A warning to anchor your vehicle before winching! (1 Viewer)

[Rkroelin]

Be careful winching

I posted this in our local forum, but thought it would be beneficial for a wider audience to see.

Here are some pictures of a friend's misadventures on the backway to Crown King. I wasn't with them, but received a phone call asking for a tow.

Friend 1 was trying to winch Friend 2 up the hill that you see the Silverado (Friend 2) sitting at the bottom of. Friend 1 had his vehicle in park, with the parking brake on and the tires chocked with rocks, but did not have his truck anchored to anything nor did he have his foot on the brake pedal. The parking pawl snapped and Friend 1's Jeep proceeded down the hill. Friend 1 had to jump out of the way.

The huge dent in Friend 2's hood is from Friend 1's passenger side front tire rolling over the top of it.

Friend 1's Cherokee then went end over end down the hill you sitting it at the bottom of. It rolled at least twice lengthwise. Interestingly he was able to drive back up to the trail from its resting spot.

The Silverado has several thousand dollars worth of damage (bumper cover, core/radiator support, passenger front fender, hood, radiator). The Cherokee is obviously a total loss.

No one was hurt - Friend 1 was out of the vehicle, Friend 2 was in the Driver's seat of the pickup.


I took my 80 out and helped tow them back. I found Friend 2 (Silverado) towing Friend 1 very slowly back down the mountain. They were using river water in the Silverado's leaking radiator to keep the truck cool. The Silverado was able to get out under his own power (with the help of additional water I carried with me). I towed the Jeep, which was stuck in 4Low, all the way back to Carefree Highway.

Some kind people stopped and help them recover both vehicles.

The point of all of this is don't be lazy like my friend was! Stay safe.


Ryan

 

[Rkroelin]

More pictures.

 

[roalco]

Lucky for them God looks out for little children, dogs and fools.....

 

[bpassmore]

snnnnnnnnap.

 

[e9999]

textbook example of what obviously not to do...

trans in park? geez....

I would not anchor either, though. Don't like that...

 

[Michael Hanson]

eeeeeeeeee! Lucky someone did not get hirt, Mike

 

[solidfrontaxle]

Those pics make me lol.

 

[craptabulous]

let me get this straight , buddy was outside his cherokee with it in park and the parking break on and he was winching some one up the hill ...........

awkward ..........

 

[Anthony.L]

The parking pawl snapped and Friend 1's Jeep proceeded down the hill. Friend 1 had to jump out of the way.

Forgive my ignorance, so the parking pawl is the part in the tranny that keeps the car from moving while in park?

That part broke, and his parking brake didn't hold, causing the Jeep to roll all the way down the hill?

The point of all of this is don't be lazy like my friend was! Stay safe.

As a good learning experience for winching and recovery newbies like myself, what would be the correct procedure?

I would guess it's anchor the rear of the Jeep to a tree or large rock. Leave the tranny in neutral, and no need for rocks to chock the tires. Sound correct?

 

[-Spike-]

Winch from inside the vehicle, with the tranny in neutral and your foot on the brake. That way you have control of the winch and the vehicle, and you can stop winching the instant something starts going wrong. It has also been suggested by someone that you have the hood open to catch the cable or hook if the cable snaps. There are (many) other good techniques that should be followed, but keeping your foot on the brake is one of the most basic.

 

[Rkroelin]

Forgive my ignorance, so the parking pawl is the part in the tranny that keeps the car from moving while in park?

That part broke, and his parking brake didn't hold, causing the Jeep to roll all the way down the hill?

Yes. It is what you feel if you put a vehicle in park without the parking brake.

 

[FJ40-GARAGE]

Thanx for posting it, it will keep others staying away from doing something like that, wish your Friend1 and Friend2 might have known before.....

Just one question, why did he step out of that Cherokee anyway?

 

[Rkroelin]

Old thread, but to answer your question he couldn't see the other truck over the head wall from within the truck (crest of the hill).

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi All:

I have to add that the Silverado pu has to weigh at least 2K pounds more than the XJ Cherokee, apparently was stuck pretty good, and they were winching up hill. That adds-up to a lot of resistance.

Regards,

Alan

 

[Mark W]

The driver side door is nor bent or damaged the way it would have been if it was open as the rig went tumbling down the hill. So I am going to assume that he closed it behind him as he stepped out of the rig.

Personally I don't see doing this is you are getting out for a moment to take a look and then getting back in to continue winching.

So he was probably operating the winch from outside of the rig, expecting the parking brake and "park" to keep the rig in place.

And the rig had to have been winching while still sitting on the downhill slope as well.


All in all the problem is not that the rig was not anchored, but rather that the people involved made more than one mistake, either through ignorance, lack of forethought/attention/planning, or most likely a combination.

Not gonna criticize them... it is obvious that they screwed up and I am sure they realize that. No one got hurt, so in this case, count yourself lucky and move on.

But the lesson here is NOT that you should anchor a rig before winching.


Mark...

 

[Rkroelin]

That seems like a forest for the trees distinction. They weren't careful enough.

Semantics I suppose. I changed the title to "Be careful winching".

 

[Mark W]

No need to get snippy. You titled this as a warning to always anchor your rig before winching. That is not really good advice, not always feasible and lack of "anchoring" was not their problem. Lack of knowing what they were doing was.

It is not at all a matter of semantics. Any more than if you had said "always check your tire pressure" as you showed pics of a wheel coming off.


Others here were a lot more critical and you took that in stride. Not sure why you get upset when I point out actual mistakes made and avoid insinuating that they were fools and idiots as others here have done.


Mark...

 

[RiverRatMatt]

Shouldn't the Jeep have used a recovery rope or chains to pull him up the hill, rather than winching?

 

[Mark W]

Chains are seldom a good idea when used between vehicles. You really want something with a bit of give when you are pulling one rig with another.

Straps are generally my first choice rather than winching. Quicker and easier in most cases if you do not need the delicacy and precision that a winch can provide.

But pulling out of a hole like that going up hill on loose dirt... a strap would probably not be the best choice.

Easy to see some of the mistakes. Hard to armchair quarterback as to what they *should* have done (beyond staying in the jeep with foot on the brake of course) since none of us were there or can even see the whole terrain situation they were dealing with.


Mark...

 

[Rkroelin]

No need to get snippy. You titled this as a warning to always anchor your rig before winching. That is not really good advice, not always feasible and lack of "anchoring" was not their problem. Lack of knowing what they were doing was.

It is not at all a matter of semantics. Any more than if you had said "always check your tire pressure" as you showed pics of a wheel coming off.


Others here were a lot more critical and you took that in stride. Not sure why you get upset when I point out actual mistakes made and avoid insinuating that they were fools and idiots as others here have done.


Mark...

I suppose anchoring was the wrong word to use and could instill visions of a boat anchor being heaved off the rear end of the Jeep - "anchors away".

However couldn't one "anchor" their vehicle with the brakes?

Friend 1 and friend 2 were indeed fools and idiots at that moment. They have said it themselves. Nobody else felt like criticizing me for posting it the way I did. Others provided constructive advice for future readers. That was the difference that generated my response.

However your point about anchoring is a good one, which is why I edited the title and revamped the text in a minor way.