ADVICE/HELP Tacoma off road recovery (Western MT)

[That was Pontus]

Well, seeing as you've received an absolute ton of advice already, I'm just going to laugh at you and your predicament.

What are the odds he'll come back and find a burnt out Honda Civic in its place?

[climberevan]

Well, seeing as you've received an absolute ton of advice already, I'm just going to laugh at you and your predicament.

What are the odds he'll come back and find a burnt out Honda Civic in its place?

This thread has to rank among the highest ratio of good advice to ridicule of any posted on TGR.

[pfluffenmeister]

^^^ good point.

who's the dumbass OP who can't flip a bitch on a trecherous mountain truck trail that's only one truck wide?

[bryanthebold]

Sorry no pics... Camera was dead at that point... I will post up pictures of the recovery project.

Yes it is on the blackfoot res. If it isn't stripped and on blocks when I come back I too will be surprised. Even finding the tow company in Browning was sketchy. I hated leaving it up there and I hung around for an extra day trying to wait on this tow company since I knew leaving it would be a terrible idea. I've also been away on business which hasn't helped and was something I couldn't get out of.

Thanks for the info on come alongs/high lift. I have no intention of killing myself over this truck so I think I will stick to finding someone with experience using them. I'd love to have someone teach me so I could do it in the future and will shell out cash for the equipment. I am posting in the off road forums to try and find someone willing to rescue my sorry ass.

I never realized how formidable the stock Tacoma was until....but now I feel like an idiot

[unitofstuff]

I never realized how formidable the stock Tacoma was until....

Until you violated rule #1: never wheel without a buddy?

[bryanthebold]

Sure rule 1 violated, plus it was getting dark, was on the res, and god knows where my judgement went because it looked like it was atv only. A series of mistakes

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[bryanthebold]

Tow company: "you have full coverage?"
Me: "yea"
Tow company: "you might try pushing it off the cliff"


As of yesterday the truck had not been robbed, wow!

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[doofyskier]

any updates?

[bryanthebold]

Going up Saturday with a portable winch to see if I can't make something happen. Will post pics of carnage. Anyone in the area want to come along for the ride PM me.

[flatNshallow]

...My first thought was wenching it out...

I don't see how this would help...

[davieboot]

I don't see how this would help...

It would make the pics better though.

Which, I can't wait for. I'm checking this thread constantly. Looks like Saturday.

[gone2alpine]

So anxious to see pics...

[kbahus]

What I can't believe is that you have left this truck abandoned on the trail for this long.

pics pics pics....

[bryanthebold]

Mission Status: Failure

I'll make this into a sad sad TR. I went up early today to meet a fellow who was gonna use his portable winch and ATV to help yank me out. It was a nice rainy drive till I hit Maria's pass which had a shitload more snow than I was expecting. East Glacier had probably about 6 inches of snow and as we headed up the Two Medicine Road it turned into more than a foot in some places. The road was closed but thankfully someone had moved the concrete barrier so we could get around to the base of the road I was on. 6 inches turned into 2 feet in some places making me sick to my stomach.


Here is the view at the base of the road, follow the red arrow and you'll find my stuck pig. Keep in mind there was no snow when I initially drove it.

We took the 4 wheeler up with all the gear which barely made it. It required winching to get it up the final 50 feet or so.


This is the view just below the truck at the steepest part of the climb. The idea was to winch it from behind. Those aspens on the right were on a nice flat spot not shown that was big enough to get the rig around. Not exactly substantial anchor points but the truck did seem a lot less unstable then I first remember so we went for pulling on them.


Here is the view of the drive down, steep as shit but doable after the initial drop. It didn't help that we rolled the ATV on the way up


This pic gives you an idea of how badly it was high sided. Front wheels were pretty much useless. The tow guys who had been working on it before seemed to get it even more high sided.

We pulled on it from behind for a while, barely moved it. The winch wasn't the burliest but we did rig it up with a pulley for more power. Tree's held fine. Used an elastic snatch strap pulling with the ATV. Still hardly nothing. Tried digging it out, fucked up the shovels beyond usage, we hit solid rock. Tried with chains on the back but still nadda (hard to get them rigged up without moving the truck). Also had some of those little ramps and still nothing.

All in all, hard days work with no success. Simply way too much snow and not enough pulling power. Frankly the drive down was scaring the shit out of me as well. I am out of ideas and support... thus this may be the winter home for the tacoma. Fucking stupidest thing I have ever done. 2 feet of snow really isn't helping things either. Let the ridicule continue! Seriously though, its like loosing a pet, I really love that truck. Her name is Budgie, keep her in your prayers for a safe winter.

[bryanthebold]

What I can't believe is that you have left this truck abandoned on the trail for this long.

pics pics pics....

Had several classes out of state that I was scheduled to teach (aka my job) and no means to do it by myself, or the friends with the know how.

[Tye 1on]

getting into burly truck w/chains and/or snowcat territory now. Damn. Feel for ya man, sucks when a simple mistake cascades into a real PITA...

[iceman]

That situation is basically what a hi-lift is for, you basically just pump it up and knock the truck off it sideways. It should work fine if you can get the jack on something that won't sink or slip before you want it to. They're not even that expensive, you could buy one if you had to, but get somebody to help you. It's not snowed in there for the winter yet is it?

[claymond]

From the pictures it looks like you may be able to use a trick I've used in sand when trying to climb a dune and I end up stuck facing somewhat horizontally across the dune. Put the truck in 2wd, crank the front wheels all the way uphill, and gas it. With a slick or soft surface, like sand and snow, and with the front stuck, the rear wheels will spin and slide downhill but the truck won't actully move forward or back, basically pivoting on the front wheels. Your call on if it's stable enough to try this or if it's risking rollover. If it works, should be way easier to get the front outta the ditch. Be safe...

[splat]

I was amazed it hadn't snowed you out already. I hate to armchair it, but that's not nearly as bad as I'd envisioned. And the hi lift and two wheel spinout suggestions look like they'd work with with a shovel, a bar, some chains and some serious elbow grease. Backing that off there in the snow might be tricky, but doable. Hate to see you lose it for the winter. Hope there's no food scent in it.

[bryanthebold]

How do you get the hi lift to work when there isn't any rocker panels? I didn't think they extended far enough to hit the frame without totally fucking up the side panels.

[toast2266]

Have you tried jacking up the front end with a regular jack and cramming a bunch of rocks or whatever under the front wheels? It might at least get you un-high-centered. Although getting down that road is still going to be an interesting experience.

[Rideski]

^ that plus while you have each corner jacked up, replace bald tires with taller wheels/tires with chains pre-installed.

[toast2266]

Another note: if you're going to go and try to jack the front end up, bring some stout 2x2 pieces of plywood to stick under the jack to keep it from just pushing down into the ground. Some nails can also be useful for keeping the jack from slipping off the wood

[lowsparkco]

I think I'd anchor the front axle uphill with a recovery strap or comealong and then pull the ass down hill - the fresh snow might help arrest speed backing it out. In 4x4 if you leave it in gear you should be able to back out. I'd have to agree with having someone around with a full size/chains/4x4 or bobcat to keep pulling you out when you back it off the hardpack. Take vaca from work or do what you have to do to get it out TODAY, TOMORROW, MONDAY, etc. - I've seen a lot of vehicles left in the mountains for a winter and it never goes well. I'd check your insurance policy before counting on them covering this situation and talk to your agent. If you roll it, I'd push it back over and drag it to the blacktop. Depending on the policy this might not be covered.

[1000-oaks]

If you could go forward and make a hard left, can you drive down the right side of the ditch or is it too steep/rough?

If you high lift it, on that sidehill the truck is going to slide downhill soon as you lift the frame off the berm. (Don't be downhill of the truck when doing any lifting.)

Sounds like you need a bigger winch, and/or a Z-rigging of pulleys (and multiple anchors) to multiply the force of the winch. If you do this, the cable needed to be sized considering the weight of the truck, not the pulling strength of the winch. If you can swing the rear end of the truck uphill, you might be able to drive down the right side of the ditch. If you have enough cable, part of the descent could be on belay. (keep weights on the cable to help drop it if it breaks) Borrowing better tires with chains would help.