Tow Rope/Tow Strap Recommendations

[bg_27]

So with this snow, been looking at getting a tow strap/tow rope.

I don't quite understand the rating of the tow ropes.

I looked at one at it has:
6,800lbs breaking strength
Loads up to 2267lbs.

So is this rope good enough to tow a car out of a snow bank, my x5 has a curb weight of like 4900lbs, so is this rope strong enough to use to pull a car?

Oh and any recommendations on where to buy decent ones, the one I am referring to is from Canadian Tire.

[r3ccOs]

um... you have to factor in serveral things such as the resitance resulting in how stuck the vehicle is, inclines etc..

I use a mix of tow "straps" from Princess Auto, which I can't exactly remember the raiting for, but was quite a bit strong in breaking strength.

Don't buy the ropes, they have no give, nor the ordinary straps... get the ones that have some elasticity to them, otherwise you dangerously risk breaking off tow points.

[aristocrat]

if you get a tow strap, get a tow sling. Its a springy stretchy tow strap that when you giver shit, it will lengthen the strap then compress back and sling the vehicle thats stuck, out. i would get one thats ALOT stronger than that, think about how much force your vehicle gives out horizontally. ive snapped many a strap.


If you go to PA, they have like 6 different ones, i got the third strongest and it hasnt snapped yet soo.

[Khalil.e]

Word - PA is the place to go.
6,800lbs breaking strength sounds quite low - I do believe mine is somewhere closer to 15,000lbs.

[Benny]

Go to Princess Auto and get the biggest thickest tow sling that you can find. I picked up an almost 6" thick tow sling that we use for 4x4ing. It's rated to like 25,000lbs, but the PA slings are pretty shitty so I'd recommend buying the biggest one you can find. No sense buying a small one and having it break on you. I've heard too many horror stories of slings going and taking someone's head off. Also, whenever winching, throw a blanket/coat on the sling in the middle before you put tension on it. Just acts as a dampener if the sling lets go and will direct the force downwards.

[tubby89]

I'll give another nod for Princess Auto. There are several load ratings for each strap. A 2-3" is all you will need for the occasional tug out of a jam. Should be in the $50-$60 range. I would definately avoid ropes/straps with hooks on the ends. They could break and hurt/kill someone or cause damage to the vehicle pulling you out.

Also consider how you are going to attach the strap to your vehicle. Try not to slip the looped end over a ball on the hitch. They tend to slip off.

[ExtraSlow]

Originally posted by bg_27
I don't quite understand the rating of the tow ropes.

I looked at one at it has:
6,800lbs breaking strength
Loads up to 2267lbs.

The rating means that the rope has been tested to 6800 lbs and it didn't break. they reccomend that you don't put more than 2267 lbs force on it in normal use. That give you a safety factor to account for a) wear b) shock loding and c) accidental overloading.

Tow straps and ropes can be deadly when used incorrectly, so they put a big safety factor in the ratings, and you should adhere to those saftey factors. Don't skimp out on tow equipment, because it can and does kill people every year.
Here are my suggestions for towing stuck vehciles.
- Get a stap that has some elasticity in it. It's easier on the cars, and it's more effective
- get a strap that is rated for much higher than you will ever see. at least double your cars mass.
- use proper shackles at each end.
- put something heavy over the middle of the rope if you can, like threading it through an old tire, or a duffle bag full of stuff. That way if it does break, that will absorb a lot of the energy and protect the people at each end.

Good luck!

[Supa Dexta]

I pull quite a few ppl from the ditch every winter in my travels.. I also have a PS strap, 3" maybe.. I've used it around the farm too, it works great. I think it was around 60$.

[spikerS]

Back in the day, i used to just take a tie down strap from my rig, and get the wife to sew a loop in each end. worked great.

mind you, the company paid for them, so i got no idea how much they cost.

But yeah, if you are off roading, get the biggest you can. if you are never going off road, but just tugging people out of the ditch, a 10k lbs sling should be fine. shackles are a great idea, and just make sure the sling will stay attached to a vehicle, rather than flying off.

as for putting something over the line, while a great idea in theory, you kinda need to know where the fail point is going to be to make it effective, and put something on each side of that fail point. the only instance where it would work, is if the fail point is one of the vehicles themselves. there should only be 2 people around anyway, 1 in each vehicle, and if the sling snaps, they are protected by the vehicles. if someone is standing close enough to get hit, well i call that darwinism.

[bg_27]

Cool, thanks for the info, will check out PA soon.

[ExtraSlow]

Originally posted by spikers
as for putting something over the line, while a great idea in theory, you kinda need to know where the fail point is going to be to make it effective, and put something on each side of that fail point. the only instance where it would work, is if the fail point is one of the vehicles themselves. there should only be 2 people around anyway, 1 in each vehicle, and if the sling snaps, they are protected by the vehicles. if someone is standing close enough to get hit, well i call that darwinism.

I disagree on two points
1) regardless of where the failure is, it's the longer peice of rope/strap that will have the most energy, and if the energy absoring device is in the middle, the long peice will go through the middle.
2) people in vehicle aren't protected from flying shackles, or god forbid, chains and hooks. Those can and do go through windshields pretty easily. I agree that bystanders should be well back and perpendicular to the tow strap/rope to avoid any danger if it snaps, although that kind of common sense isn't common, it seems.

[Sugarphreak]

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[FraserB]

I decided to go with overkill for almost all my gear, better out a few more buck but coming home intact.

I use 30,000lb straps from MM, a 10,000lb tree saver, ARB 9,000lb snatch block and nothing less than a 3/4" shackle. No strap with hooks EVER gets attached to me or to someone I'll be helping.

By my estimation my winch will seize up before anything fails. If I need to to anything bigger than what an 8,000lb winch with snatch block or a 6500lb tow rating will do, I shouldn't be doing it.

[Vince1]

It's better to go too much than not enough with a tow strap. I'd be more worried about pulling anything with an X5!

Get something like this. http://www.amazon.com/Grip-Heavy-Dut.../dp/B000G6M5HO

With a 15000 lb rating your tranny will go before the strap will!

[FraserB]

Originally posted by Vince1
It's better to go too much than not enough with a tow strap. I'd be more worried about pulling anything with an X5!

Get something like this. http://www.amazon.com/Grip-Heavy-Dut.../dp/B000G6M5HO

With a 15000 lb rating your tranny will go before the strap will!

I think it has been mentioned but you should never use a tow strap for a recovery. Reason being, there is little to no elasticity in the strap. Get proper recovery straps that had stretch to them, 2x the max vehicle weight you will be recovering should be good.

[2BLUE]

3x30 is plenty.