[tsk1979]

Never offroad alone, esp on a lonely unplowed snow covered road.
With two vehicles, a very long painful journey can become much easier.

In the view you will see the sideways pull assisted U turn. On the wentworth spring road, the approach road to Rubicon trail, we went on a snow offroad trip.

As we climed over 5000ft the snow got deeper and deeper, and with the storm on us, we decided to make a U turn. Now in deep snow you get these ruts due to vehicles and they are incredibly slippery due to packed ice.

Going forward is a challenge, and turning back even more so. Even with steering full lock the vehicle goes only forward and backward.

So we decided to pull each other. The first step was to go forward. Then reverse as fast as snow will allow yanking the steering.

After jumping over the ruts you end up sideways and stuck.
Once you are sideways just do a sideways tug. Low friction means you easily get pulled.


First sequence in the video is the grand cherokee assiting me, and then I do same for the jeep. He kept his wheels locked as it was downhill and this meant he would not slide into me. So he did not leave his brakes, and I dragged him straight like you would do to a sled

https://youtu.be/gZTQhkhsrPw?t=6

Pictures from the trip.
First Picture is a rescue for a truck which skidded off the road



Rest from the snowstorm

[SJM1214]

A rescue attempt at an OTR event organized by Offroad Club of Gujarat (OCG).

The engine of Mahindra Classic, in the end, was seized. It's a heavy vehicle and there wasn't any traction on loose sand. Rescue team made a train of vehicles and got the torque of all three vehicles to rescue stuck vehicle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCsbKan4GjI

[sparky@home]

I watched this video on You tube of an off road recovery of a Chevy Silverado, a pretty big SUV, from a very precarious position way up in the mountains. It was a very commendable operation in very trying circumstances.

https://youtu.be/r8IfXPm9zrU

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sparky@home

I watched this video ...

I don't usually break forum reading to watch a half-hour video, but glad I did for this one. Very interesting. Thanks.

[Godzilla]

I want to share a salvage situation at home with the community. Mods please tag this to the correct thread if needed.

In my parents place at my hometown, the entry gate for parking is quite tight (around 8 feet wide) . I usually park outside as there is sufficient space outside and it is a dead end of the road.

In our family we were discussing about potential construction of another floor and I told my dad that entry gate has to be widened so that we could park the car inside. The civil engineer who visited the site convinced my dad that the car can be easily parked in with an 8 feet wide gate and there is no need to spend money on a wider gate.

I came home that evening and my father measured the gate and the car and said may be you should try to park inside. I was not very sure but I was curious to give a try. I am a risk taker

Obviously if the car can be driven straight into the gate, there should not be a problem. However, the road is not wide enough to approach the gate straight. I had to come inside at an angle, the other problem is that in the parking slot there is a wall that does not suit the approach angle. Retrospectively there is brighter chance to park if I would have approach the gate from the opposite side.

The coming in part was fine, however there was stuff in the parking area which blocked my manuverability and I tried to reverse outside and that when things quicksanded. All of sudden I realised that the car touched the wall. At the moment I realized there is no room to maneuver the car out of this situation.

I put the parking brake and came out of the car in despair. Shit what have I done? I cursed myself for my stupdity

I took my time to think, instead of acting more foolish (for which I pat myself in the back). My dad asked If he can find some one near who could expertly maneuver it outside, but I knew it is impossible task and If that someone scratched my car I would be heart broken and angry as well.

I tried to squeeze my brain to find someway to salvage with minimal damage. My dad and I tried to push the rear of the car away from the wall, it didnt move a millimeter. Tried to lift the rear (like Tamil actor Sarathkumar) LOL, it did not work obviously with just two people.

Then, my father was talking about using the jack to lift one wheel and use a crow bar in the other tire to move it away from the wall, even if we could move it say 2 inches, I can try again to reverse without scratching.

That brilliant moment. We lifted one of the wheels using a jack and I got a idea of putting something slippery under the wheel and try to push it to the other side. I found plastic packaging of pillows threw some oil and liquid soap and placed below both the wheels. When we lifted the other wheel I placed some cardboard packing on the side of the wall as lifting the wheel caused the car to lean on the wall more. We lifted the other wheel only slightly just to have enough space to slide the plastic cover with soap/oil.

Now, with plastic cover under both the rear wheels, we pushed the car with full force. The rear of the car moved like a charm sufficient enough for me to reverse outside safely. I know this may not sound like a extraordinary salvage story, but I felt awesome recovering the car with a tiny scratch. Things could have gone worse if I didnt deal the situation with patience and sanity.

Things I learnt

• Dont push until the last moment, if you know the situation could worsen take a moment before acting under pressure.
• Patience and thinking is the key. I even searched Teambhp/google to find a way to recover the car without scratching.
• Dont try risky things when you are tired or hungry.

The plastic package that was used to rescue, filled it with a good squirts of oil and liquid soap.


As you can see approaching from the left, the wall in the front pushed me to turn the car sharper moving it closer to the gate.

[Thad E Ginathom]

What a beautiful house you have!

The rule when stuck (according to me, at least) is that the only way out is the way you got in. You do the same in the opposite direction. Minimum damage.

When this cannot be done: damage and tears. Like when I got in a narrow gap, with the left-front wheel already in a deep hole, and a wall, edge on, close to the right side of the car. No reverse was possible. A more skilled driver might have done better, especially an off-roader: it cost me a big repair to the rear right door :/