Using tow straps: Am I asking for trouble?

02Edge · #1 11-09-2009, 10:16 AM

All my friends that own trucks carry some kind of tow strap in their trucks - one even towed my Mustang off the highway when my clutch cable snapped. Can a 3.0L Ranger pull another car out of a snow drift or a ditch or is that better reserved for F150s and bigger trucks? My Ranger has tow hooks on the front of it but I don't know if they're one of Ford's strictly ornamental ideas like non-functional hood scoops. Sorry for my 3rd ridiculous newbie question, but I'd figure I'd ask now before accidentally pulling the rear out of my truck.

RangerLuc · #2 11-09-2009, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 02Edge

All my friends that own trucks carry some kind of tow strap in their trucks - one even towed my Mustang off the highway when my clutch cable snapped. Can a 3.0L Ranger pull another car out of a snow drift or a ditch or is that better reserved for F150s and bigger trucks? My Ranger has tow hooks on the front of it but I don't know if they're one of Ford's strictly ornamental ideas like non-functional hood scoops. Sorry for my 3rd ridiculous newbie question, but I'd figure I'd ask now before accidentally pulling the rear out of my truck.

ya u can deffinitley use those tow hooks in the front. my uncles 250 went in a ditch last year and he had 6 in straps and i hooked em onto my tow hooks up front, pulled him out with minimal tire spin

greyghost · #3 11-09-2009, 11:31 AM

as long as you use "common sense " you will be fine just don't go all gun-ho all at once unless you want the strap or chain to remove your windows and smack you in the head.

Fx4wannabe01 · #4 11-09-2009, 11:39 AM

Yes. BUT....I suggest highly against any tow straps with hooks in the ends. Those are called tow straps. You should be using a strap with loops on the ends and you should be using shackles. Those are called recovery straps.

Be causious with those front tow hooks. The crossmember they're attached to are pretty weak and I've seen many of those bent up and tweaked out by getting tugged too hard from a stuck. Use some common sense in tugging too, or getting tugged.

Best way is to loop the strap through both hooks making a triangle...attaching the strap to itself using a shackle.

I use a procomp 3" 30' 30,000lb strap. I keep 2 shackles in my toolbox with the strap, and I've got towhitches front and rear for recovery.

blueovelboy · #5 11-09-2009, 12:21 PM

to the question of will my truck handle it, i say yes and as gray stated us common sense. remembered most of the old tractors in the sixties where just straight six cylinders. so have fun and make some money off pulling dummies out of the snow lol.

olfordtruck · #6 11-09-2009, 12:42 PM

My 3.0 pulled a Ram 15000 out of a low ditch even though I have 2wd. He had 4wd so once I got him up a couple of feet he was able to bring himself to grip with the ground.

FireRanger · #7 11-09-2009, 01:16 PM

Just don't feel bad if it doesn't work. Sometimes the vehicle is just too stuck. My friends Chevy got run off into a ditch in VT last January. His brother's massive F250 was really struggling to pull it out even after lots of digging. Sometimes they're really struck.

Fx4wannabe01 · #8 11-09-2009, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueovelboy

to the question of will my truck handle it, i say yes and as gray stated us common sense. remembered most of the old tractors in the sixties where just straight six cylinders. so have fun and make some money off pulling dummies out of the snow lol.

Honestly, you can't really compare a Ranger to a tractor. Ranger is lacking strong tie on points. Tractors, that's a whole other story and a totally different animal. lol. (or did you mean tractor as in semi truck?)

But to answer the question in the OP, yes, it should save a vehicle to a certain extent. Sometimes, it's just too stuck for a ranger to tug out. And if you're tugging, you should be tugging from a rear hitch, not front towhooks. Do I need to post that vid of that guy tugging in reverse at 20mph on a dodge? That's an extreme example though. lol. Back to the point, if you can tug from the ass, do it. Like I said earlier, I've seen countless bent to hell front crossmembers from rough tugs getting people unstuck.

Clem · #9 11-09-2009, 01:27 PM

A heavy duty strap with shackles, like what was described above, is far superior to a chain. Reason being, when you come to the end of a chain on a pull or jerk, something has to give, vehicle parts, your body, or a broken chain, the later is a missile that is out of control and will cause a lot of damage when it gets where it is going.
A strap is much easier on everything, when you reach the end of it, it will stretch quite a bit, so what you have done is actually pulled twice, once to get all the slack out and again when all the slack is gone. In most cases, it is the effect of the stretching that gets the job done. The CAUTION that goes with this, if you break a strap it will snap back with a fury, a couple of rags tied around the strap a few feet apart with help slow things down it this happens.

Ray

Jay FX4 · #10 11-09-2009, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fx4wannabe01

Be causious with those front tow hooks. The crossmember they're attached to are pretty weak and I've seen many of those bent up and tweaked out by getting tugged too hard from a stuck. Use some common sense in tugging too, or getting tugged.

+1

The front hooks aren't useless, I have pulled a small tree stump out of the ground with them. But they're nowhere near as strong as a rear frame mounted hitch is. That crossmember is pretty flimsy, therefore there's a limit to what you can do with the front hooks. If the hooks were mounted directly to the frame, that would be a different story, but that's not the case with the Ranger.

I suggest going going underneath (if you can't see it through the cutout in the valance) and take a look at that crossmember yourself. If you actually look at it, you'll see it's not something you'll want to put a lot of trust in for heavier-duty tasks.

02Edge · #11 11-09-2009, 03:20 PM

Thanks guys

Fx4wannabe01 · #12 11-09-2009, 04:12 PM

Problem solved. lol.

Jay FX4 · #13 11-09-2009, 05:57 PM

What did you do there? I was wondering how had the shackle rigged up in the center.

surfer03133 · #14 11-09-2009, 06:18 PM

this morning i tried to pull a f250 out of some massive ruts, it was loaded with a ton of stuff in the bed because it was a water resources truck. wasn't able to pull it out though lol,the grass was wet and my tires were spinning like mad. if you have to pull out a truck thats bigger than yours, always check the ground you'll be driving on, dont wanna get yourself stuck trying to unstuck some else lol

Fx4wannabe01 · #15 11-09-2009, 06:25 PM

That's where the common sense comes into play. In winter, I make some pretty good money...but I always make it a point to refuse unless they insist and force green at me. lol. 4wd helps ALOT too..good tires not no crappy conties or stock goodyears. 2wd...er....1wd. No bueno alot of times.