Matt’s Off-road Recovery

Count me in!!

 

Playing in mud is the equivalent to having sex in the sand for me. I don't want to mess with the cleanup.

 

Yeah but what you remember isn’t the sand.

 

I guess it depends on how much sand is where.

 

It seems that my best bet would have been to kill traction control and possibly try the locker.

I fully agree that getting mud out of the underbody is a ridiculous chore. I've spent many hours blasting the truck with a pressure washer already this year!

I will drive it covered in mud for a day or two if I don't really have time to wash it, or if I'm headed to a mall crawler show the next day, but I don't like leaving it too long.

Yeah.. I don't hate mud, but I don't really seek it out. Especially since many of the mud holes up here have rocks hiding in them. I do enjoy an occasional splash through a nice puddle, but I'm not about to go driving through some bottomless bog.

Fooling around on the beach is definitely not as appealing to me as it was in my youth.

 

While I was installing the snorkel today, I found mud I missed while cleaning last time. It kinda gets everywhere, doesn’t it?

 

Probably.. As long as it had KDSS..

I think a more experienced driver might have been able to get it out. It's tough to judge from a video, though.

Edit: after further review, he was high centered pretty bad. He was pretty well screwed.

Sure does! I'm sure there are areas that have mud permanently caked in them. One thing to do is drop the spare and spray around the area it sits in under the truck. This also gives you better access to the rear suspension/brakes/etc where mud has all kinds if places to hide.

 

Yeah but the KDSS would have kicked in and swerved him out of the way avoiding the rut all together and thus saving the day...so capable.

 

I've noticed that the older I've gotten, the more likely I am to park and get out of the rig to go scout out an obstacle to see if it is worth the risk before continuing. I haven't been stuck or had to hike out for help in years.

 

I do the same thing. I've walked entire sections of trails to get and idea how to approach it, or whether to go around or turn back.

I also walk through puddles with waders to get a feel of the bottom composition and depth.

And yet, I got myself stuck in the mud 3 weeks ago.

 

But those waderz tho... sexy

 

Typical 5th gen driver:

 

I visited their shop last May when I was in Hurricane. Neat to see the rigs in person

 

^So the Morrvair rides on 38" tires while being as tall as a stock Highlander? It's a good setup.

 

Old thread that was resurrected. Never saw this. Matt is an experienced guy, but I am the only one scratching my head that he pulled from a tow ball??? Real safe. LOL

 

No, I'm on the same page. I usually won't even watch their videos. Not a big fan of people making money by showing people the wrong way to do things.

 

Relax. It is fine, and safe.

 

I saw that one!

No real damage to the 4Runner, and that little dimple on the tail light. lol Now i know what those dimples are for.

 

Yes, it's probably fine.

But, I wouldn't wheel with people who do half assed shit like that.

 

He's been pulling for many years in the previous iteration of the Banana XJ, with one of those 3-ball hitch inserts.

It's fine to pull from a tow ball if you stay within it's load rating. There are field manuals for estimating recovery forces given vehicle weight, grade, degree of mire, etc.

Before you quote that Ronny Dahl video, realize it was a bullshit demonstration - towed vehicle tied to a tree with a strap, while the towing vehicle races forward at 60+ kph. On the first pull the receiver crossmember bent, but they did repeated pulls anyway. Then on the 8th pull the tow ball finally let go. He hurt his neck from all the shock loads before the tow ball let go

 

I was in Hurricane a couple weeks ago to mountain bike. My buddy asked me to get him a tshirt. Got a tour and took some pics. Have become a fan of the show.

 

Matt probably knows what he’s doing and understands the weight limits. Unfortunately not everyone does, and when it goes bad it’s one of those “should have done it properly, consequences are not worth it.”

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a41300347/father-killed-in-off-road-recovery-accident/

 

The issue isn't whether or not Matt knows what he's doing. The issue is that he is a social media influencer showing people how to do things the wrong way.

 

In that case the ball didn’t fail. The steel tube failed.

 

If you don't have a basic understanding of recovery forces or in this case, common sense, you shouldn't be doing the recovery. Matt should not limit what he does professionally based on what viewers may misconstrue and screw up.

I mention common sense because the amount of drop in the hitch was silly. Look at it in relation to the seat width. All that leverage broke it:

 

WTF. There’s the problem. Not the hitch ball.

 

I solo all the time, it appears he didn’t see over the hood on that side. I also get out and scout. It has saved me many times by not getting in to a bad situation.

 

I watch them on occasion, very entertaining channel. Anybody have a guess what a recovery like that would cost?

 

I think that a lot of the time they do it for free since they make money off of filming it for YouTube.

 

In that case and many previous cases around the world, it cost a human life.