Vehicle Recovery Question

[ttora4runner]

Got a question for you all on vehicle recovery.

Out on a local trail today I came across and individual who had gotten a flat tire (that's what I was intially told) and ask if I could give him a hand with the tire. No problem I thought. On the way back to his vehicle (Jeep Patriot) he told me that he had already removed the tire but was having problems with the jack. Again, no problem so I thought. On the way up I pick up his parents as well since they had come to try and help him but couldn't get to him because they had a car.

Now when we round the last bend I was expecting to see his vehicle on the side of the trail (I hadn't been on this before) with the car on the jack. Well, to my surpise his Jeep was on the side of the road but with probable about 1/4 of it leaning over the side of the road with probable a good 200' to the bottom and a cliff wall on the other side of the road.

We all get out to look at the vehicle to see how to pull it out. I start looking around the Jeep to to and assest the problem to see if I could get him out and find that the tire that he removed was one of the tires that was leaning over the edge and was now resting of the brake rotor, rear bumper and side skirt. How in the world he manged to get the tire off I don't know and I'm assuming that his jack was now somewhere under the Jeep. Also, in front of the passenger front tire was a little bit of a dip which made a little nervous.

Now here is my question how would you recover the vehicle.

1. Pull it forward while the driver turns the wheel to the drivers side.
2. Try and pull it backwards.
3. ???

In either case you'd be dragging it due to the missing rear wheel and probable rip of the bumper and who knows what else in process.

Needless, to say I didn't get involved with pulling the vehicle out. Since I only had a recovery/tow strap and I was fearfull that if I tried to pull him in either direction that the vehicle would start sliding down the hill and possible taking his vehicle and my vehicle with it. Plus, where in the bloody world do you attach a strap to an a Jeep Patriot.

They ended up getting a tow truck to get him out, I wouldn't want to see that bill.

Similar to this photo, just with the passenger side over the edge and not the whole vehicle

 

[4x4x4doors]

I think I would have gone the way you ultimately did...i.e, wait for a tow truck since that was an option.
Had that not been an option, I likely would not have attempted with only a tow strap and would have waited for someone with a winch. Since you would then have two vehicles available, anchor off of the non-winch vehicle and pull with the winch.
Whether forward or back would depend on details not available here like precise lay of the land, attachment points, room to maneuver the anchor and winch vehicles.
Sometimes the best option is to leave it alone and wait with them or drive them out while someone better-equipped comes to help.

 

[Bigjerm]

Good move on your part. In this sue happy world you doing a good deed could result with a civil suit to fix their bumper. It is sad but it has happened before. It's one thing to find a vehicle stuck in some snow or mud with tow points. Its another to get into a situation where damage to one or both is likely.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ttora4runner]

Whether forward or back would depend on details not available here like precise lay of the land, attachment points, room to maneuver the anchor and winch vehicles.
Sometimes the best option is to leave it alone and wait with them or drive them out while someone better-equipped comes to help.

A few more details - the trail is basically one vehicle wide, attachment points non to speak of there was a small tree in front of it and the larger trees where across the trail and up the hill.

 

[1911]

As long as there were neither tearful-eyed young children in imminent danger nor ingots of gold bullion in the patriot, I would not have pulled it out either. Hopefully the towing bill was an incentive for the patriot owner to get some off-road driving instruction.

 

[notajeep]

As long as there were neither tearful-eyed young children in imminent danger nor ingots of gold bullion in the patriot, I would not have pulled it out either. Hopefully the towing bill was an incentive for the patriot owner to get some off-road driving instruction.

This is a wise man.

 

[fishEH]

Very similar situation here. We used two winches and snatch blocks to redirect the pull.

 

[LR Max]

Been in that situation. Fortunately the vehicle in question had a roll cage, so we attached a winch perpendicular to the truck at the top of the roll cage. Tightened up the winch to unload the "lower" wheels. Then used the jeeps winch to pull it forward onto level ground.

Another option I've done is I've run a pulley block uphill and come down perpendicular to the truck. Then attached to the front or rear bumper (depending on which end is closer to the edge!) and winch. That way is the other end slips, it'll straighten the truck out perpendicular to the trail. Then you haul the truck up so it is across the trail. Then you do a straight line pull and the rear end around so the truck is facing the right direction.

That is what I did here. The guy drove into a giant hole and was tippy, heading downhill. During the winching, the rear end of the disco was up in the air. The rear of my 109 was strapped to a decent sized tree...which was needed.



Of course this is all assuming you have trees/other points to attach to.

 

[Metcalf]

Tough call on the particular vehicle...

In that kind of situation I have found it much easier to pull the vehicle up on the road from the front. This way the front tires are turning to come up over the edge while the rear tires are just going in a lazy arc. If you try and pull it backwards with the wheels cranked to pop the rear uphill the front of the vehicle tends to want to go down the hill.

If you can attach something to the 'frame' area of the vehicle around the transmission crossmember and uphill to prevent the vehicle from wanting to drop down hill that is good.

It all depends on the specific situation a LOT.

 

[762X39]

ingots of gold bullion in the patriot

You can recover the gold later.Leaving the recovery to a paid professional that has insurance if it goes south is the best option.

 

[Master-Pull]

What I have done when I got myself in a similar situation last winter. My driver side slid out around a corner on a trail and leaned me hard into some trees. So we used my winch off a tree at about a 45 degree angle from the front and then someone behind me with a winch at a similar angle. Then I spun my tires while being winched both forwards and backwards at the same time. Because of the reduced friction under the tires and the angle of the winchlines I moved laterally up and back onto the trail.

Here is a before picture:

-Alex

 

[jscusmcvet]

My story of a "similar" situation will make you smile. Just a sidebar from the impressive recovery techniques discussed here.:coffeedrink:

A few years ago, we had snow/ice mix storm. Since in this part of NC we don't get too much of this kind of thing, I wound up pulling several folks out of the side of the road with my Jeep and Warn HS9500. I was headed back into work and came across a little old lady standing beside her Honda mini van which had slid off the road. The van was sitting in fine condition on a sloped side of the road. No damage, no drop off, nothing complicated. I stopped, introduced myself and asked her if whe would like me to pull her out. She was very kind and appreciative.

As I was hooking up the winch to her vehicle (Honda's usually have factory points, not sure if they are for recovery or tie down, but....) A gentleman pulled up. He was obviously very.... ummmm.... "important". He nearly stormed out of his car and approached the woman. He began fussing at her that she should not allow me to pull out the van becasue "if he breaks anything he or your insurance won't pay for it... blah.... blah... blah". All during his tirade she just looked at him, with a slight smile on her face and said nothing... not a word.

I stopped what I was doing and looked to the woman for direction. She locked eyes with me, smiled and nodded in the affirmative. About the time I started winching, the "gentleman" got in his car and left.

The van slid easily across the snow/ice and when I got it back on level ground I respooled the winch and started her van for her. I asked her if she knew the man, she said no. I smiled and said, that dealing with the public every day in my job, I was impressed with her handling of the situation. Her reply made me laugh out loud. She said, "I am sure your mother taught you the same thing mine did me... If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all!"

Score one for nice people!

John