Recommendations...

Like the title says.. Not in the position for a winch quite yet but curious what people think are the absolute necessities to hit some trails. In the past with my Xterra I was woefully under equipped and always seemed to get lucky. My Tacoma also already has lots of weight on it...

So far I'm at shovel, knock off MaxTrax, recovery strap, shackles. What am I missing?

Link to the recovery boards if anyone is interested:

FIERYRED Recovery Traction Boards - 2 Pcs Off-Road Traction Mat for Sand Mud Snow Track Tire Ladder 4X4 - Traction Boards, Black and Orange

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07ZQYQQBT...olid=2X6TL5B2S3USC&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Cheers!

 

That sounds like a good start to me. Make sure you have a shackle receiver on the back and recovery hooks on the front.

 

Funny how time passes more and more goodies are made for extracting yourself.

In my youth I wondered all over the Mountain West with little more then my High Lift jack although in those days we called them Sheep Herders jacks

 

You have shovel, traction boards, recovery strap & shackles

Don't forget to bring your common sense. It's okay to turn around

Oh and have fun

If you are looking for an upgrade, the one and only upgrade my truck has is all terrain tires

 

Definitely an air compressor and tire plug kit. You should be airing down for the trail, yes, even mild fire roads it's a good idea. But obviously you need to air back up. The

$91 Viair 88P Portable Compressor Kit (12V, 120 Psi, Forup to 33" Tires)

Viair 88P is a great choice (~$60), but if you even plan on bigger tires, something like the 400P is even better. Often times a tire plug is simpler and safer than trying to change the tire on the trail.

It's amazing what you can accomplish with just a shovel when you NEED to. I've been able to get buy with stacking rocks and branches, never needed the max trax things, but they are convenient.


Also, do you have something to attach those shackles to your vehicle? Keep in mind that hook thing on your front bumper is NOT a recovery point. It'll work in a pinch, but that's a tow hook, it's really meant for flat towing, not off-road recovery. For the rear, you can stick the loop of the tow strap in your hitch receiver and use the pin to hold it, but an actual hitch shackle is way better and wont cut your tow strap like the sharp edges on the hitch receiver. The best are the actual recovery points on aftermarket bumpers...

Aside from that, take a serious 2nd look at all that weight you're carrying around. The heavier your rig, the more of a pain in the ass it is to recover.

 

Compressor is on my shopping list also.

I've got Elka 2.0's and 285/75 R16 Durtracs already on.

The weight is the sliders and skids that are being fabd right now, plus HD canopy, homemade drawers, and an aluminium clamshell RRT soon. My goal is overlanding and roadtripping much more than serious rock crawling and crazy off-roading but we'll see what I get myself into, lot's of great trails out there.. Hitch shackle is on the list too, but as far as the front recovery points are concerned I'll have to make do with what comes on the TRD OR for the foreseeable future.

I've pulled many a stock fully loaded Super Duty truck/E-450 engines out of nasty places at work with only straps, shovels, and whatever is in the bush so I'm confident, just want to be prepared to minimise potential damage to my DD!

Thanks for the input!

 

Be very weary of your weight here. I'm betting with all that stuff you are going to be at or even over the GVWR. These are Tacomas, not purpose built expedition vehicles, it's pretty easy to over load them.

 

Haha have you seen some of the trucks on here?! I'll need a re-gear but that will be next year.. supercharger... maybe if I win the lottery..

 

I always throw my ARB recovery kit in before hitting the trails, but it looks like you have about 3/4 of one through your individual purchases. There's another thread here with the army recovery manual. The person there recommended printing and laminating the key pages. Never hurts to have some recover flash cards behind the seat in case you actually get stuck. Most people, myself included, dont practice recovery so having a reminder for proper setup would likely be helpful.