Failed Recovery: Truck Flips Over!

When it comes to recovering a vehicle, a lot can go wrong in a short amount of time. This is a perfect example of just that, a few errors leads to unwanted results.

It started off with a truck heading down a local hill after a few on-again, off-again days of rain. While nearing the bottom, the driver got a little too close to the edge, and it began to give way causing the truck to start going off the side of the hill. Sensing danger, the driver was able to stop where he was at, and exit the truck carefully.

A few trucks saw what was happening, and headed over to help. A newer Ram ended up volunteering to try and recover the truck, but the only strap they had was a very small generic tow strap. Tow straps are NOT meant for any sort of aggressive tug, and this one in particular was severely undersized for even pulling a truck of this size on flat ground, let alone up a steep hill.

After lining the white Ram up, the driver attempted to tug the stuck truck uphill. There was a brief moment of tension on the tow strap before it quickly snaps, giving just enough energy to the other truck to force it further down the hill and onto its roof. Everyone rushed over to the driver, but because of the soft terrain and mild roll was completely fine.

Take away notes. First, do NOT use a tiny tow strap to try and recover a vehicle, it is not rated for that force and breakage is just about guaranteed. Second, check your surroundings! I think the stuck truck could have attempted to continue driving off the hill and may have been able to keep it on all 4 wheels. If I was the driver, I would have cranked the wheels to the right and given it gas! The area below the truck flattened out, and with forward momentum the truck might not have rolled to the side as it does in the video. Of course there is no guarantee when it comes to recovering a vehicle, and there is frequently more than one way to get back on the trail…but even more ways to screw things up worse. With that said, the position of this truck was difficult. Even a straight tug up the hill might not have kept it from ending belly up.

Always use caution when offroading, and avoid the edges of the road when you can. I see in the offroad recovery groups all the time stuck vehicles because they got too darn close to the edge, particularly after a few days of rain which makes it much easier for the dirt to give out under little to no weight.