ADVICE - How to use a snatch strap
Words & Photos: PracticalMotoring.com.au
Every time I review a four-wheel drive, the first thing I look at is whether it has recovery points as standard, or whether they could be easily fitted. But just having recovery points isn’t enough. You have to know how to use them properly. If you don’t, you can risk doing damage to your own and possibly someone else’s vehicle.
And not least of all, you also run the risk of seriously injuring yourself or others.
Here’s a quick guide to attaching straps – snatch straps, winch extension straps or whatever you need – to vehicles with towbars.
What you’ll need
You’ll need a snatch strap, like this one from ARB.
The right way(s) to attach a snatch strap
Method 1: Remove the towbar’s tongue and insert the towbar pin through the eye of the strap. You’ll need about ten tonnes of force to bend the pin. By that time, something else will have broken and the vehicle will have either been recovered - or sent into orbit. However, do not use this method if there will be significant side pull on the strap as it may damage the strap’s eye against the tow hitch.
Method 2: This is the best method for recovery. This special device is designed to fit snugly in the tow hitch and allows a shackle to be threaded through. The better ones can rotate to horizontal or vertical – choose one based on how the strap is likely to be angled during the recovery, as extended recoveries can cause significant wear of the strap against the shackle. As the shackle itself can only move in one direction with this device, it’s best to have it in-line with the recovery.
The wrong way to attach a snatch strap
This is very, very dangerous, because the snatch strap might rip the towball off and turn it into a lethal projectile. Also, the strap itself may slip off under tension and snap back – think a little mud, water, angle and then maybe an accidental slack/tension cycle.
The main reason it’s so dangerous is because most four-wheel drive towballs are only rated at up to 3500kg. Recovery loads can exceed 3500kg.
Towing 3500kg doesn’t involve 3500kg of force. To explain, the rolling resistance on flat bitumen of a 3500kg trailer is around 90kg. On a 30-degree angle slope, and that is a VERY steep slope, the total force required rises to around 1850kg. Acceleration is never going to be particularly stressful with a 3500kg load, and any trailer that heavy will need its own brakes.
This means that towing 3500kg doesn’t put anything like 3500kg of strain on a towball, so it’s not rated for 3500kg of load. As recovery loads of 4x4s can exceed that amount, and are often shock (snatch) loads, then those recovery loads can break towballs.
Finally, if a trailer did rip a towball off, the towball isn’t going anywhere. If the ball is ripped off by a strap which is in effect a giant elastic band, then you have yourself a deadly missile with the potential to kill people.
This method has been seen and is also extremely dangerous. It does not make the situation any better. In fact, it makes it worse as you’ve just made the projectile bigger.
This method is not ideal, either. Retaining the towbar’s tongue and inserting a shackle through the towball hole avoids use of the towball, but leaves the recovery reliant on a tongue which is welded together and does not have a large surface area for the weld.
In addition, the pulling forces are not aligned with the chassis – firstly, the force is not vertically in-line with the hitch, even in this example, let alone drop hitches where the shackle would be at a different height to the hitch.
Secondly, any lateral pull will exert significant sideways forces on the tongue and hitch, especially with longer hitches. The hitch is also hollow, and therefore prone to breaking, which has happened – perhaps caused by a buildup of stress as the hitch is hit on rocks and dropped and abused over decades across many vehicles.
Best Options
A dedicated recovery system, like the one shown earlier, is the best, safest option when using a snatch strap. As it’s cast solid with a drilled hole, it aligns loads with the pin and is much shorter.
So, while it might seem like a hassle to remove your towbar from its receiver when recovering your own or someone else’s vehicle, it’s dangerous not to do so. A minute or two of fiddling around with the towbar could save your life. And we’re not exaggerating.