TAG-GED

OUR ISUZU MU-X BECOMES THE RECIPIENT OF THE FIRST TAG XR RECOVERY BAR FOR A 4X4 WAGON

- MATT RAUDONIKIS

AS responsible four-wheel drivers, we all know about rated recovery points on our vehicles and the importance of them for safe vehicle recoveries when we inevitably get stuck. The reason we need them from the aftermarket is that very few OE vehicle manufacturers equip their new vehicles with loops or hooks designed for such loads and forces.

This is why there is such an extensive range of recovery points available from the aftermarket. You know the ones that are usually brightly coloured, poking out from under the front bumper where they are ready to accept your winch hook or snatch strap in order to yank the vehicle out of trouble.

These recovery points are mainly available only for the front of vehicles; why not for the back? Isn’t the back of the vehicle that is pulling the stuck vehicle out, usually where you will attach the tow or snatch strap? Yes it is, and in most cases the user will attach the strap to the tow hitch, either via a specific recovery hitch, or by using the hitch pin inside the square section of the receiver.

Never loop a strap or rope over a tow ball for vehicle recovery. Tow balls are not made to take the sort of loads generated in a snatch recovery and when they break off under load, they become a potentially deadly missile, usually heading straight back toward the stuck car at ballistic speed.