[Kane]

Now i have always been told to never do a snatch recovery from the towbar, cause you might end up dead.

Well, ebays says use this and its all good.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/REVOLUTIONARY-TO ... 45f4072964

Thoughts please?

[Rusho]

For the same $$'s you could get a more conventional recovery hook that mounts to your chassis

[blackout.81]

i think its ok but make sure your locking pin dont slip out then you might end up dead.

[alien]

i didnt think the strap dislodging was as much of a concern as the whole towball shearing and becomming a big bullet...

most tow bars have a recovery point built in to the bar part anyway - just chuck your normal bow shackle through that.

[Fatzook]

DON"T TOUCH IT!!!

The problem was never with looping your strap over the ball! Its about the ball shearing off during recovery and becoming a massive projectile!! A towball is not designed to be used to snatch a 2 or 3 tonne vehicle out of deep bog.

That is wreckless and irresponsible!

[BUZOOKA]

i usuly jsut take my tow ball out and put and put the bow shackles pin through the hole .. seems to work fine for me .. but yer would never go off the tow ball

[morpheus]

is it meant to be used in replacement of this??

[Kane]

I wasn't looking to get it as i didn't think it was safe enough, just wondering what other people thought.

As yet i have not had to be snatched out backwards,but the idea of removing the ball and putting the shackle pin through had never occured to me, will give it a try.

Morpheus, i think it might be, but not as good.

[morpheus]

well it actually does say (i just read it cus my eyes started working)

"This specially shaped bow shackle is specially designed to fit over and lock into place on all standard size 50mm rated tow balls"

that to me says the hoop part of it slides around the bottom thin part of the towball, and the strap goes around the pin, and it locks in to place on the towball..


thats not good...

[shep]

I have no problem useing a towbar for a snatch recovery however
Never snatch a sierra with a haymon resse tow bar cos they have
Weak mounts and the back of the car will come off eventually.

[morpheus]

i'd use a towbar, but not the ball, like this thing is suggesting.

[buzbox]

I think there's nothing wrong snatching from the tow bar. If done correctly that is.

Remove the ball, use a rated shackle through the ball hole. I've used high tensile bolts for the mounting of the towbar.

[morpheus]

yeah that looks safe. But not off the ball. I wonder how many people buy that product and hurt or kill themselves.

[shep]

buzbox wrote:

I think there's nothing wrong snatching from the tow bar. If done correctly that is.

Remove the ball, use a rated shackle through the ball hole. I've used high tensile bolts for the mounting of the towbar.

if that is a sierra you will eventually tear the towbar off. they have very week
mounts. hell they even mount to the fuel tank body mounts.

[buzbox]

On the Vitara they're mounted to the chassis, So they're shouldn't be an issue, I presume it would be the same as having recovery hooks either side.

[jdk81]

shep wrote:

buzbox wrote:

I think there's nothing wrong snatching from the tow bar. If done correctly that is.

Remove the ball, use a rated shackle through the ball hole. I've used high tensile bolts for the mounting of the towbar.

if that is a sierra you will eventually tear the towbar off. they have very week
mounts. hell they even mount to the fuel tank body mounts.

+billion
There is very little strength on sierra stock towbars.
It is fine for towing trailers up to 450kg, thats it. It is not safe to use the towbar as a recovery point.

The loading from snatching can be quite high.
The rear bar is designed for maximum loads of around 7kN (450kg x 1.5 x 9.81), the metal on the chassis at the towbar mounts is very thin, and the bolt holes are close to the edge. The chassis will yield very easily.

It is not a recovery point, dont risk it. 99/100 times its fine for recovering other zooks etc, but the day someone is stuck just that little bit more it will fail.

[BUZOOKA]

jdk81 wrote:

shep wrote:

buzbox wrote:

I think there's nothing wrong snatching from the tow bar. If done correctly that is.

Remove the ball, use a rated shackle through the ball hole. I've used high tensile bolts for the mounting of the towbar.

if that is a sierra you will eventually tear the towbar off. they have very week
mounts. hell they even mount to the fuel tank body mounts.

+billion
There is very little strength on sierra stock towbars.
It is fine for towing trailers up to 450kg, thats it. It is not safe to use the towbar as a recovery point.

The loading from snatching can be quite high.
The rear bar is designed for maximum loads of around 7kN (450kg x 1.5 x 9.81), the metal on the chassis at the towbar mounts is very thin, and the bolt holes are close to the edge. The chassis will yield very easily.

It is not a recovery point, dont risk it. 99/100 times its fine for recovering other zooks etc, but the day someone is stuck just that little bit more it will fail.

i recovered a GQ patrol using my tow bar and its still on there so either i was very lucky or mines been put on better

[royce]

anyone got evidence of a towball breaking while snatching? while its not good practice they are designed to cope with a fair load

and like Shep said, the towbar will come off first and if you get to that stage you are doing it wrong and should rethink the way you tackle things in life

[buzbox]

that may be the case for a Sierra, I really don't know.

Here's the Vitara towbar mounting point

[foonji]

royce wrote:

anyone got evidence of a towball breaking while snatching? while its not good practice they are designed to cope with a fair load

and like Shep said, the towbar will come off first and if you get to that stage you are doing it wrong and should rethink the way you tackle things in life

Someone posted some pics on here from another site a while back. Can't remember what the thread was called though

[royce]

not a lot of difference really

[buzbox]

royce wrote:

anyone got evidence of a towball breaking while snatching? while its not good practice they are designed to cope with a fair load

and like Shep said, the towbar will come off first and if you get to that stage you are doing it wrong and should rethink the way you tackle things in life

I have seen a video where some tool used the towball and smashed through the rear window, but this is what I can find at the moment.

Imagine what it would do to your scull.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR22oP1W ... re=related

I'll be using some sort of dampner from now on.

[2stroker]

When people talk about "snatch" recoveries they are talking bogged vehicles i would not consider using my suzuki to snatch a 2 tonne plus 4x4 unless there was no other option (tide coming in no other vehicles around, remote area etc.) Most places some larger vehicle will come along that can more safely do the snatch.

Staight pull recoveries like where a vehicle just cant flex enough to get traction or has taken a bad line and is spinning a couple of wheels is a bit different, sometimes it only takes a bit to get the stuck vehicle moving again.

Just go wheeling with suzukis at least if a vitara has to be recovered it is light and the Sierra or LJ should have no trouble helping them..

[shep]

the towbar came off my hard top just towing a 500kgish trailer

[Fatzook]

shep wrote:

the towbar came off my hard top just towing a 500kgish trailer

But knowing you it was held on with dental floss and old bits of chewing gum

What broke? The bar? Chassis? bolts?

[shep]

Fatzook wrote:

shep wrote:

the towbar came off my hard top just towing a 500kgish trailer

But knowing you it was held on with dental floss and old bits of chewing gum

What broke? The bar? Chassis? bolts?

haha it was mounted properly but the drawbar dragged through a creek crossing and the mounts broke out of the body and chassis

[Fatzook]

I'd call that driver error They come with a tow rating, not a drag rating

[morpheus]

hav are the safest places to snatch from on a sierra and vitara. Are those loop things either end up to the job? Or should i get hooks installed?

[jdk81]

BUZOOKA wrote:

jdk81 wrote:

shep wrote:

buzbox wrote:

I think there's nothing wrong snatching from the tow bar. If done correctly that is.

Remove the ball, use a rated shackle through the ball hole. I've used high tensile bolts for the mounting of the towbar.

if that is a sierra you will eventually tear the towbar off. they have very week
mounts. hell they even mount to the fuel tank body mounts.

+billion
There is very little strength on sierra stock towbars.
It is fine for towing trailers up to 450kg, thats it. It is not safe to use the towbar as a recovery point.

The loading from snatching can be quite high.
The rear bar is designed for maximum loads of around 7kN (450kg x 1.5 x 9.81), the metal on the chassis at the towbar mounts is very thin, and the bolt holes are close to the edge. The chassis will yield very easily.

It is not a recovery point, dont risk it. 99/100 times its fine for recovering other zooks etc, but the day someone is stuck just that little bit more it will fail.

i recovered a GQ patrol using my tow bar and its still on there so either i was very lucky or mines been put on better

An example of your logic.
I leave my loaded gun laying around with the safety on so my kids can play with it. It hasn't gone off yet, so maybe my safety is on better?

If you use finite element analysis to identify the problem areas on the rear bar, you will appreciate how risky your practice is.

[stockman]

I was taught as a kid that snatching is rude.