So with all the safety concerns circling around currently due to some isolated incidents where incorrect recovery techniques resulted in serious injuries, where will it stop???

I now will need to withdraw from upcoming trips as currently do not have "rated recovery points" attached to the front of my vehcile. What i do have is 2 welded loops, attached to front chassis rails, which i have and would use in conjucntion with a bridle.

The argument i hear is that the point is for securing to trucks, which is in contrary to the Factory Manual which states they are used as a towing point to remove the car if it becomes bogged / stuck or requires to be towed. 

The same is true for a towbar point, the insert placed into the receiver may be "rated" for recovery, but the towbar has been designed and built for trailer towing, not "snatch recovery"

Other prevailing arguements state that welded tow points, ie most front 4wd's have no assurance that the welds penetrated properly??? Well where is your assurance that the chassis crossmembers etc, that your "rated" points are bolted to have been inspected for penetration??

Further, in a military setting, heavy AFV's have recovery/ tow points, not "rated", however the attached item, whether chain, strap, shackle, pulley block, has its attached rating, but as for the attaching point, just a formed extrusion of the hull.

I guess my question is, is it really rated??? as in the whole setup??

Or can we relax and employ common sense and safe practices and try and mitigate our risk that way??

Cheers

Mackie

The argument that a welded point may not be welded correctly is total crap!! ALL welds on modern cars are done by robots and they weld 100% perfect every time!!

As far as I'm concerned a winch bar and winch are rated recovery points

Common sense must prevail !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enyone with a little know how and experience can easily see the difference between a factory tie down point and a factory recovery/tow point.

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I hope this does not cause a number of our members to go elsewhere as a result of 'all vehicles must have RATED recovery points' before being able to particpate in trips. Both Mackie & Garry have made valid points & hopefully this will not exclude them from future trips.

This topic has come up on the Pajero Forum as all Pajeros from NM onwards supposedly do not have rated recovery points. Mitsubishi did a video that validated that the tiedown/ recovery points on their vehicles were suitable for recoveries, whether by snatch or winch but use of a equaliser strap was highly reccommended.  I suspect many of the later model vehicles, no matter what make, would be similar.

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I have a 95 pajero. It has dedicated revocery points that must be used with an equaliser strap.

From what I've researched pretty much any proper 4wd has proper recovery points. Manufacturers won't "rate" them as that creates liability. But I haven't seen a real fourby that doesn't have true front recovery points. As for the back, my system is via the Hayman Reece which is attached directly to the chassis. I have a tow bar hitch for recovery.

The biggest concern is people not attaching with shackles. Don't put a snatch onto a tow ball or onto a control arm etc. You can either create a missile or seriously damage your vehicle.

Yes, we are all a bit scared about things going wrong and for those of us organising trips the last thing we want is to have a fun day destroyed by someone being injured or worse.

It comes down to common sense of having recovery gear that is up to the task. I was on a bush bash years ago and one of the guys got stuck in a swamp up to his rails. He'd gone too far for a single strap and stupidly the others on the trip attached a chain to the strap and then tried to pull him out. The chain snapped and rocketed back at his vehicle and destroyed the tailgate. For a few moments we couldn't hear a sound from him and given it was dark we thought the worst.

If we'd used correct recovery techniques that wouldn't have happened.

Luckily he survived and the chain and strap didn't go through the cabin.

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Question. I have a winch up front mounted on a steel winch type bull bar. Would that be classed as a front recovery point for trips? On the back I only have the pin to hold the tow bar in, would that be classed as a rated recovery point? I am mainly asking for the purpose of trips with 4WD Trip.

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Well you have a winch. That is a piece of recovery equipment. That one is a given.

At the rear, no the pin in a Hayman Reece style bar is not suitable. Buy a tow bar hitch that slots into the bar. They're 50 bucks or less and are rated to 4.75T.

I pulled a very stuck patrol out using that and a snatch.

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This is what they look like (sorry the image is sideways)

http://s12.postimg.org/4d4q4erdp/20150804_181029.jpg

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Don't want to be argumentative but the tow pin is OK to use for recovery, pull it out and put it through the loop at the end of your strap and put it back into the tow bar.

The only down side of dong it this way is that if not a dead st8 pull the side of the strap can get frayed and damaged on the side of the box section. Never use a damaged strap

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Having a steel bull bar doesn't mean it's a recovery point. If it's not fitted with high tensile bolts it can be pulled off with a snatch recovery, winching is much more gentle on components.

Recovery points are usually mounted to the chasis like this http://www.marks4wd.com/rpnav22.html

I don't think anyone would pull you up for using the pin in your tow bar as that's what holds the hitch anyway. The disadvantage is that it can damage the strap on the edges if pulled at a angle. The tow hitch is better and can also be used to attach a winch hook which the pin alone can't.

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Sorry Matt but I will argue this. A snatch has a narrow pull area on the loop. The pin is designed to hold a shaft in place. I've learned of many stories of bent or snapped pins because the strain is too concentrated.

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