Quote:
Originally Posted by srvy
There is no mud tire gonna get you out of a wet ditch bank. He was sitting high centered on top that ditch bank. That guy dragged him 15 feet on his frame before he could get a bite to climb out. Winch would be a necessity on a trip like that and hope you have something to hook to.
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If you notice what really got me out was when he yanked left instead of pulling me forward. I think he was waiting for the other car to pass.
I agree I probably wasn't getting out of there. But I was able to back up from the front of the ditch to the back - so the car was moving and I wasn't completely stuck on the frame. Then I clanged against the drain pipe in the back and at that point the car dug in and wouldn't go back forward.
I really wish I'd tried a couple things just out of curiosity:
1) I forgot to turn on rear differential lock until the end when we had the tow strap on. Maybe that would have made a difference as the high-side left tire might have grabbed more.
2)
If that got me moving forward with a little speed, I'm really curious if I could have rocked it to the right to climb up the side a little bit, then pulled hard to the left and used gravity/momentum to get up and out to the left.
Probably not but I'll always wonder if it might have worked. There was a small part of me that wanted to get back into the ditch and try it after the guy pulled me out - lol.
And yes that's the problem with a winch. Unless you're traveling in pairs, you never know for sure you're gonna get stuck somewhere with a nice tree or big rock to tie off to. I guess you can bring stakes though. I go out in the CA deserts a lot where it's mostly sand. That could get really difficult. And if you are traveling with a buddy - a strap is usually as good as a winch.
On the FJ the only way to do a real winch is with a custom bumper. So you're talking about $3500 for a good bumper and winch, not including labor, and a bunch of extra weight.