Vehicle Recovery With Four Wheel Drive Winches

By Author: Vikram Kumar
Total Articles: 9785
Comment this article

Putting together the equipment necessary to perform vehicle recovery while out on the trails can be a challenging task. In fact, you may have to spend as much or even more time outfitting your four wheel drive with the right equipment as you might have spent picking the vehicle itself. Four wheel drive winches are a necessity if you have any intention of spending time on rough trails, and so are high intensity discharge light systems if you are going to be out at night.

Winches are extremely useful and versatile pieces of equipment. Vehicle recovery would be impossible in most situations without the aid of a winch. When your vehicle becomes mired in deep mud, then only a solid tree and a winch will get you out of the mud. That is hardly the only thing you require, however, and there are other pieces of equipment without which the winch would not be half as useful as it might be.

Winch Kit

Winch kits are essentially toolboxes full of equipment and accessories for use with winches. One of the most important is the tree strap. The tree strap is a wide strap that, as its name suggests, is fitted around the tree ...
... that you intend to use as an anchor to pull your vehicle up. If you were to simply wind the rope or cable around the tree, the sheer amount of weight exerted on the tree would cause the rope or cable to cut into the tree, damaging it heavily. If you are enjoying the outdoors, then you most likely would not want to damage it. Moreover, damaging trees in this manner can be an offence in some places.

Most kits also contain pulley blocks, which when used in the proper manner, can as much as double the amount of power exerted by your winch. A good kit will also include an instruction manual or video, showing you in detail just how you can set up the pulley block to increase power or to maneuver around obstacles.

Dampener

If you are using a steel wire, then you will also need a dampener. Dampeners are essentially heavy blankets that are laid over the wire as a safety precaution. In the event that the wire breaks, without a dampener, the broken ends would flail about, and these have been known to cause severe injury. The dampener weighs down the broken wire, absorbing the force and preventing injury.

High Intensity Discharge Light System

It has been said that the light bulb is among the greatest inventions of mankind. Over the centuries, scientists and researchers have constantly been improving on the idea, so that great advances have since been made in light bulb technology. One of these advances is the high intensity discharge light. High intensity discharge bulbs emit a much brighter and stronger light than regular light bulbs, while maintaining the same size. While most high intensity discharge lights do require more power to operate, this is hardly a significant increase relative to the overall capacity of your vehicle battery.

High intensity discharge light systems often include spotlights and light bars which provide ample illumination that can be directed all around the vehicle. This is particularly useful when using four wheel drive winches at night or in poor lighting conditions, as it might otherwise be impossible to see what you are doing. The last thing you want to happen is to be injured while attempting a vehicle recovery simply because you could not see properly.

Four Wheel Drive Winches are an absolute must when it comes to vehicle recovery on rough trails, and high intensity discharge light systems are among the must-have equipment necessary for you to utilize your winch properly. You will find all of this equipment and more at the Sherpa 4x4 store, which provides for all your off-roading needs!