Our Tacomas and recovering other vehicles- what to do and what not to do?

I've recovered 3/4 ton trucks on more than one occasion and even managed to drag a class c motorhome back on a trail once (sheered off his black and grey water drains which was pretty nasty, but got him moving after being stuck overnight).

Other times I just offer up my shovel if it looks like I'll get stuck or there's a high risk of damaging my vehicle.

 

No. It is due to the design of the gear (hypoid).

The ring and pinion teeth are curved, creating a strong side and a not-as-strong side. The drive (forward) load is carried on the strong side. Reverse loads the opposite side of the gear.

Straight gear teeth are same strength on both sides. However, straight teeth are noisy. One reason for using hypoid gears today is for noise reduction.

Gears are hardened after manufacturing. I don't believe much (if any) work hardening occurs with use.

 

I understand that many guys don't want to assume the possible liability if something goes wrong. With either vehicle. I usually try to help and have pulled some pretty big stuff out. Seems like I never go to Florida and not have to pull someone out on the beach. Last time it was a 4X2 Ford Excursion. Apparently he didn't believe it when the sign said 4X4 only beyond this point.

Here I'm pulling an F250 diesel, and stock trailer with a few cows up a steep hill in Utah a few years ago. It is steeper than the pic makes it look. The guy had 4X4, but it wouldn't engage and he couldn't get enough traction in the loose dirt/sand/rock to get up the hill.

 

I attempted to use my set of four maxtrax on their truck but they had terrible throttle control and kept spinning the tires. I should have got in the truck and drove it out myself. Instead I then hooked up a tow strap and pulled them out.

I wouldn't do it again. This Dodge kept it floored and I watched it come speeding at me in my rear view mirror after I got them freed. Then I worried they would either hit me and/or drive themselves off the edge of the road and then pull me down with them.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrJFKJLFqd6/

 

what beach??
two years ago out on smith point I pulled this chevy out after digging himself in axle deep
if only I had a picture of the little cord he tried using on his tow hitch hitch before I pulled out some proper recovery gear



a little truck very well can pull a big truck out without suffering damage, however that will heavily depend on the type of recovery gear being used and the manner in which it is being used

 

The only safe way is to not leave the couch.


I'd rather use a kinetic rope in 4low most of the time if it's a simple straight pull. If I can't get close enough or need to pull at an angle then I'll use the winch and snatch blocks as needed. When winching the recovering vehicle should be in neutral and I like to keep the hood up to catch anything before it comes through my windshield.

Also, when recovering I give my shovel to the driver of the stuck vehicle to clear around their tires and reduce the force required for the recovery.

 

I always keep a flat shovel in the back of my truck in the winter. Years ago, a buddy of mine and I got stuck in the snow in an out of the way place while hunting. Dad had a couple of shovels in the back. After about 20 minutes of digging, we drove right out.
I've kept a shovel in the back ever since.

 

A guy I used to know got his 2 wd pickup stuck in axle deep in mud in a guy's yard by the Duwamish river. I assume because they were too lazy to carry a case of beer 200 feet down to the river.
I borrowed a friend's 4x4 with a PTO winch to extract him. I looked at his truck and said "don't need the winch", he didn't believe me.
I hooked up a tow chain and put the 4x4 in low range. I told him "don't try to help, don't even put it in gear."
This guy was hopelessly stupid which I should have realized. He was spinning the wheels stuck axle deep in the mud when the 4x4 slowly pulled him out at which point his truck crashed into my friend's. Fortunately the only damage was some scratches in the rust on the bumper. His truck didn't fare so well. He tried to blame me. That was the last time I saw him.

 

I always think it’s a good thing to help others but you need to be careful the person your helping know what there going for example this guy in a Tundra with a 8” lift of course 2 wheel drive was stuck in the sand ask me for help so I backed up two his rear and told him when I start pulling you started gassing your truck slowly so we started moving maybe 50ft then my truck start jumping then I look back an see this idiot front tires fully cocked to one side so I ask him what are you doing an he said I’m trying to avoid the bush the fn bush was 18” tall long story short got him out but some people are stupid so be careful when helping others.

 

When I went skiing a lot I stopped helping stuck people by pushing on their cars since I always got sprayed with gravel and mud.
"You got it stuck, you push and I will drive."
More than half the time I got them unstuck without them having to push. They were trying to start with the front wheels turned or just clumsy footed.

 

Good to know.

We were at Democrat Point in Babylon.

 

I generally don't like to use straps/chains/cables or anything of that sort for "pulling" other people out. Best thing to do is keep a shovel in your truck, come across someone who's stuck, give them the shovel and say "here, start digging".

 

Exactly. I like to be prepared to lend assistance, but I always approach the situation with a super healthy dose of skepticism/caution bc of these types of drivers.

 

Situation dependent. How easy if it for them to get help? Can they call a pro? If so I'm probably not even stopping. Out in the backcountry? 100% and I have multiple times. My biggest one is I yanked about a 25 foot RV that tried to cross a ditch and hung it's drive axle in the water with it's rear frame on the bank dug into the clay 6 inches. They were trying to tug it backwards with a couple 200lb cam straps and a 2WD 1st gen Taco. Had to hi-lift it up and put logs under the frame before pulling. Poor clueless kids were from Europe trying to get from SF to Mt Shasta and their GPS took them to the deepest darkest corner of Mendocino National Forest that you can imagine. Comically bad fuckup. I was the first person to roll by in the 6 hours they were stuck. Lucky them, I almost didn't even turn down that road and it was wet, cold, and getting dark early with snow in the forecast.

 

Well that comes down to assessing the situation before you help. It doesn't hurt to say 'Hey, I don't mind giving you a hand, but if something goes wrong, that's on you'. At the same time, if I hauled someone out of the ditch and their car bumped my truck, well I decided to help and I would feel like an idiot/arsehole to try and hold that person responsible.

Fun fact: collisions that occur off road are almost always deemed as 'no fault' by insurance companies.

 

Absolutely agree. Been there too many times. It's not my responsibility to help every idiot that gets in a bind. I have had too many serious issues attempting to help idiots. It goes like this: You do EXACTLY what I tell you to do and nothing more. NO argument. One word or false move, and you are getting unhooked and can sit there and rot. I nearly got pulled over a 200 foot drop by an asshole who gunned his truck in snow/ice. I told him to give it very easy throttle! His truck slid to within inches of the edge and I was strapped to him! If others want to be heroes, that's great.

A couple of things to consider:
1. Never try and pull anyone out in reverse. The axle gears are weaker in reverse, and could break
2. Avoiding winching much heavier vehicles with a Tacoma. The frame and bumper mounts are not strong enough.
3. Never strap to another vehicle near a drop where one or both of you could get pulled over.
4. avoid heavy snatching with questionable recovery points
5. know what you are doing before you attempt to recover yourself or anyone else

 

Random question, for us with the 4x2 OR, could we pull someone out of a bind using the rear locker?

 

Never thought about that but raises a credible point. Shame as I always got better traction in reverse w/ someone heavier than me.

 

I don't like pulling anyone using my drivetrain, regardless of 2x4 or 4x4. If the vehicle in tow is much smaller, it's probably OK. It's much better to winch or snatch. The added advantage of the winch is much more control. When I snatch with my manual transmission, I push in the clutch just as the strap yanks. That way my drivetrain does not feel that initial shock. It's just the dead weight of the moving truck doing the work of getting the stuck vehicle moving, then I come back with the clutch and pull. The drivetrains in these truck are adequate for their intended use, but they are not rock crushers. If you highly stress them, you take a very expensive risk.

 

It has nothing to do with the hardness of the surface. The gear is cut differently on the drive and coast side. The drive side is steeper and designed for higher loads. The coast side is a more gradual ramp. When you stress the gears in reverse, you are actually forcing the gear mesh apart. As the gears spread, the engagement decreases and the gear fails. This image of a Yukon ring gear shows clearly the difference in the ramp angles.

https://www.extremeterrain.com/yukon-gear-ring-pinion-d44-tj-ygd44488.html look at the side view