Tow strap kid learns expensive physics lesson

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Well, he did achieve the objective.

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That is, roughly, how you use this kind of springy nylon strap often called a ‘snatch strap.’ The key point, though, is to hook it to parts of both vehicles that are well-attached.

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To be fair here, I do in fact have the kind of strap (Bubba Rope in my case) he talked about in this video. It is made especially for the maneuver he showed. The helper vehicle takes off at a decent rate of speed, the strap is pulled taught, then stretches to its maximum limit, and the elasticity built into the strap softens the blow, while providing extra ‘tug’ on the stuck vehicle to free it. Go kinetic energy! Now, there are other kinds of straps, tow straps which do not stretch, and do not have give, and which are not designed for this maneuver. If he was following the manufacturer’s directions for the strap, then it simply came down to the fact that his tow points weren’t anchored securely enough, but that wouldn’t have been his fault at all.

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I studied Physics with Professor Azalea.

Photographer is an asshole, though.

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“you ripped my tow hook off”

in addition to being physics-challenged, he doesn’t understand the word ‘you’

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It’s amusing to see that pickup truck bumpers are as crappy as car bumpers these days. When I was a reckless teen, we had to work a lot harder to rip the bumper off our 1959 Chevy truck.

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Yes, you do give it a tug, but not quite -that- speed with a Ranger. That was just ludicrous inexperienced driving and truck abuse. My trucks are sad for their brother. Some people should stick to cars.

pickup bumper. He ripped the tow hook and some of the frame off I think, and the bumper was just in the way at that point.

I sure wouldn’t have stood within range of a potentially snapping tow strap. I’d say he’s more of a fool, but no harm no foul.

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Good argument for teaching the sciences in school, apparently that dude missed those classes.

I guess this kid should suppose more often.

Why was he pulling in reverse to begin with? Obviously the front hook is not going to be as strong as the rear — it’s meant for being pulled, not for pulling.

Judging from the grill on the Ranger, it had some custom-y stuff. Which probably means a fake tow hook on an aftermarket bumper to look cool.

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I have to say I feel even luckier to escape without serious damage when my van got stuck in a muddy field being used as a parking lot and I had to get bubba and his wonder-truck with dualies to pull me out. Somewhere north of 50’ of chain so he could be on the somewhat less muddy part while the gunned the wheels, threw mud rooster tails and Jerked me out of the mud I had dug myself into. About three jerks and the a harrowing drive through a parking lot at the end of the chain, trying to make sure I didn’t run over the chain.

Newton’s third law disagrees.

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…I don’t think that makes sense.

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It doesn’t have anything to do with which direction the force is coming from. A front hook is designed only for the mass of the truck itself; a rear hook has to have a beefier connection to the frame to support the potentially larger mass of a boat or trailer full of bricks or whatever the truck might tow.

The same reason you can carry a bag of groceries by the handles but you can’t attach the same bag to the ceiling and do pull-ups on them.

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Then they should have reasonably expected it to support the weight of a truck, yes?

I’m not saying they didn’t fuck up, because they obviously did, but when I think about how they fucked up, “Those fools! Everyone knows you use the rear tow hook when yanking a truck off of a berm!” isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

It might not be common knowledge to the average commuter, but in the 4x4 community a reinforced frame front bumper mount is a fairly common mod on the 4x4 builder diy checklist especially if you plan on mounting a winch up front.

You live, and you learn. He’s not the first and will not be the last.

I always figure I have more power in reverse.