3rd Gen Recovery Gear Thread

I like it! That's a nice option instead of a new bumper also.

 

Darn, thats nice. Think I'm going to have to put it on my aftermarket upgrades list.

 

sub'd

 

I got some steel twisted wire from home depot with loops on both ends. I thread the wire through shackle bolt eyelet and secure the loops to the hitch pin.. It effectively keeps the bolt from spinning without having to apply any torque to it.. do I still run the risk of it welding?

 

Lots of great info on here, thanks everyone. I'm hoping the crawl control / electronics of the Tacoma will save me in most situations, but I still want to be prepared just in case or if I run into someone who needs help.

I'm gonna pick up a maxtrax at some point..

I was curious about the front hitch point on my DCLBOR, so I went out to snap these pics.. the passenger side is something I've never seen before, but looks heavy duty.

Thoughts?

Passenger side:


Driver side:

 

It calls on that and the drivers side hook in the manual as emergency towing hooks. What about the rear though? You cant be recovered or do recovering with the safety chain holes on the hitch receiver can you?

 

Right, but why is the passenger side beefier than the standard loop on the driver side? Almost as if the passenger side has another use to it as well.

I have a shackle for the rear hitch.

 

Just leave the shackle safely stowed with the rest of your recovery gear until you actually need it. When you're actually using the shackle for its intended purpose the tie wire will make no difference whatsoever.

Driver's side anchor is only a tie down, not for towing, tugging, or any other kind of recovery. Passenger's side is a tow hook, okay but I wouldn't really trust it in a true kinetic recovery situation. Bulletproof is the only real recovery anchor point I've seen so far and I'm not familiar enough with it to say if I want that either. Anyway, you only really need one solid point on the front of the truck, having 2 would provide convenience but it'd be functionally pretty much the same. No need for a bridle with a proper recovery point.

 

@forty2 Thanks for the clarification, what you say makes sense. What I'm reading is the Tacoma doesn't have any solid recovery points up front. Maybe someone on here can test out the strength of the passenger side recovery hook for us?

Question now is, do I invest in a proper front recovery point system or a shovel and traction boards?

 

@Mobtown Offroad Any thoughts on this subject?

 

You need to go get stuck a few times with a bunch of experienced guys and see what you need vs what you want.

I prefer recovering from the rear, but the front will be strong enough for any standard rescue. But the point is if the truck is in 4 feet of mud and you need a 1 ton to snap yank you out, the front points probably wont hold very well.

A shovel and recovery board and some patience goes a long way.

 

Shovel and quality traction boards will cost you more, but you don't need a second vehicle to use them. That's what I'd pick were it my decision, but I often travel as a single vehicle these days.

 

This sentence is the whole thread. I spent my 20's wheeling hard trail with multiple rigs. Pushing hard and breaking parts doesn't really appeal to me so much anymore, but the knowledge I picked up along the way is indispensable.

 

So is it not a good idea to bridle or sling to the driver side loop point?

 

The passenger side is the recovery side and the driver side is the tow truck point when being pulled on to a roll back. But what I don't understand is Tacoma's never need rollback service so why put the loop there?

 

Not really. It would be okay for a static pull, but don't snatch from there.

 

Yeah man. I have a regular cab 4 banger and didn't want to have to lug around a heavy plate bumper and upgrade my suspension for the additional weight of the bumper only to really need it for recovery every once in a great while. I liked the receiver as well so I can throw my cargo basket on the front and go surf fishing. The shackle points are cool because I can throw a D ring on them and get pulled out and I spaced them to fit 10" light bars between the shackle point and receiver.

 

Just a little something to add to this thread. Ronny Dahl from Australia (and YouTube) does some decent recovery and gear videos. I don't always agree with everything he has to say but I'm pretty sure he's got more time than me off pavement and in recoveries, so deferring to his judgement probably won't leave you any worse for the wear.

Basic gear:



(note: UHF requires a ham license in the US, but the range and utility make it well worth it. I highly recommend if travelling remote and alone, but that's a whole other thread)

A couple of videos on kinetic recovery:





The ever useful HiLift is covered pretty well here:



He's got a lot more videos, but I think those are probably the most pertinent to our conversation here. Plus that 79 series is seriously lustworthy...

 

I love Ronnie videos,

 

sr5 does NOT have a good recovery hook on the front, just a weird lame loop