chains do more damage if they break

 

Chains are very dangerous for this purpose simply because if they break they will pop back and probably kill you or possibly a loved one or friend your trying to help. I know here in Florida there are many sad stories of a father trying to pull his son out and the chain popping or the bottom of the hitch popping off and coming back through the windshield or through the back window and killing his own son(true story). I was talkin to some guys about this same thing today and they made a really good suggestion that they have always done even when you use a rope or strap and thats wrap a towel(preferibly wet if possible) around each end where the rope attaches to the trucks and if something metal pops off then it just falls to the ground since it absorbs the shock. I think thats a great idea, especially since its so easy to keep a spare towel in the truck for cases like this. As far as which way to pull, I always hook to my reese hitch frame and pull forward. Atleast if something was to break I feel like I can control the truck more since I can see where Im headed and added weight on the rear to keep traction.

 

Are we talking chains or winch type cable??? I would not think a chain would snap back like that. We have a 1500 pound chain and a 6500 pound chain at our office and their so damn heavy and thick, i am positive they would fall to the ground. Saw this on mythbusters as well (using the steel braided cable) and yes it snaps but barely broke skin...Im thinking this is folk tail and movie myth.

 

Chains snapping and sending sh@t flying is a very true (and scary) fact i have seen with my own eyes. Chains are designed and rated for a constant load, and should never be shock loaded, which is exactly what you're doing if you give someone a little "yank" to help them up out of a ditch. Or perhaps the guy you're pulling out is hammering in reverse, gains a little ground on you but then becomes stuck again, and the slack is taken up very quickly. A nylon strap is built for this kind of abuse, chains and wire rope (winch cable) are not.

When wire rope breaks, each strand of each lay is usually breaking at a separate time, so it will often tend to fray as it breaks, which absorbs some of the shock. However, that doesn't mean you want to be anywhere near it!! But chains are just plain scary when they break. Fortunately i have never had to witness anyone get hurt from a chain breaking, but have seen plenty of "what if that was your head??" dents in some thick steel!!

 

And DONT use cheap walmart straps with tow hooks on them. I had a strap break and but a nice tow hook size hole in my grill and crack my radiator on my old s10.

 

I havent seen that episode of mythbusters but I promise you its not a myth. I have a good friend that this exact thing happened to two family members with a Chain. This might sound stupid to you but the Dad actually ended up havin a heart attack and dieing after the offset part of the bottom of the hitch popped off that was connected by a chain and hit his son in the head and took half the boys skull with it.

 

In the mythbusters they only used 75% of the rated strength of the cable not reaching anywhere near the force needed to actually break the cable, to simulate the cable breaking they used a cable cutter. There is a safety factor or usually 2:1 on the working load of cables vs the breaking strength of the same cable.
Straps will contain more energy than a chain can the problem with chains is that there is no stretching in them they will break instead of stretch, the spring back on a chain is caused by the sudden release of load. The Walmart staps are for towing non-running vehicles on road only, a proper recovery strap tends to be wider.

 

What they said about the straps is true. Also, PULL IT GOING FORWARD IF YOU CAN. The gears in your diffs are cut to go forwards. They are MUCH stronger going forwards than reverse. I have seen guys blow out diffs pulling in reverse. Just think about it from this perspective: we can tow ****-tons of stuff, and floor it while doing it. We're for the most part on idle in reverse.

It's simple gear cutting. They're cut to be strong as **** in the forward gears. Reverse it just something to use at low speeds/low stress.

 

If you have to use a chain or cable hang a heavy coat over it and they don't snap back like with out one.

 

That's good advise to open the hood or bed box lid...even nylon straps can break windows when they break and recoil.

A lot of good advise was already given, but I would also like to add, don't use straps w/ hooks, they can do a lot of damage if the strap breaks. Use straps w/ loops at the ends. If you use the trailer hitch for recovery, you don't need a d-ring or tow hook insert, you can just use a hitch pin if you want.

And here's a good link that explains a lot:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billav...ery/index.html