Lessons learned yesterday.

This is a lessons learned thread covering my debacle on a very mild trail yesterday. I learned a lot about "overland" and "expo" type people. I also learned a lot about raptor owners.

So yesterday myself and 2 co-wprkers decided to go up to the top of a local mountain. Tgis is only about a 2500ft elevation change, and only about 5 miles off highway travel. In the summer any car with 4wd and 8" of ground clearance could probably make it to the top. However its not summer yet. There is still 1+ft of snow up there.

Going up, nobody had a problem. The 4 runner had to try the last hill 4 times, but he got up there eventually. My stock SR on kumho road ventures actually had the least trouble overall throughout the day.

Going down the raptor driver made a atupid mistake, got himself out of the rut, and then let the truck slow to a stop, where it sank to the frame in snow.

He was the last truck in line, and mine was in the middle. There was no way i could back up in to this spot to give him a tug without alao getting my truck stuck (the deep, slushy snow that you MUST keep moving through.) At this point i wasnt too worried yet. The 4 runner had traction boards, a hi-lift, a shovel, and a pelocan case on top, and the owner is an "overlander"

The owner had:
No idea how to use the hi-lift
1 15ft stap and a tree saver
No D rings
No wheel lift harness
No base plate.

This means we had no way to use the jack, and therefore no way to use the traction boards. So we had a shovel. Thats it. So we dug. For hours. Thank god we had beer.

The raptor driver refused to air his tires down below 30psi, he was convinced it was bad for them. He also refused to "rock" the truck from fwd-rev-fwd, convinced it would traah his trans.

The lessons i learned from this are
1. Always carry your own recovery gear, all of it, because the other guy who says he has it probably does not
2, Raptor deivers are prissy about their f150.
3, guys who "look the part" for overland, arent always actually equipped or experienced.

 

sounds like a terrible time, hanging out with morons

 

And #4 always have beer.
Glad you guys made it out.

 

Yep, sounds about right. This is why I carry all the gear and tools I could need and not rely on anyone else for them. Even if they do have it, who’s to say they maintain it? Sounds like a shit experience but at least you learned some stuff. Mainly, know who you’re wheeling with.

 

This is why choosing trail partners is key.

 

Learning something new everyday, huh?
As much as I don't like generalizing, it is what it is. People make mistakes and should learn from them. Maybe after this experience, your overlanding co-workers will get more and better recovery gear. Or maybe they'll never go off road again?
Important lesson here is, if you know how to count, count on yourself, lol
Glad you made it home safe, and wrote your story.

 

Sounds like no one was stuck before, learning experince for everyone. Everyone has to learn sometime

 

What i found most interesting is that 4runner pwner was telling us about a story where he got stuck on the same mountain for 5 hours, jist 6 weeks prior

 

Yeah thats not a good sign if he was stuck a few weeks before.

 

This guy gets it....

 

Had to buy all new gear after so it was shiny and rust free for the mall lol jk. Glad you made it off the mountain. And the raptor is now the new soccer mom vehicle, I blame pop style country music for that.

 

You... don't need a high lift to use traction boards. You clear as much snow or dirt as you can and wedge them in.

 

We had tried that, but were unable to get any bite at all on the boards. Even with the rear locked, and the rear tires dug down to the dirt, the tires were just spinning at the edge of the boards, and not grabbing well enough to pull them in.

 

Sounds like it was high centered on the snow. I'm guessing when you dug enough snow from under the truck it dropped down some.

Sounds like a good lesson glad you all got out safe.

 

Yep, exaxtly what happened.

 

Great story. I've been fortunate enough to never have to use my winch, which meant I was really not experienced with using it. For this reason on a recent trip to Grant County Oregon we purposefully drove up into some snow and got ourselves quite stuck, and I got some practice using the winch from someone who had much more experience. In the process I also got to use my maxtrax and shovel - it was the first time I'd had to use either for my own truck instead of someone else.

I'd been to classes at the local rally in the past, however nothing beats the first hand experience. We spent almost three hours trying different things and I left feeling more confident than I'd been.

 

Another thing I'd recommend is maintaining your winch. Once a month, power out 5' of rope, then pull out another 5' of rope, then power it back in. This just keeps all the winch internals happy.

 

I understand when you go with a group everyone gets out. I will do anything possible to make sure that happens. Fortunately I wheel with experienced people that can handle pretty much anything and the noobs usually listen. But the dude didn’t want to listen and air down or rock back and forth.

I would sit there and keep the beer company while his ass shoveled

 

Yep I highly recommend that. Nothing like a winch failing when you really need it

 

Traction boards don’t work well in snow unless it’s softer powder. The truck never bites the board to move forward and tires just spin.

When I experienced this, we were on rock so I couldn’t even dig much. When the tire did bite the board it would just spit it out the other side. Sounds like recovery gear is high on your list. It’s all a good lesson though.