Sportsmobile Recovery Equipment

[wander]

Thank you BroncoHauler. I'll check him out.

UPDATE: I checked out the website and must agree, Chris has some good equipment and the tutorials are very helpful. I also downloaded their app, which I think will be a big help.

[Gooseberry]

Originally Posted by Twoxentrix

First, If you are not that familiar with driving off-road I would recommend watching a lot of the u-tube recovery scenarios that are out there - lot you can learn from these.
Second, you should have a good understanding of the weight of your Rig. Tire size, recovery angle, etc all play a part.
Read through these links- lot of explanations and relevant info that will help make an informed decision.
https://americanadventurist.com/foru...-reviews.3955/

https://www.roundforge.com/articles/...recovery-kits/

https://trail4runner.com/2021/02/15/...r-overlanding/

EDIT: Quite a few people have also invested in the Truck Claws II

My personal opinion: Proper recovery gear falls under "Safety", so I've always subscribed to acquiring gear that is over-rated for my application.

Depending on your rim size these will not work with Quigley set ups the brake caliper is to tight to the rim

[One_Eye_Wilber]

Pay special attention to your jack. I bought a bottle jack recovery kit a while back from Safe Jack. It's a nice piece of kit with various extensions. The thing I discovered after I got it - the bottle jack only has a 6 inch stroke. My tire sidewalls are seven inches.... So, no matter how many cool extensions it was not possible to lift my rig high enough to change a FLAT tire!

The solution is doing a ladder lift. Jack up to full height, place a jack stand under the axel, leaf spring or frame. Add an extension to the jack and raise the vehicle farther... I had to purchase one of their jack stand kits as well. I'm carrying almost $800 in jacking equipment now!

I'm quite happy about the safety, stability and flexibility of this system if I need to change a tire in rough terrain. However, these jacking solutions are marketed to the off -roading community. You can watch videos on youtube and the the tire sidewall issue is never pointed out. They use an extension to increase the hight of the jack and then jack up a vehicle with a fully inflated tire!

[One_Eye_Wilber]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XUgmCA-qfj4&t=22s

[pjpvi]

- First, dump the high lift jack. IMO it will just rust in place and they are way too heavy to carry around. This is, of course, my opinion and others swear by them.

Haha - I happen to hold the same opinion!

[One_Eye_Wilber]

I do lots of solo travel. Here is what a carry:

The jacking system detailed above.

Warn 12,000 pound winch, steel cable, factor 55 flatlink, 2x winch cable dampeners.

Shovel and axe mounted to Aluminess rear bumper box.

Snatch strap rated to 18,000 pounds. Don't confuse a snatch strap with a tow strap. A snatch strap has some elasticity like a kinetic recovery rope.

Tree saver strap. Snatch block, shackle hitch receiver. 4x D ring shackles. 2x soft shackles. The soft shackles are not rated to the vehicle weight but can be used along with the tree saver to make an axel bridle in case I ever need to pull out a car without recovery points.

A set of 4 maxtrax mounted to the spare tire. The only time I ever got stuck in the van these were all I needed. I also use them for leveling frequently.

Silky Gomboy saw has been used to clear timber down on the road once. Sawed through 10 inch log and dragged it off the road with winch and snatch block.

ARB tire repair kit. Always have an extra pair of sturdy gloves in my recovery gear bag. Keep all the stuff in a great bag from Overland Gear Guy which fits neatly inside the under-floor storage compartment along with a second bag of tools.

[joefromsf]

Adding on to O-E-W's comments about jacks and relating a recent experience.



I have almost $500 in Safe Jack equipment; 6 ton jack, extension kit, base plate and wheel chocks. Tested it all out when I bought it 4 years ago, and have been transporting it in the van ever since.


Got a flat on a remote road in Death Valley in March. Broke out the Safe Jack equipment and discover that the bottle jack won't build pressure to lift piston, never mind a van. Actually there was about 1" of lift with no load on it, but I could push the piston back down with hand pressure. Followed the jack instructions on bleeding out air, and found it low on hydraulic oil. There were no signs of leakage on the jack or in the bag I used to transport it. Note that the jack is stored on its side in the van and there are no warnings against doing this in the instructions.



Was traveling with a friend in a Toyota 4Runner, so we ended up using his 2.5 or 3 ton stock screw jack. It didn't have an axle cradle so it was a bit dodgy under the rear axle, but it had a 4-5' handle for turning the jack screw far from harms way and I had a jack stand that we used to stabilize the van while swapping the tire. The height was just enough to remove the flat tire, but would not have been high enough to get the fully inflated spare on. Rather than reset the jack on a higher base, we instead used a shovel to dig a hole under the hub which was quicker and safer in this instance.


Had to go back to civilization for a new tire so i also bought some hydraulic jack oil and went thru the topping off and bleeding procedures, but that did not make the jack operable. I am pretty sure the seals are dried out. I can buy a rebuild kit for $20, but the same jack new is only $40.



I have lost confidence in hydraulic jacks and have since purchased a Hummer scissors jack and Agile-Offroad adapter.



Take aways:

• Probably a good idea to test your jack each year, especially if it is hydraulic.
• Carry and use a jack stand.
• If your jack has a small footprint, make sure you carry a stout baseplate or 12x12" square piece of 3/4" plywood.
• Take time to test/evaluate whether your jack will be able to fit under the axles if tire is totally flat or able to lift your wheels off the ground with 4x4 lift and bigger tires.
• Shovels are a very useful tool. We also used it as a lever to lift the tire a bit to get it onto the hub studs.

--Joe

[wander]

One_Eye_Wilbur and joefromsf, thank you for the detailed response. I definitely need to get a decent jack. I've been looking at the SX-20000 kit from Safe-X-Tract. I think that's the way I'll go.

[1der]

As for a decent jack -. Cutting to the chase-
Hummer H1 scissor w Agile Adapter w axle cradle/flat jacking surface.

[wander]

Originally Posted by 1der

As for a decent jack -. Cutting to the chase-
Hummer H1 scissor w Agile Adapter w axle cradle/flat jacking surface.

Thanks. It looks like that's the favorite.