Rear hitch mount -- bad idea?

I want to do a trip to PINS in corpus but do not have a winch. I really hate the idea of trimming up my bumper to install a winch carrying bumper. My 4runner is mostly a pavement pounder outside of an occasional ranch trip and when we go to the beach a lot during the summer.

For those of you all not familiar with PINS, it a 50+ mile barrier island. No cell service, no fuel, etc. If you get stuck you are screwed unless someone comes by with recovery gear.

I was thinking about buying a winch and saw this: Theoretically if I were to get stuck I could put the winch in the receiver hitch and use a sand anchor. EDIT -- probably better to just go ahead and mount before I leave the pavement at pins.

Is this a dumb idea for someone who doesn't need a winch at all times?

 

Not dumb at all. I think that's a great idea. It would be neat to have a receiver on the front as well. Might not be that hard to do.

 

Even better. I didn't think about that because of the skid plates.

 

I just think it would be nice to have the option. I also like the idea of being able to remove the winch when it's not needed (%99 of the time). I'm sure it would last a helluva lot longer out of the elements.

 

This video shows a good idea how the pullpal / sand anchor works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ4PFdcD4Xk

 

Use a come-along and a strap.

$60 TR Industrial Portable 4-Ton Dual Gear Power Puller

https://www.amazon.com/TR-Industria...5&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY

 

Matt's Off Road Recovery did this for years on the Banana yellow Cherokee, and they use the winch almost daily...

A hitch-mounted winch severely reduces approach or departure angle. Is PINS mostly flat?

A winch can draw up to 400 amps. Due to the distance from the battery to the rear hitch, the winch wiring will need to be heavy, like 1/0. Factor in the cost and weight. $5/ft x 15 ft x2 = $150 in copper wiring: https://www.batterycablesusa.com/0-gauge-battery-cable-red-1-0-awg

 

The beauty is you can remove it and stow it until you actually need it. The reason I would install a receiver on the front (and I might) is so I have the option if one end is buried.

 

I would definitely bring some recovery boards as well (or something that can be improvised in a pinch).

Sand anchor aside, beaches are not the best place to winch out of. And the anchor only works if it can dig into the right consistency of soil (not loose, but not hard pan either).

Do you have a way to air up when you're done out there? Lower tire pressure should be your first step to avoid getting stuck.

 

Curt MFG makes a front hitch receiver for 4Runners that is good. Not much affect on approach angle. I have used one. Easy install.

 

FYI, looking at the Harbor Freight design I can honestly say that you would NOT want to put any side loads on it. There's only a single doubler plate on the bottom that provides additional 'pulling' (straight out) load capacity, they should have added lateral gussets to reinforce that joint.

BTW, H.F.'s hitch mount is just a rebranded version offered by WARN, 4WP, Smittybuilt and a few others only I would not trust the HF welds one bit. WARN in fact only rates theirs at 9000 lbs and I'm willing to bet that's only for a straight pull.

If you're expecting lots of sand (not mud) you would be better off bringing a shovel and recovery boards, plywood or even 3' sections of 2x4s...something to get a wheel(s) floating back on top of the sand. With mud it's an even worse potential situation due to a wheel being stuck in a vacuum. You would need more than a sand anchor and most likely will max out even a 12K winch (if you have more than one tire buried down to the axle in mud).

Whatever the case, always air down, don't go through if you only have summer tires, pick your line through carefully and always get out and walk it if it looks the slightest bit sketchy. I've seen a number of folks in the eastern sierras trying to get through even a developed looking trail only to get buried up to the axles and needing help. Just look up frosty4wheeler on IG, his latest recoveries in mono county will give you an idea what it can be like.

 

Honestly, a shovel, 4 traction boards and an air compressor should be on the top of your list. Armed with those, you’ll get out.

If you’re not jumping it on the dunes, 10 or 12 Lbs is all the tire pressure you need and your chance's of getting stuck drop considerably. Have fun!

 

That video was painful to watch. Ya gotta be smarter than the tools at hand. While that manufacture has made it convenient for storage purposes, the 3 hole positions on that drawbar made it confusing for that person to comprehend the simple angle that it needed to be at for maximum benefit.

Having that blade flat like he did would have been better off hooked on a curb in a parking lot to pull himself over a tire stop.

When I got my TJ back in '04, it came with a Pull-Pal. I could see how it works and even tried it in the sand and on a rutted hard packed dirt road. It does work as designed with its fixed blade position to dig in to terra firma.

 

Did he have it assembled incorrectly? It sure seemed like that to me.

Anyway, I agree with shovel and traction boards as the first line of defense. This is not golf. You don't get penalized for improving your lie. Having a winch doesn't mean that you shouldn't dig first. I can't say how YouTube videos I've watched of recoveries gone wrong where the fundamental problem was driver didn't give his tires an easy enough way out of the situation because he assumed a winch could overcome the resistance of half-buried tires.

 

I have about 50+ years of experience driving in the deep soft sand on Bodie, Hatteras and Ocracoke islands at Cape Hatteras. I always used my floor mats in lieu of traction boards. Additionally I always walk and check if there are no vehicle tracks in an iffy looking area. And aired down is your friend.

 

Yeah, floor mats or equivalent can be very effective in sand. I've crossed sandy stretches in AZ in 2WD sedans with strips of carpet as my primary recovery option. My main point is that too many people think the solution when you're buried up to the axles is to pull harder on the winch.

 

Those were pretty good in snow, too.

 

My Dad had a VW bug dune buggy he drove on the beach at Cape Hatteras back in the 1970s.. Gave it up for a 4WD Jeep

 

I buried my 2wd Rodeo up to the axle on Hatteras about 15 years ago. I had dropped the tire pressure to about 20 psi.

An older gentleman (compared to us college kids at least) pulled us out in his 1st gen Taco, after we had dug and jacked the back about halfway out of the holes. He was a nice guy, wouldn't even take a tip, and referred us to a nice restaurant as well.

He had me air down to 12ish psi, and after he popped us out it handled the sand much better, but we called it a day at that point anyway.

The biggest learning for me was sand driving is completely different than dirt/ mud, where there is no cohesion (i.e. no throttle out on sand).

 

I have a nice portable air compressor and a folding shovel. Any recommendations on recovery boards?

I also need to find a way to bring at least 6-8 gallons of fuel along just in case.

 

You can't go wrong with Maxxtrax or ActionTrax. There are cheaper alternatives, but in general they won't be as durable.

 

I carry a 2nd jack and a roughly 18” sq board for each jack to support it in the sand. Sometimes you need the extra jack if you have a flat as raising one side with a jack can push the tire on the opposite side down into soft sand and you need the other jack to hold the other side up or the tilt will force your one Jack way off vertical.

I carry a good tow strap with no metal on it. When one breaks, and they can, metal becomes a much more lethal weapon than fabric.

 

Get a cheap set like these and see how often you need them / how effective they are on your terrain:

$70 BUNKER INDUST Off-Road Traction Boards, Pair Recovery Tracks Traction Mat for Jeep Mud, Sand, Snow Traction Pads-Black Emergency Tire Traction Device

https://www.amazon.com/BUNKER-INDUST-Traction-Ramp-Orange-Emergency/dp/B09JZBN8QH/



If you end up using them often, buy more expensive ones like Maxtrax or US Actiontrax. They don't work any better, but the plastic is several times thicker so they're more durable. Alternatively buy two sets of the cheap ones because they're very compact when stacked:



For fuel, two 5-gallon Sceptre jugs secured upright with rubber straps is fine. They have a small footprint. Try to find these ones with a simple nozzle if still available in your state, or import from Canada

 

I saw a video of guy stuck in deep sand. I think it was somewhere in the middle east. His trick was to take a couple water bottles and pour in front of the tires getting sand wet to clump.

Haven't tried it and definitely would not be my primary recovery plan. He drove right out in the video. Any experts with sand experience on if this works?

 

I’m not a survivalist but I’d think twice about pouring water on the sand. My go to move would be to let more air out and dig, even if it had to be done in the early am due to heat.

 

I was thinking the same thing: "hmm, I'm stranded in the desert, better cut my chances of survival by half"

More seriously, this working really depends on the kind of sand, like some beach sand is good for sand castles when you pack it, and some is not.

 

yep, there is sand and there is other sand. I have seen my vehicle sink down 2-4 inches on the beach on dry sand with a little under wash from a wave. Different place on the beach, no sinking.