hey guys!! i just want you guys to remember when pulling somone out of the mud pit......... DONT USE CHAINS!!!! 1/2 LINK CHAINS WILL SNAP TOO!!. lol yeah that happend to me. i was out mudding with a new truck i bought(89 f-150 300 6 4x4)just dinking around and i was going through this mud i dunno looked to be 5 inches deep, well i was in low 4 wheel low range(you know how it goes on a new toy)and i was shifting to 3rd and down i went............mud up to the cab and box.i tried jacking out of it but no use.....already 1 in the morning on city property and then i came back the next morning(30* out)and my truck was frozen into the mud. i went back home to get my '03 ram hemi to pull it out. well i went thought 2 8,000 lb. straps. but i had this 1/2 link chain(purty long too) and so i tried that.gave it a tug, no luck, gave it a lil harder jerk, still nothing. finally put it in 4 low,1st gear, and gave it wood. next thing i know i have a chain in the center console next to me. good thing i had bucket seats !! chain went through rear window and slapped against the ENTIRE side of my brand new truck!! i just wanted to tell you goys that even if your 18,you dont know everything, i just learned the hard way, chains are not safe!! not even 1/2" link log chains!! by the way,we got the truck out with my grandpas john deere loader(picked up the rear wheels!)trying to pop it out of the frozen crusty mud. so now i was with my new baby in the shop(3500 bill) and aa new ford(well old new)now without a rear bumper and no tailgate and mud still is in every place imaginable on this truck!!! happy muddin!!!

 

Gee............wonder why nobody here has said anything about not using chains





Chains are NEVER safe to jerk for the reason you found out. When they break they cause major damage and/or bodily harm. Every time I see someone jerking on a chain trying to pull someone out I wait to hear the sirens of the ambulance.

 

That sucks

 

What about nylon rope with chain ends? That in theory should be fine because the nylon absorbs the shock. Just about every tow rope I see has chains on the ends. What would be the weak "link" with the chain ends?

 

Hey i didnt know that, so thanks for letting me know. Im not sure i would ever do it because im not really into off road, but its nice that i wont have to have that experience now. See, thats why i love internet forums.

 

No, not a good idea. You don't want something with hooks attached to the end cause if those hooks come loose then you have bullets flying around. The kind of strap you want is a 20-30k nylon strap with the ends done in loops. No metal on it. That way if it breaks it won't cause as much damage or injury as a bunch of metal flying around.

 

Chains work excellent IF they are used properly. We use them on the farm all the time to pull stuff out that is stuck, but simply hooking a chain on and puttin 'er to the wood isn't correct. You must tighten the chain up or else the same thing that happened to 42_inch mudder will happen. We pull stuck tractors, combines, pickups and everything else that is stuck out with chains. I won't even touch a tow rope because a friend of mine in grade school had his dad get killed when the tow rope he was using to pull a stuck truck out borke and came through the back window of his tractor cab and hit him in the back of the head. A 1/2" chain is definitely heavy enough for a stuck pickup, but it must be used properly.

 

It helps if you are using a tractor to pull with the chain instead of a pickup. The tractor actually has enough traction to pull slowly instead of jerking. That's why a chain is ok on the farm, but not for offroading. Yeah, I grew up on a farm too.

 

Chains? Who the heck has the room or inclination to carry chains strong enough and long enough to tow a truck out of a hole? That's a hell of a lot of bulky noisy weight to be carrying around.

 

Regardless of what you are using(chain or strap or winch cable) it is a good idea to lay some heavy blankets over it. Somewhere around the mid point is a good rule of thumb. This will slow down the strap if it breaks. For a real heavy chain, you would need something heavier, like a old tire.

If you are using a winch, open your hood, sit inside and use the remote control. A hood is a lot cheaper than your head

Rob

 

Was going to add about the blanket over the chain, but fieldthis beat me to it. Couple other trick also....
I always carry a couple of 25K tow straps and a handfull of 5/8 shackles. Never use a schackle to tie two straps together though, just use them to attach to the straps to the vehicles. If you want to put two straps together, loop them through themselves, then put a small piece of wood in the loop that way it won't get so tight that you cannot seperate them after the tow.

 

also dont hook them up to your tow *****. i once seen one go through a grill, and almost all the way through the radiator, better than in the windshield, but still not good. always hook it to the frame if you dont have tow hooks bolted correctly to your vehicle.