LD50 Rescue operation

[ld50]

I get a phone call today...
My couzin has gone fishing and driven into the wrong place, could I come and pull him out?
Yikes, it`s almost two hours away, but I know he would do the same, so I pack up the truck and head out past Hope, BC to see what mess he`s gotten into.
When I got there I saw that he drove his new (to him) chevy (well, GMC actually)down this steep pipeline right of way to find he didn`t have the traction to get out. The place he was in is littered with chunks of flat rock (shale) with soft earth underneath, not much purchase there, you kick the rocks out and dig holes when trying to get up the hill.

I put her in 4lo, and backed down to hook up my strap:

 

[ld50]

This didn`t work well, lol, I just dug four holes is all, the lockers worked well but.... So we tried going down further and taking a run at it.
That didn`t work either, we got about to the same point and I dug more holes.

So I drove back up, actually needed two tries to get out, with tires spinning like mad!

This time I waited for Tom to take a run at it till he got as far as possible, then I went in to pull from the front:

 

[ld50]

This worked extremely well, I always knew pulling from the front was more effective, especially with two lockers, and now I confirmed it. I just backed right on up and pulled him right out of there!

Then it was back to the river for a hot-dog and a warm beer!

:smoke:

 

[dman726749]

congrats, looks like fun, it seemes like you are awalys pullin someone out from somewhere. gotta love thoes lockers.

 

[Crankcase]

 

[DeRocha]

Nice job! The posts and pics were first rate!

 

[ld50]

Crankcase, good eye, lol.

 

[jasonb]

dang those pics are nice. that last one looks like an amazing camping spot!

just a question.. why is it better to pull someone from the front? i'm assuming it was to do with gearing or something?

 

[ld50]

just a question.. why is it better to pull someone from the front? i'm assuming it was to do with gearing or something?

Well, I figure it`s all about weight transfer. I`d been told you get more pull (WHEN PULLING UP A HILL) going backwards if you have a front traction device, and never really believed it till now.

How it works? I`m not really sure but here`s some theories:

When pulling from the front, the weight of the engine combined with weight transfer to the downhill wheels because of gravity, puts much more weight on those front tires than you could get to your rear tires if you pulled from the rear.

The increased weight on the tires that are going to get the most traction (downhill tires) lessens the "hopping" effect, when you do lose traction. When I pulled from the rear, my truck seemed to start hopping right away, slipping on the rocky shale, then dug holes.

Maybe even the different suspension systems play a role?

I tried pulling from the rear at least ten times, including us backing right down and trying to get a run at it. Once I hooked up to pull from the front, I dragged it up on the very first pull.

Of course if you have an open front Diff, I don`t think the theories apply.

Anyone else know why I pulled him out so easily that way? I`d like to hear some other theories for sure.

 

[RangerX]

All your thoughts on why pulling backwards uphill works well may be right, BUT I believe it's a very risky move that I always avoid. Because, for all the reasons why you get good traction, it also puts lots of stress on the front axle. The front axle (I'm talking stock axles here) is a lighter duty, weaker axle, and can snap from the extra weight on it. I've seen this happen to a Jeep and a Defender.

Another reason it may work well, though, is in reverse you have a slightly lower gear than in first.

 

[IAmTodd]

He He, Ford had to pull the GM out

I had fun on the second day of fishing What a mudhole it was! Was because half is now on my truck!!

 

[ld50]

All your thoughts on why pulling backwards uphill works well may be right, BUT I believe it's a very risky move that I always avoid.

Great point, it is the weaker axle, I guess it might be wiser to try and pull from the rear first and leave the other way as a final option, instead of pulling from the front everytime.

 

[mrboyle]

Bill's correct on the lower gear ratio of reverse.

 

[ld50]

dang those pics are nice. that last one looks like an amazing camping spot!

Yeah that`s true, but I`m not sure how much that helped me? When I backed it out I had to rev the heck out of `er, to get enough speed.

hmm..

Bill's correct on the lower gear ratio of reverse.

Oh yeah, spots like that are so commonplace up here, I wasn`t actually impressed at the time, but it was pretty cool huh?



-edit UMM, those quotes are backwards, lol

 

[Bashman]

Good job Jim. Looks like a great fishing location.

 

[Isles4evr]

I believe that the reverse gear has a lower ratio (as said before), and produces more low end torque therefore pulling easier. It does add a lot of stress due to the extra torque and weight on the front end.

Chris

 

[ld50]

Yes, reverse is definitely lower ratio, I guess it would have helped me with the take off, before the slack came off the strap and the tires started spinning, When I was pulling from the back I had to lean into it faster, and the tires spun immediately. That negated my ability to get a good jerk on the strap to get us going.

That`s probably exactly why it was easier after all, now that I think about it.

man I wish I had the money for an atlas

 

[hydroxy]

I thought you weren't suppose to jerk the rope at all? I dunno, I dont go offroading.

 

[ld50]

I`m just going by what I`ve read about TOW STRAPS, they have a little bit of elasticity, and apparently they will stretch when jerked and then increase the force of pull when returning to normal for that second where you get the trucks moving.
Ropes are a different matter, pretty sure.

LOL, for all I know it`s bad info, but the times I`ve pulled guys out, I`ve pretty well had to jerk them, or I`d just spin. You definitely want a good tow point tho`.

I`m certainly no expert on vehicle retrieval, even though it seems like I get the chance to practice quite often.

-PS, I don`t mean jerking it at full speed and ten feet of slack, just a foot or two, with hopefully a slow take off, then pullin hard when the strap is tight.

 

[FourXFred]

the same goes for heavy machinery. i run a caterpillar front end loader at work (950 G, for those of you who have any idea what that is) and it will definitely pull and climb a lot more in reverse than it will in forward. its strange however, because in a loader, the rear end is a lot heavier than the front end is (the motor, and transmission are both back there, along with all of the hydraulic pumps and controlls). i dont get it, but it definitely works!