[Not.mine]

I just have a fairly basic question. I have been looking around at what what people generically keep in their cars in terms of recovery gear, but I want to see specially what Zook people carry in their cars?
I am mostly only going to be doing beach/soft 4wd'ing in a relatively stock "07 Jimny (225/75R15 AT's + 40mm lift), but still interested in what others carry around.
cheers

im still in the process of getting my gear together;
recovery tracks - 2 x 1m (approx 200mm wide) plastic rungs threaded on steel cable.
compressor - tyre inflation
snatch strap - 8tonne tiger
mobile phone - contact help
small handheld radio - contacting general public

hmm so i need:
Shovel
Jack (small base platform - eg piece of hardwood)
shackles
modify car for better/more recovery points

[ozzycouch]

What's usually floating around my car;

Air compressor to pump after tires after letting them down.
Shovel, for all the digging.
Plank of wood for throwing over big holes, under tires.
Snatch strap with two shackles, someone passing by is much more willing to give a hand if you already set up to be pulled out.
Hi lift jack, used with the plank of wood or whatever you can find. (Suitable jacking points required.)
CB Radio, get in contact with vehicles in the area, help organise recoveries.
Mobile, phone a friend when you are really stuck

[Dec]

Hey mate,

Snatch strap, d shackles, tyre deflator, compressor, shovel, maxtrax are my must haves for beach 4wding however as i have a winch i also have the controller, dampener, tree trunk protector and a extension strap.
Hope that helps
Cheers Dec

[pete_79]

I made a box under the driver's seat and always carry these;

1 x Snatch strap
1 x Tow rope
2 x Large bow shackles and 1 small D shackle
1 x Small collapsible shovel (the blade is just bigger then the palm of my hand and is just for scraping out coarse sand or gravel to get to a recovery point).
1 x Small hatchet/tomahawk
1 x Compressor
2 x Pairs of gloves (leather riggers type and cotton gardening type)
1 x Torch
I have a reflective vest and some cotton rags shoved between things to stop them rattling under the seat.

All of that fits in this little box. More on this page of my build thread; Jimny storage

[Jezza86]

what the others said but if going with mates, take a sand flag.

[Reubs]

For a reliable standardish Jimny on Qld beaches close to Brisbane, minimum I'd take is a snatchstrap, shackles and a tyre guage. I highly doubt you will need the strap or shackles but you often see others (larger 4x4s) bogged without any gear.

Next, compressor (high speed drives back to a servo on underinflated tyres stuff 'em), Jack plate, tools and spares, gloves etc.

Most useless items for a Jimny are recovery tracks, sand flags on Qld beaches would be a close second IMO. High lift jacks won't see any use either.

[Jezza86]

Right fergot in qld your not aloud to drive through the sand dunes anymore. ..

[pete_79]

Haven't been on many CQ beaches, but done lots of NQ and SEQ beaches and I can't think of too many places in QLD with any decent dunes that you'd need a sand flag.
Most options are just flat beaches with the standard low tide open beach / high tide top track / behind the main foreshore runs. Nothing like the SA guys have.

[Jim_Aus]

there area a few in CQ but im yet to see anyone with a flag on.....

[henno]

I've thought about making a telescopic flag or something to that effect, merely for entering and exiting frontal dunes. Sometimes it can be a bit daunting approaching a tall-ish dune from the beach (say, like Main Beach at straddie) without being to see what's coming on the other side.

For a few of the tracks I use I send up the girlfriend as a 'spotter' before I make an approach.

[Mike57]

An 8 tonne snatch strap is too heavy. You only need a 4 tonne or max 6 tonne. Bunnings sell a 4 tonne one which I use. The lighter the better and less chance of doing damage to your car and people. You should plan to make sure that the strap breaks before anything pulls off your car or the other vehicle.

[Reubs]

^^^ Mike has given the most importamt advice in this thread yet.. .

[Jim_Aus]

nailed it.....^^

[alien]

Driving on sand you should also keep some coolant handy just in case you spring a leak and need to top it up etc. Sand driving tends to place a huge load on the cooling system.

Also include some very basic tools - multitool, screwdrivers, sockets, electrical tape, wire, rope. (I've used old appliance cords to tie stuff down too).

Dont forget toilet paper =) If not for your bum, then to wipe your hands after having done a repair.

I also have a small first aid kit "just in case".

[Mike57]

I actually find baby wipes are fantastic to have in the car. The way they will clean anything off your hands or any surface I wonder how they can be safe to use on babies.

Mike

[Bosco15]

For anyone who is interested, Maxtrax copies on sale this Saturday 16th August at Aldi.
$129 / pair.

[Mike57]

I got a set of these Aldi tracks. I compared them to the Max Trax at $300 and these are certainly the lightest and most compact and stack well. Then the TRED at $229 that is slightly heavier but more bulky not stacking as well. The Aldi ones were the heaviest of all three and the bulkiest not stacking well at all but at $129 for something that will seldom be used I thought it was good value. They are all 1100mm in length.

[sideways]

FWIW having used both in mud I'd go solid recovery tracks over the roll up ones.

[henno]

Even in the sand, the roll up ones are garbage. They can help make fluffy sand less fluffy I suppose, but most of the time you are recovering from tyres dug into deep holes and the fold up ones do nothing to lift you up and off your chassis and out of the holes; most of the time the tyres just suck them under and spit them out the back buried under 2 feet of sand.

[Pico42]

I carry the following in our Vitara:

Several rated bow shackles - 3.XT, 4.XT.
Winch
Winch extension ropes (totals about 100m)
Winch line damper
Tree protectors x2 or x3
Leather gloves
Ground anchor
Shovel/spade
Jack plate
Several snatch straps, generally 9m 8000lb.
Snatch strap joiners (piece of hardwood dowel)
Air compressor, inflator, tyre deflator
Chains (1 x icebreaker, 1 x quick fit diamonds)
Bow saw (all the time)
Chainsaw (sometimes) and associated gear
Radiator blind
Reasonably comprehensive toolkit (Bacho set - sockets, spanners, screwdriver bits, hex keys etc)
Misc spares (CV shaft, bolts, nuts, bushes, knead-it, loctite, BFH, tape, CRC, hoseclips, copper grease, fluids, shiny stuff in Repco basically when shit breaks I buy 2 replacements)
Torch
Toilet paper
First aid kit
Fire extinguisher
Club runs have a GPS Locater beacon unit with the club kit
Maps
Hi-lift jack
Sometimes a crowbar and mattock/grubber
4 x rated recovery points at front, 1x point at rear (mostly due to the evolution of the vehicle, prefer to have 2 and 2)
Comms - PRS and CB radios (older clubs still use CB)
Know and follow club recovery rules.
Spark arrester
Cooker, water, gas,
Sometimes extra fuel
Sometimes a sleeping bag/tent, if it could be a tough trip (especially above the snow line)

To be frank we would probably get stuck a lot less if we only carried half that crap. But I have used it all... Note that the vehicle is used in NZ on grade 5 tracks (ie there will be damage...) it also a bit more thorough than just pure recovery gear.

Sand driving in WA in the work truck, we have a long handled shovel, max trax, compressor/deflator/inflator, snatch straps and shackles. If we are remote we take lots of water and a Satphone too. And tell someone what we are doing and when we will be back.

[shep]

Sometimes I take a spare tyre however mostly I don't.

[Bosco15]

Mike57 wrote:

An 8 tonne snatch strap is too heavy. You only need a 4 tonne or max 6 tonne. Bunnings sell a 4 tonne one which I use. The lighter the better and less chance of doing damage to your car and people. You should plan to make sure that the strap breaks before anything pulls off your car or the other vehicle.

Ok. I'm needing a little clarification please.
At Bunnings looking at snatch strap.
5 ton breaking strain / 2.5 ton safe working load.
Is it the breaking strain or swl that Mike is referring to?
Also in my research I have read that using shackles is bad. Um k.
Everyone in this thread seems to refer to carrying shackles, I presume to attach the strap to car.
Load rated hooks are recommended. Is this b/s or correct?
Cheers.

[Gwagensteve]

Shackles aren't bad at all. Use 3.25t rated BOW shackles. It's D shackles that are bad.

I dislike hooks. They are difficult to for properly to a Suzuki chassis as they're a closed box. Straps are also prone to fall off them. Hooks are normally supplied with spring steel keepers that are supposed to stop this but they never seem to last.

Steve.

[ChrisN]

Bosco15 wrote:

Mike57 wrote:

An 8 tonne snatch strap is too heavy. You only need a 4 tonne or max 6 tonne. Bunnings sell a 4 tonne one which I use. The lighter the better and less chance of doing damage to your car and people. You should plan to make sure that the strap breaks before anything pulls off your car or the other vehicle.

Ok. I'm needing a little clarification please.
At Bunnings looking at snatch strap.
5 ton breaking strain / 2.5 ton safe working load.
Is it the breaking strain or swl that Mike is referring to?
Also in my research I have read that using shackles is bad. Um k.
Everyone in this thread seems to refer to carrying shackles, I presume to attach the strap to car.
Load rated hooks are recommended. Is this b/s or correct?
Cheers.

In this case the term "breaking strain" should mean exactly what it says. It should carry a 4 ton load OK, even 4.5t, but at 5 ton you can expect it to break.

For the same strap to be rated at 2.5 ton safe working load, someone has applied a 50% safety factor so that, if that 2.5 ton limit is observed, the strap should never come near failing.

The big question is whether 50% is conservative enough. I understand that in the lifting industry the safety factor is 1/6, so for a strap with a 5 ton breaking strain the WLL (weight load limit) would be 5 / 6 = 0.83 ton.

Snatch straps tend to be marketed with breaking strain ratings rather than SWL or WLL. I agree with Mike's recommendation to let the strap be the weakest point in your recovery system, because a failure of the strap usually won't hurl a chunk of steel through your windscreen or the back of someone's head (as the chunks of steel remain safely attached to the car or the tree). But do remember to never join snatch straps with a shackle.

[henno]

Edit: Derp. Wrong thread.

[Mike57]

ChrisN wrote:

Bosco15 wrote:

Mike57 wrote:

An 8 tonne snatch strap is too heavy. You only need a 4 tonne or max 6 tonne. Bunnings sell a 4 tonne one which I use. The lighter the better and less chance of doing damage to your car and people. You should plan to make sure that the strap breaks before anything pulls off your car or the other vehicle.

Ok. I'm needing a little clarification please.
At Bunnings looking at snatch strap.
5 ton breaking strain / 2.5 ton safe working load.
Is it the breaking strain or swl that Mike is referring to?
Also in my research I have read that using shackles is bad. Um k.
Everyone in this thread seems to refer to carrying shackles, I presume to attach the strap to car.
Load rated hooks are recommended. Is this b/s or correct?
Cheers.

In this case the term "breaking strain" should mean exactly what it says. It should carry a 4 ton load OK, even 4.5t, but at 5 ton you can expect it to break.

For the same strap to be rated at 2.5 ton safe working load, someone has applied a 50% safety factor so that, if that 2.5 ton limit is observed, the strap should never come near failing.

The big question is whether 50% is conservative enough. I understand that in the lifting industry the safety factor is 1/6, so for a strap with a 5 ton breaking strain the WLL (weight load limit) would be 5 / 6 = 0.83 ton.

Snatch straps tend to be marketed with breaking strain ratings rather than SWL or WLL. I agree with Mike's recommendation to let the strap be the weakest point in your recovery system, because a failure of the strap usually won't hurl a chunk of steel through your windscreen or the back of someone's head (as the chunks of steel remain safely attached to the car or the tree). But do remember to never join snatch straps with a shackle.

I agree with Chris. Safe working load is usually specified for lifting applications and in that case 50% safety margin is too low anyway. I don't know why anyone would supply a SWL for a snatch strap. The breaking strain is what is important in this application. The 5 tonne breaking limit from Bunnings should be fine for a Suzuki.

For a tree trunk protector, a recovery hook, a winch rope and a shackle however it is the SWL rating that is important but stating a safe working load on its own does not even make that much sense unless you also know the safety factor included in the calculation. For example components in an elevator used for lift people will have a much higher safety factor than a shackle used on a crane for lifting a load. I recall that most shackles for crane work have a safety factor of 4 but I would have to check that to be sure. Chris might be correct it could be higher. I have used a 2.5 safety factor when calculating the limits for my own recovery points as all I want to be certain of is that the strap beaks first and I want my points rated to a SWL of 4 tonnes.

Also I see from a quick check that the correct term now is WLL for Working Load Limit.

Mike

[Gwagensteve]

I'm pretty sure all lifting gear is 6:1

Steve.