What 4WD recovery gear do you need?

There is one thing that even the most seasoned 4x4 enthusiast will experience sooner or later when driving a four-wheel drive in the bush, and that is getting a vehicle hopelessly bogged.

But it does not have to be a hopeless situation if you are carrying the right recovery gear.

There are some basic recovery items you should carry with you when heading anywhere off-road in your 4x4. You might think the off-road areas you have in mind will be a cinch, but from experience we can tell you the most benign-looking track can quickly turn nasty.

It is not a good feeling to realise you and your 4WD are completely stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no recovery gear to get you out.

No four-wheel drive vehicle comes standard with the basic recovery equipment needed to extract it from a sticky off-road situation. You will have to go shopping for such gear yourself.

A word of warning here: Don’t think the answer to getting stuck is just buying the recovery equipment and throwing it into the back of your 4x4 and heading off.

You need to learn how to use the equipment, as some of it can be extremely dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.

While instructional videos and how-to guides are useful, the best way to learn how to use the gear safely is to do a practical 4WD course that includes a module on vehicle recovery.

Recovery tracks are the single most important type of recovery gear you should carry.

There are a variety of different types, from compact roll-out tracks to one-metre-long boards, but whichever you choose these are the most basic, easiest-to-use pieces of recovery kit.

We would recommend the large recovery track boards as they are usually the most effective for a wide range of conditions. You’ll need to buy two ideally, although having four isn’t overkill if you have the room to store them in or on your 4WD.

The principle of recovery tracks is that they are designed to slot in front of the bogged wheel and provide a grippy surface to drive onto.

They have a relatively large surface area to spread the weight of the vehicle on the slippery surface. With small nodule extrusions on the outer side of the tracks, they’ll allow the wheels to gain purchase and move forward.

Some of the large board-type recovery tracks are designed so that you can use them as a shovel, which is useful for removing sand or soft mud under a stuck vehicle.

The board-type recovery tracks can also be useful as a stable platform for a bottle jack to lift the vehicle if, for example, you get a flat tyre on sand.

Expect to pay from around $250 to $500 for a quality pair of large recovery tracks.

Even if you’ve bought recovery tracks that incorporate a shovel, a small folding shovel is a useful part of a good recovery kit.

A shovel will help dig a spot to place recovery tracks in some situations, but is also useful for digging out sand under a beached vehicle. A good quality, small folding shovel shouldn’t set you back more than about $50.

There are a few other types of recovery gear that you should consider adding to the basics of recovery tracks and a shovel.

A snatch strap and shackles used to be the must-have basic recovery equipment. They still have advantages over recovery tracks in some situations, but the downside is that you must have another 4x4 vehicle handy nearby – that is not bogged itself – to use them.

Even though four wheel-driving in remote locations solo is not recommended, if you do only have one vehicle it is still a good idea to carry this gear. You might find another 4WD nearby to help extricate your vehicle.

A snatch strap is a nylon elastic strap that has loops stitched in at each end. The snatch strap is like an elastic tow rope – but should never be used as a tow rope unless in an emergency, and then replaced afterwards.

With the snatch strap securely attached to the bogged vehicle at one end and the recovery vehicle at the other, the recovery vehicle accelerates, which stretches then contracts the rope. This releases stored kinetic energy in the strap to give a strong pull to retrieve the stuck vehicle.

Make sure the strap you buy has a rated pull load of at least 4000kg. If you have a large, loaded-up 4WD wagon or 4x4 dual-cab ute get an 8000kg or 9000kg-rated strap.

You will need shackles to hook the recovery strap to each vehicle as most 4WDs don’t have an open loop recovery point. Don’t confuse shipping lash-down points with recovery points on your 4WD, as they will not be strong enough.

If in doubt, ask the trainer when you do a 4WD course or another experienced off-road enthusiast. Make sure that the shackles you buy are rated to at least double the mass of your vehicle (so 4000kg for a 2000kg 4WD, for example).

A snatch strap will deteriorate and break if it has been loaded up too much, or used too often. When a strap has been used about 20 times, it’s time to replace it.

Vehicle recovery with a snatch strap and shackles can be lethal, so it is really important that you get the training to use them properly. If a shackle breaks while a vehicle is being recovered with a snatch strap, all the kinetic energy designed to pull a 2500kg vehicle will instead be pulling a 500g shackle like a bullet.

A snatch strap can also easily break if used beyond its service life or is torn or otherwise damaged.

Make sure snatch straps are dried properly after use. Inspect the strap for fraying or torn stitching and replace it with a new one after about 20 recoveries.

A good quality, rated pair of shackles and snatch strap should cost you about $150.

Recovery gear you should always take with you:
1. Recovery tracks
2. Small shovel
3. Snatch strap and two shackles
4. (Optional) Exhaust jack

Another nice-to-have recovery gear option is an exhaust jack, which is a large rubber airbag inflated by your vehicle’s exhaust via a one-way valve. The exhaust jack lifts your 4WD off obstacles or slippery terrain. This allows the vehicle to be pushed to the side off the obstacle or enables you to build up the track under the lifted wheel/s.

An exhaust jack is more compact (when stored) than a pair or recovery tracks but not as simple to use or as versatile for different recovery situations. They can be unstable (so never get under a vehicle raised with an exhaust jack) and also can easily puncture if not protected when being used. Exhaust jacks are cheap – they start at about $100.

While it is not strictly recovery gear, a tyre plug kit and 12-volt air compressor are very handy items for anyone to have in their 4x4 off-road recovery kit. Tyre punctures are a fact of life in the bush, and if you’ve already used your spare tyre and get another puncture (it happens) you will be in strife. 

With a tyre plug kit you can plug the puncture hole and with the air compressor get the tyre back up to pressure and be running again.

The following items should only be considered for more hard-core off-roading, when you have more experience and are trying more difficult terrain in a well set-up 4x4.

Don’t buy this gear now; you will probably never end up using it.

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