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Put the chains on the ZJ today

Being a Southern boy in Yankeeland the first accessory I get for any new vehicle is a set of chains. Well, they've sat in the back of the ZJ for more than 12 years unopened. Today I found occasion to put them on.

Went in to work, the lot wasn't plowed, at least not recently, and it's a dirt lot so there's not a lot of traction to begin with. I saw the boss and his wife were there, somebody had shoveled to the office door but not to the shop door, so I shovelled to the shop door and just before I got there the boss came out and asked me if I could get his wife's car unstuck, knowing that I had the ZJ which can move just about anything. Well, she had it hung up pretty good on an ice hummock. I tried busting the hummock up with a pinch point bar and putting boards under the tires and pushing and whatnot and it wouldn't move, so I dug out the tow strap and hooked her up at the best angle I could get (wasn't a very good one), put the ZJ in low range low and started to pull. Nothing happened except that I spun three tires. Didn't want to yank as as while I'm sure my strap and hook would take it, I wasn't so sure about the frame member on the car that I was hooked up to, especially with the bad angle. So I backed the ZJ up, put the chains on the back, and eased away in low-low and it came right out.

By this time I was pretty well covered with snow and mud (didn't help that I'd slipped and landed in a snowdrift once) so I told the boss I needed to go home and change. He said "take the day off, you've earned it".

Reply to
J. Clarke
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Good decision! I've seen cheaper tow straps with the hook sewn into a loop on the end snap and they almost always fail at the hook eye. I've never seen one sling the hook like some online videos show (hook becomes a lethal missile aimed at the vehicle on the other end), but I always put something (at least a heavy blanket or a spare tire) as a damper in the middle of the strap just to restrain it if it breaks.

If you weren't aware, there are two types of pull straps: the hard ones with limited stretch and the "snatch" straps which have a lot more stretch but allow for a running start to yank out the really stuck ones - like frame deep in packed snow or mud. The stiffer ones are really the true tow straps.

I've also seen a few bumpers on the ground where someone attached to one bumper or the other and yanked a bit too hard. Around here, anyone with any experience is really hesitant to try a serious pull unless both ends have frame mounted tow hooks on the vehicles - and even those are dubious on the newer unibody designs. If possible, I usually drop an old tire over the bumper and push rather than try to yank.

Reply to
Will Honea

Deathstraps. Anytime I see someone with one of those out I hide behind a LARGE rock or tree.

If for some reason you use one of those straps, throw a blanket over the top so when it does snap the hook doesn't go sailing through the air.

Today I pulled a few folks out just with ye-olde 3" strap. No hooks.

Reply to
DougW

My preference as well, Doug. Almost no give, wrap it around a hook or a real frame member and you can darned near lift it vertically.

I'm actually more nervous around a lot of these inch-and-a-half to 2" straps than I ever was around a winch cable, especially when I see some kid whip one out, hook it around the bumpers and have at it. I will say that the one my son picked up at WalMart has been a good performer since we ground the hooks off it, tho.

Reply to
Will Honea

Got a couple of those smaller 2" straps rated at 20,000 lbs. That's "good enough" for getting a small car unstuck or giving a bit of a pull for ice/snow/mud when the other vehicle can get some traction.

The 3" is rated at 35,000 lbs which is way over what the ZJ can do without spinning wheels.

Reply to
DougW

I'm all for the motive force being the weakest link! I learned a lot in 20 years with an old Scout toting an 8 ton hydraulic Ramsey winch on the front end - half inch cable and all. I can recall times when I had to get behind a big log to keep the old IH sitting still on a hard pull. Spoiled me, it did, especially once I figured out that I could scrounge new cable from what the oil rigs called "scrap".

Reply to
Will Honea

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