There is no doubt that trying to recover a four wheel drive can be a stressful experience. In many cases, recoveries are rushed and things are done that are unsafe and likely to cause damage either to a vehicle or to those standing around watching. The most important factor involved with recoveries is time, and unless you seriously need to get the car out in a rush, take your time and come up with a quality plan. This will ensure that you get your vehicle out with minimal stress, damage and that everyone goes home happy at the end of the day!

A lot of people forget that the best way to take stress off your vehicle is simply to make it easier to drive out. Whether that means adjusting a few rocks so you can drive up them with greater ease, or digging for 5 minutes to remove some of the sand, mud or snow in the way of your four wheel drive. Combine this with the right tyre pressures, and its not unlikely that you will be able to drive out without any assistance. Tyre pressures are the most important factor when four wheel driving. If they are too high you risk punctures and getting bogged, but if they are too low you risk rolling a tyre off the bead.

However, in most four wheel drive recovery situations you can afford to drop the tyre pressures down even more. Unless your vehicle weighs more than 3 tonnes, you can comfortably go down to about 12 PSI and you will be amazed at how easy it is to get out. In most situations if you do a little bit of digging and you drop your tyre pressures down you will idle out without any further thought! If you can’t do this though, have a think about what your next option is. Winches are great for controlled recoveries, but if you don’t have access to one then a snatch strap works just as well. Read the rest of this entry »