necessarily resist bending when tension is applied to a small point on it (like a rope).

I originally had the same idea as you, but after looking into it I spent the $40 on a receiver shackle bracket instead.

EDIT: May as well list my stuff too; you should all feel free to tell me if I'm being stupid:

25' 20,000 pound recovery strap with loops on both ends.
15' chain
2-ton come-along
Receiver shackle bracket with 2 3/4" shackles
8' nylon tow rope with hooks that came with a roadside emergency kit (can't see me using this for much of anything)

YOur list looks good, the 2ton come-along may be a good helper if you have to get over a smaller object or just give asstance to your vehicle in a time of need.

As for the 8' nylon tow rope with hooks. With all the gear that I have, I hate to admit it, I have had to use one of those hooks as it was the best hook to connect to a car I was pulling out.

so while you may wonder why you have that cheep POS tow rope, there may be a day that the hooks come in realy handy. Speaking of atachments, the loops on the recovery strap may need shackels for pulling or attaching to the front of trucks/vehicles.

Keep in mind that Ford uses totaly closed tow hooks, they are just loops on the front of the truck.. To add to the fun the material of the loop is HUGE and you need a 6ton shackle to get around the material of the loop.

You can never have too much recovery gear.