How do you carry your recovery gear

[Munga Brown]

You might not actually need a hi lift or traction boards. In many cases a quality factory jack and saddle adapter can be a safer and lighter option than a hi lift. Also, keep in mind that your truck needs to have usable lifting points for a hi lift to work. Traction boards can be useful in soft terrain (sand, snow, etc), so their value depends on the conditions you run into. The downside is that they take up a good amount of space.

Solid front and rear recovery points and a recovery strap will get you a really long way (as long as there is another vehicle around).

My factory scissors jack is about worthless with my lift. I've got White Knuckle rock sliders (not pictured in my avatar) for lift points. Plus, they offer the lift mate (for tire lift) and bumper lift (not that I would use that one) accessories. Hi lifts can also double as a winch if needed (a big giant PITA winch, but...). Anyhoo.... Thanks for the thoughts to consider!

 

[M Rose]

I have all of my recovery gear in a small cheap backpack. this way I can grab it and throw it on my shoulder to help out whoever needs it. Sometimes I'm alone, and sometimes I'm with a dozen friends, sometimes its an issue with snow and ice, and sometimes its mud or rock.
I have a 30' tow strap, 2 snatch blocks, 2 d-rings and the backpack itself can be used as a line damper if needed. Most of the time I also have my air inflate/deflate tools in there as well but I am working on moving them to another pouch because I just got an air tank for faster fill ups and i will have those tools closer to it once it is mounted.

I like this backpack idea, I have an old army ruck sack that would work perfect for this. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Trail_pilot]

I like this backpack idea, I have an old army ruck sack that would work perfect for this. Thanks for the tip.

I actually got the idea from a guy I worked with who guided a lot of trails for events and would end up walking most of the trail showing others how to get their rigs through obstacles. he did it probly once a month so he decided to make it easier to carry, and i saw it and thought it was a great idea!

 

[M Rose]

I actually got the idea from a guy I worked with who guided a lot of trails for events and would end up walking most of the trail showing others how to get their rigs through obstacles. he did it probly once a month so he decided to make it easier to carry, and i saw it and thought it was a great idea!

It is a great idea. Again, thanks for sharing.

keep the ideas flowing guys.

 

[472HemiGTX]

This is the storage system that I made from a 40MM ammo can. It's lockable and removable via a thumb screw inside the can so I can move it from vehicle to vehicle if needed. It's also allows me to remove it if I need use of the whole bed. The can is secure, water tight and is large enough for a 20' strap, a short chain, 3 shackles, snatch block, leather gloves and other misc.

 

[slomatt]

My factory scissors jack is about worthless with my lift. I've got White Knuckle rock sliders (not pictured in my avatar) for lift points. Plus, they offer the lift mate (for tire lift) and bumper lift (not that I would use that one) accessories. Hi lifts can also double as a winch if needed (a big giant PITA winch, but...). Anyhoo.... Thanks for the thoughts to consider!

The factory Toyota jacks that come with 4Runners, Tacomas, etc are good quality, don't leak, and lift reasonably high. As a bonus they are fairly light and don't take up much space.

A common reason for jacking up a truck is to replace or repair a tire, and in that case the lift mate isn't helpful unless you also carry a jack stand or some other way to support the axle so that you can remove the wheel. Using a hi lift on rock sliders definitely works, but if your suspension has good articulation you have to lift the truck really high before the tire comes off the ground. Some people use a chain to strap the axle to the frame to help with this. In both cases I personally prefer to just use the factory Toyota bottle jack. For what it's worth, I've left my hi lift at home for the last 10+ years since it wasn't worth the weight and space it requires.

I've never actually tried using my hi lift as a winch, but probably should someday just to see how much of a pain it is. It might be difficult to get things started before there is tension on the line, and I imagine that the jack would try to spin.


This all said... I've used my hi lift to sucessfully level a deck, and they are great for pulling fence posts and other tasks around the house.

 

[Munga Brown]

The lift mate for the hi-lift is super helpful if you've got wheels that are buried & you need to get something (traction boards/wood/rocks) under them.

 

[M Rose]

I think the biggest problem with the farm jack is that people aren’t trained on how to properly use them. There was a time these kind of jacks were part of a car’s jack kit. Case in point, my 74 Torino had two bumper jacks (they worked very similar to the typical farm jack, just not as robust).
recovery is dangerous, doesn’t matter what tool you use. You’re always talking a weight of more than 10 times that of a typical human. When moving that much weight, anything can and will go wrong. It’s knowing these risks, implementing strategies to lower the risk, and understanding the physics involved with the recover process that makes the recovery a little less dangerous.

When removing a tire In The drive way, do you just jack up the tire in question and remove it relying on the jack to support the axle on that side? Or, do you place the axle on a jack stand and support the wieght with said jack stand while removing the jack from under the rig? Or finally do you jack the tire up, place a jack stand under the axle, lower the jack until all the weight is supported on the jack stand, leave the jack resting in place, and finally remove the tire being worked on? The last way is the correct way And is the way taught in the OCCA training videos.

the same goes for the farm jack when used to jack a tire. You still need to brace the axle and support the weight on the improvized jack stand. Knowing the risks though it’s safer to completely remove the jack while swapping the tires. Then relict the rig when done, remove the jack stand, then lower the rig.

 

[RoarinRow]

Same as most, I have most my gear in a locked container. My recovery tracks are mounted on my roof rack. I don't want to get any dirt inside my camper shell lol.

 

[M Rose]

One more thing, just because you have an 80” jack doesn’t mean you lift a full 80”. Lift only high enough to get the tire off the ground and be able to block the axle... I don’t care if you’re using a bottle jack, floor jack, scissor jack, or some kind of improvised lifting device, always put something under the axle Or frame to support the weight. Don’t rely on your lifting device to support the weight.

 

[Trail_pilot]

I think the biggest problem with the farm jack is that people aren’t trained on how to properly use them. There was a time these kind of jacks were part of a car’s jack kit. Case in point, my 74 Torino had two bumper jacks (they worked very similar to the typical farm jack, just not as robust).
recovery is dangerous, doesn’t matter what tool you use. You’re always talking a weight of more than 10 times that of a typical human. When moving that much weight, anything can and will go wrong. It’s knowing these risks, implementing strategies to lower the risk, and understanding the physics involved with the recover process that makes the recovery a little less dangerous.

When removing a tire In The drive way, do you just jack up the tire in question and remove it relying on the jack to support the axle on that side? Or, do you place the axle on a jack stand and support the wieght with said jack stand while removing the jack from under the rig? Or finally do you jack the tire up, place a jack stand under the axle, lower the jack until all the weight is supported on the jack stand, leave the jack resting in place, and finally remove the tire being worked on? The last way is the correct way And is the way taught in the OCCA training videos.

the same goes for the farm jack when used to jack a tire. You still need to brace the axle and support the weight on the improvized jack stand. Knowing the risks though it’s safer to completely remove the jack while swapping the tires. Then relict the rig when done, remove the jack stand, then lower the rig.

Agree. most people don't understand how sketchy farm jacks are, same can be said about winch recoveries. Most people assume that it is straight forward until they are in a bad situation and realize they don't really know what they are doing.

 

[M Rose]

Agree. most people don't understand how sketchy farm jacks are, same can be said about winch recoveries. Most people assume that it is straight forward until they are in a bad situation and realize they don't really know what they are doing.

I’m more sketched out by bottle jacks and scissor jacks than I am about a properly used farm jack... bottle jacks and scissor jacks can’t handle uneaven ground very well. Where as a farm jack can be angled to safely compensate for the terrain.

i have never had a farm jack fail me...I have had numerous bottle jack and scissor jacks fail... and unlike a farm jack, they don’t show signs of failure until its to late and the load shifts