Jack's Journey, another Poverty Pack

Jack is a one owner since new (me!) SG MY04 Forester X.
He's served us well over the years, mostly as a daily driver for SWMBO with a few camping trips towing a 7'x4' light off road camper trailer as well as board carrier and shuttle bus for the kids.
The last 18 months He's been reduced to Camper Trailer puller & Mal/Nipper (surf lifesaving) board carrier.
About 8 months back, SWMBO started raising discussions about trading Jack in on "Something Else" to the value of about $15 - 20ksecond hand, hiluxy sort of thing as she felt Jack was getting a little worn out.
This was to be used predominantly as a shuttlebus, camper trailer tower & board carrier mind you, but with a view to more adventurous touring..

With a little bit of effort, I managed to convince her that Jack was not in fact terribly worn out (backed up by the mechanic thankfully) but just needed a bit of a spruce up.

And thus the journey begins..

 

[NachaLuva]

Looks good! You can do a similar thing on the front to keep bugs & grass seeds out of the radiator

 

[Rally]

Won’t keep the wedge tail mossies from the top end out. Then again, they probably wouldn’t fit through the hole anyway

 

[Ben Up North]

Picked up a handwinch from gumtree today, 1.6T, $140 cable is in excellent condition, despite the look of the winch itself. reasonable price I thought apparently he's only used it to move a tree. once.
Hopefully I'll never use it, apart from perhaps moving a tree too.

All seems to work Ok once you figure it out.

 

[Ben Up North]

Looks good! You can do a similar thing on the front to keep bugs & grass seeds out of the radiator

Tried that, mounted on the inside of the grill. Drove about 5k's and temperature guage went right up. Too tight a screen - or I've got cooling issues. took it off and temperature dropped almost immediately to normal, so I'm guessing it restricts too much airflow.

I've been toying with the though of somehow mounting some forward of the grill - sort of psuedo protection for the front end - it's security screen, so reasonably solid stuff. Would look really funky if I could figure it out.
The wife and kids would be horrified I'm sure.:rotfl:

 

[Ratbag]

In addition to a decent hand winch, you need a load distribution strap, rated shackles, snatch strap and tree hugger strap. A tow strap can act as a winch cable extender.

Tow, tree hugger and load distribution straps do not stretch. A snatch strap is designed to stretch.

Shackles must always be attached to the vehicle, NEVER to straps of any kind.

Never attach any recovery gear to a towball. Always remove the tow tongue and pass the retention bolt through the strap eyelet. ALWAYS re-insert the tow bar bolt retaining clip.

People are killed and seriously injured by incorrect vehicle recovery techniques and/or gear.

More here:

https://offroadsubarus.com/showthread.php?t=5181

 

[Ben Up North]

In addition to a decent hand winch, you need a load distribution strap,

Haven't got one of these yet, was thinking of a tow rope (2.4T) doubled up?
This is to go on the tiedown loops? (still not sure about using those for recovery)

rated shackles,

Have 2 2T for front, was going to get a 3.2 for the towbar - which is old school fixed type, so I'll have to remove the ball and shackle through the hole if I need rear recovery.

snatch strap

Have a 5T, which I believe is about right for the Subarus.

tree hugger strap.

Haven't got one of these yet, again was thinking of like the above tow rope doubled up..

A tow strap can act as a winch cable extender.

I've got some of these! (tow ropes)

Tow, tree hugger and load distribution straps do not stretch. A snatch strap is designed to stretch.

Ahh. So the tow rope idea might be doable?!

People are killed and seriously injured by incorrect vehicle recovery techniques and/or gear.

Cables under extreme tension, heavy weights, funny angles, using trees as hitching points, what could go wrong?

 

[duncanm]

Tried that, mounted on the inside of the grill. Drove about 5k's and temperature guage went right up. Too tight a screen - or I've got cooling issues. took it off and temperature dropped almost immediately to normal, so I'm guessing it restricts too much airflow.

I've been toying with the though of somehow mounting some forward of the grill - sort of psuedo protection for the front end - it's security screen, so reasonably solid stuff. Would look really funky if I could figure it out.
The wife and kids would be horrified I'm sure.:rotfl:

i've used very coarse budget gutter guard for catching bugs with some success.

Gets the big ones (locusts etc) at least

 

[Ratbag]

Ben, have you carefully read the thread I referred you to?

Tree huggers have padding so they don't damage the tree. This is different from the abrasion protection a tow strap needs. A load distribution strap is fairly short, and designed to fit through the bow shackles that you attach to the front tie down/recovery points.

A load distribution strap spreads the force applied so that our relatively light monocoque construction vehicles don't get bent out of shape by having eccentric forces applied to them. When recovering from the rear, the tow bar spreads the load.

There is a lot of other info in that thread. It's worth reading.

 

[Ben Up North]

Ben, have you carefully read the thread I referred you to?

In the process thereof.

I see that the load distribution strap is fairly short, that's why I was thinking of doubling/looping up a tow strap (thus halving the length) as I haven't got a specialised strap..
Ditto the Tree Hugger - one thing we aren't short of in our house is beach towels which I was thinking of using to pad the strap.

Having read through a bit of the thread, I think my snatch strap is too highly rated. it has an SWL of 5T (5000KG) and BS of 10T.
It's not that easy getting smaller ones!
I probably need to upgrade my shackles too. 2T rating probably not enough, even when using distribution strap.

 

[Ratbag]

I have detailed the precise rating of the gear we need to use. So has Nachaluva, among others.

Can't remember exactly where ATM, as have a headache and pretty ordinary back pain. Ah, I give the figures in that thread in the first post. Just re-read it.

Super Cheap Auto used to stock suitable gear for our cars.

 

[Ben Up North]

I give the figures in that thread in the first post. Just re-read it.

Yes I have read the thread, thank you for your advice, thus my reconsideration of snatch strap & shackles in previous post.

As I do not currently posess either distribution or tree hugging straps at this moment in time, but do posess tow straps/ropes I am also considering the possibility of using them as substitutes until I do obtain said desired straps. I appreciate that they are not designed specifically for use as either distribution or tree hugging straps, but the fact that they have very little give just like the dedicated strap, should make them a functional substitute I believe.

 

[Ratbag]

Some good info there contributed by more experienced people than myself.

And you are right - padded tow straps can be used as tree huggers. One word of caution, don't double straps up. One side will always be subjected to more strain than the other. Could cause a serious problem.

 

[Ben Up North]

By doubling it up as a distribution strap, I mean looping it, so that both ends are connected to one shackle on one tiedown point and it loops through the other shackle on the other tiedown point. Cable (or snatch strap) is then connected to 'middle' of the 'distribution strap' as per standard connection methods (i.e without using a shackle).
Is that what you mean by doubling too [MENTION=2832]Ratbag[/MENTION]? As far as I can see, the load will still distribute evenly..?

Where did you source your straps from? I tried a couple of links in that thread, but they were dead or not in Australia. Maybe I just didn't click on the right ones.
Supercheap have a 5000kg snatch strap for SUV - but it doesn't say whether that's the breaking strain or working load limit so it's a bit confusing.

 

[Ben Up North]

It was another one of my theories that as the car wieghs a smidge under 2000Kg, using a 2000Kg WLL shackle one each of the front tiedowns and a distribution strap should give me a combined weight capacity that doubles that of the car..
I'd rather break a shackle than break the tiedown point. Although I'd prefer a strap to snap before the shackle does.
The best solution and the one I aim for as much as possible is not to get in a position where I might get stuck in the first place..!
Better to be safe than sorry but

 

[Ratbag]

Ben, having a WLL that's the same as the potential load is probably a recipe for disaster!

I think this kit here might be the basis, but it's been a long time since I looked at the details.

https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/Ridge-Ryder-Snatch-Kit-SUV/321433

I will try to get mine out today and check the parts. I have been laid out with both back and computer problems for the last few days.

 

[Ben Up North]

Ben, having a WLL that's the same as the potential load is probably a recipe for disaster!

I think this kit here might be the basis, but it's been a long time since I looked at the details.

https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/Ridge-Ryder-Snatch-Kit-SUV/321433

Went and got one today, has 5000kg breaking strain.
Will pick up proper tree hugger & distribution straps in the next week or so.
Thinking of getting a pulley block & some synthetic cable as well so I can reduce the strain on me a bit if I ever need to use the winch..!

I'm getting itchy feet for another jaunt and the wet season has (sort of) started, so conditions will be drastically different next time I hit the tracks.

 

[Ratbag]

Ben, good for you.

If you find a synthetic substitute for the creeper winch steel cable, please let us all know about it.

I'm not sure that I could even lift the winch now due to my moderately serious lumbar spine damage. Cable is as heavy as the winch. Even if I could lift it all and carry it into the relevant position, doubt that my back is robust enough to use it! Disc problems of long standing, more recent lumbar facet joint failures. Basically old and buggered .

 

[Ben Up North]

Ben, good for you.

If you find a synthetic substitute for the creeper winch steel cable, please let us all know about it.

Oh it's not to substitute, but to extend, so you can use a pulley block wiithout risking damage to the cable (unless you had a ginormous pulley block).

 

[Ratbag]

It crossed my mind that you might have meant that after I posted my reply, but too knackered to bother changing it.

Tonight is one of the very few when I'm actually looking forward to taking Panadeine Forte and an anti-spasmodic just before bed. Very painful ATM.

 

[Ben Up North]

Ouch.