BOV Shopping

As many of us know, everything has a useful lifespan and everything will eventually need to be replaced. My faithful pickup truck finally hit the point of being more of a problem than an asset, so I needed to find some new (to me) transportation. Since this is my daily driver, it also serves as my Get Home Vehicle and/or my Bug Out Vehicle (BOV). I need it to be reliable, affordable, and able to carry the gear I want. I'll be trimming the gear down some since I won't have the box of the pickup any more, but that's a topic for another article.

I'm one of those odd people who minimizes debt, so a new car with a monthly payment is not what I was looking for. I tend to save money and pay cash for my vehicles; it takes some discipline and time, but the security of actually owning my vehicles and the lower insurance payments is well worth the hassle. Having a money sitting in the bank isn't what it used to be because savings accounts don't pay much interest any more, and some banks actually have negative interest on savings, meaning that they charge you to leave your money with them. The temptation to spend that set-aside money is very real -- I could buy a lot of ammunition for what a good used car costs -- but part of being an adult is learning to plan ahead and stick to the plan.

I hate shopping. Being a typical male, I go to a store with my goal (target) in mind, get it, then get out. Car shopping is even worse when you add in the sales-people and some of their tactics; they only get paid when they make a sale, so most of them will do and say anything to get you to sign the papers on a car. (There are good reasons for all of the used-car salesman jokes out there, and the industry does not have a good track record.) I did a lot of research on used cars over a three-week period because I've been out of the market for several years. My truck has been my daily driver for 10 years and it was 10 years old when I bought it, so technology has changed a lot about the vehicles on the market. Here's a quick list of what I was looking for, some of the things I found, and what I ended up with:

Car, Truck, or SUV?

I don't haul much cargo any more and have access to a pickup any time I need one, so I wasn't looking for another pickup. Cars are too small for my uses and I don't have kids at home, so I don't need a mini-van. I wanted a small or medium SUV, preferably with 4WD to deal with the snow we have to deal with most years.

I ended up with a All Wheel Drive (AWD), which is a permanent 4WD, SUV with a 2-speed transfer case (low for off-road, high for on-road). The off-road capabilities were a nice bonus, and were much better than my 2WD pickup could ever hope to do.

Age

I'm getting out of a 20-year-old truck, so I know that anything that old will be a money-pit, and anything less than 5 years old is going to be out of my price range unless it has major problems or is already worn out. My target range was 8-10 years old with reasonable miles on it; I ended up with a 12-year-old vehicle that had been well maintained and had fairly low miles on it. Sometimes you have to look outside your preferences to find something that will work.

Price

This one is very personal. Some of us have better jobs than others, and I'd wager that some of us don't have a job at all. I have a decent job and am able to set aside some money after the bills are paid, so I had about $10k for a vehicle. Your situation will be different; some will be able to afford more and some will not be able to scrape up that much, so do the best you can with what you have. I ended up spending most of my savings on the SUV, with a buffer for the inevitable repairs that any used car will need.

Make

This is actually one of the least important aspects to me. Some folks are brand-snobs and won't drive anything other than their preferred brand, but I'm not going to start a Ford/Chevy, US/Foreign, or Union/Non-union discussion. That is a personal preference akin to 9mm vs 45ACP and I don't want to start a fight amongst the readers.

My final choice was a foreign-made SUV with a good reputation and a history of dependability. I've driven mostly Ford products for most of my life and have gotten used to working on them, but I can still learn new things and I'm not fixated on any one brand.

Mechanical

Trying to find a standard (stick) transmission is almost impossible any more, as everything has an automatic transmission these days. I prefer the simplicity of a clutch and stick-shift, they last a lot longer and are more efficient at transferring power to the wheels, but the mandated gas mileage rules have made them obsolete.

During my research, I found that most to the Constantly Variable Transmissions (CVT) on the market today are crap. They're nice because they don't have actual gears that shift, creating a smooth ride and better gas mileage, but they wear out at about the time most new car buyers are trading them in. 100k miles seems to be where problems start, with a few brands failing well before that. Since most of the CVTs out there are sealed units, they get replaced rather than repaired, at a cost of roughly $4000. That chopped a huge chunk of the used cars off of my lists. The SUV I bought has a conventional 6-speed automatic, which gives me a good mix of low- and high-speed settings.

Engines are another thing to seriously research. Using Ford as an example, because I know that brand but could find the same type of thing for many other brands, some of the engines out there have known issues like:

• Turbochargers that fail often and early
• Spark plugs that are a dealer-only replacement
• Excessive oil leaking or consumption
• Control module problems
• Very short life-spans

I ended up getting a small V-8 that has a good record of reliability. It has more power than I really need, but it is nice to have a vehicle that can run at highway speeds without straining. The gas mileage is better than my old pickup, but not by much.

Comfort

I'm getting old, so I enjoy some of the newer features and creature comforts available in newer cars. The SUV I ended up buying has more accessories than I need, but none of them are crucial, nor will they stop the vehicle from running if they fail. Being comfortable isn't a sin, and having toys that make driving safer is a good thing. Don't base your purchase decision on the lack of comfort unless you have a good reason, but don't turn your nose up at a car with extra bells and whistles either.

No, I don't really need a heated windshield and side mirrors, but it's going to be pleasant not scraping ice for a few months of every year. The built-in cell phone connectivity will replace the hands-free headset I've used for years (I have a commercial driver's license and drive large trucks, and the DOT gets nasty if they catch you holding a cell phone while driving). The on-board computer tracks a lot of different information for me, and having that information displayed as I drive removes some doubt and worry. Tire pressure monitoring, built-in GPS, and a few other gizmos are new to me, but I think they'll make it easier to drive. I am going to have to look into having a remote start module installed, I was surprised that the SUV didn't have one from the factory.

If you're looking at used cars, do your research. Kelly Blue Book (kbb.com) has been an industry standard for car pricing for decades and can give you a range of prices for similar vehicles in your area. Edmunds (edmunds.com) is another price comparison site with reviews and known issues listed for each model. If you are looking for known problems, I have found good information at Car Complaints (carcomplaints.com) where they list owners' and government reports of issues. Many larger dealers offer the Carfax or other reporting sites' data on used cars -- things like title transfers, accidents, recalls, and dealer maintenance -- or you can pay to get your own report from most of these sites.

Now it's time for me to take the new toy to the dealership and get a good base-line check done. I want to know if there are any problems that I didn't catch while doing my research and test drive.

Two More for the Car Kit

While at work the other day, I realized how much duct tape we go through in a year. Granted, I work with a lot of outdated and poorly maintained machinery, but looking through the inventory logs I found that we use four times more than we sell.

Duct Tape
Duct tape is one of those "must have" items in a car kit. The uses are endless and it's easy enough to use that a child can figure it out. Be aware that the cheap dollar-store brands are a waste of money; the adhesive used is weak and not always waterproof, and the cloth backing is rarely attached to the tape well enough to withstand much weather. I prefer what is known as gaffer's tape, a type of duct tape made for the entertainment industry. (Gaffers are the "behind the scenes" people in music and movie production who spend a lot of time making sure everything goes right and that means a lot of quick repairs.) It's almost as good as the military-grade duct tape that I can't get any more (my supplier retired) and it will stick to almost anything except grease. Gaffer's tape should also be residue-free, meaning that the adhesive won't leave sticky residue behind, and most of it is a matte black color to avoid reflections.

A tip that I want to pass on about duct tape is that most brands come on a standardized cardboard tube. That tube just happens to be 3" in diameter, and is a perfect fit for dust caps or test caps for 3" PVC piping. Prices for test caps online is all over the place, and watch out for high shipping costs, but I have found them in a local DIY store for less than a buck apiece. Two of them will turn your roll of duct tape into a small storage box a bit bigger than an Altoids tin, which is a good use for wasted space and it might help you keep a few tools close to hand when you grab the tape. If you can't find test caps locally, keep an eye open in the mail room because the caps for 3" shipping tubes will work just as well.

Tie Wire
The second addition to a car kit should be some sort of tie wire. Being a farm-boy, I learned about baling wire a long time ago. Generally around 14 gauge (0.080 inch diameter), uncoated steel wire that a hay baler would use to secure small square bales of hay, the stuff was everywhere and used for every imaginable binding purpose -- I know of a lot of field gates that are still held closed by a length of baling wire. Farmers have moved to the large round bales in today's market, but you can still find small operations that use the little square bales for horses (they'll eat themselves to death if you give them a big bale) and straw for bedding.

Baling wire comes in 100 pound spools of over a mile of wire, so it's not practical for a car kit. If wire is too hard for you to cut or too stiff for the job, baling twine comes in similar spools and is jute, sisal, or polypropylene fiber. At ~8,000 feet per spool, two spools per package (the baling machines use them two at a time), this is best kept in a five-gallon bucket with a hole in the lid to feed the twine out of. It's handy to have sitting under a shelf in a garage or shop, but too big for an emergency kit.

This is what rebar tie wire was made for. It comes in smaller spools -- about 3.5 pounds, 330 feet long -- and slightly smaller wire (16 gauge/0.0625 inch diameter), but it's just as handy to have around. I've used partial rolls that I picked up out of construction site trash cans (they're already lighter) to patch up a lot of things long enough to get me home. For example, a friend hit a speed bump a little too fast and tore off his muffler, but a tie wire and a beverage can patched it up long enough to get back home. A rocking chair had to have the wooden joints re-glued and I don't have any clamps big enough, so washcloths for padding and tie wire did the trick. I don't think I can remember all of the times I've used some form of tie wire.

Both forms of tie wire feed from the center of the spool, which means the spool doesn't have to rotate as you pull the wire. A trick I learned from the construction workers is to wrap the outside of the rebar tie wire spool in a few layers of duct tape before use. This keeps the spool from getting caught on other things in a tool pouch, and prevents it from unspooling after you've cut the shipping ties.

If you live near the coast and plain steel wire will rust too fast for you, there is a more expensive option: stainless steel tie wire. I've seen this used for temporary binding of sheet metal and other things is damp or corrosive environments, and it's the same size and weight as the plain steel wire.


Holding things together until permanent repairs can be made is a key to field-expedient repairs. Make sure you have something a little stronger and more heat-resistant than zip-ties in your car kit.

Emergency Air for Tires

I've written about tires before, such as how to plug holes and how to find a spare, but today I want to touch on how to put air back in a low or flat tire in a pinch.

I've dealt with slow leaks over the years. Sometimes it takes four or five trips to different tire shops before they finally find the cause, but until they do I'm always at risk of finding a tire low or flat when I want to drive. Another thing that used to be common was needing the spare tire in the trunk and finding it low or flat. The causes are varied, such as from a small nail that is hard to find or a leaky valve stem, but rather than replace rather expensive tires just because the technicians can't find a leak I carry a portable air compressor.

I started carrying one after working with a couple of guys who liked to take their trucks and toys off-road a lot. They would often lower the pressure in their tires to get better traction when driving in sand, and they needed to get the pressure back up to normal before hitting the pavement on the way home. Their solution was to always carry a 12V air compressor to do the job, one that plugged into a cigarette lighter. This sounded like a good idea, so I bought a cheap 12V air compressor and tossed it in the trunk of the car. It has come in handy several times over the years.

There are a lot of models on the market, and the prices range from $10 to well over $100. I bought mine at Harbor Freight a long time ago, and that model is no longer made, but they still sell similar compressors. Northern Tools is another source of inexpensive models that will get the job done. Most auto parts stores will carry something similar, and of course you can always find them on Amazon. 

Here are a few things to look for, and to look out for:

Construction

• Almost all of the models I've seen are made overseas, so quality is going to be poor to fair. I suggest testing any model you buy before putting it in your trunk, in case you get a lemon that has to be returned. 
• Gears and cases are going to be made of plastic and aren't designed for extended use. Expect them to be “oil-less”, which means the bearings and cylinder/piston fittings are going to be short-lived. These are true emergency gear, not something you'll be using every day unless you spend a good chunk of money. 
• Heat is the main enemy of small compressors, so let them cool down in between inflation jobs and monitor them on larger jobs. If they get hot to the touch, pause the job and let them cool down. This will greatly extend the life of your compressor.

Connections

• The 12V connection is usually a generic plug-in that fits into a cigarette lighter or power port and looks like the car charger for a phone. Some of the more robust or higher pressure models will come with small clamps that grip the posts on your car's battery; this is needed if the compressor requires more power than what is available from a power port (normally around 200W).
• The end of the hose that fits on the valve stem is going to be either a standard straight fitting or a right-angle locking fitting. I prefer the locking style because these compressors are small and slow, and it can take 10 minutes to air up a completely flat tire. That's a long time to be squatting next to the car holding an air chuck on the valve stem, especially if it's raining or you're near traffic.

Gauges

• Most models will come with a built-in pressure gauge. The precision and accuracy of these gauges is on par with the construction of the compressor itself, so use it as an approximation of what is really going into your tire. The newer version come with digital gauges, which have a slightly higher standard of construction and should be a bit more accurate. 
• Carry a good tire gauge as part of your normal vehicle kit and double-check the pressure when you're done.

Lights

• A lot of models have some sort of built-in light. This can be very helpful if you're working in the dark. My old compressor has an incandescent bulb, but the newer one use LEDs. 
• The best models will have a flashing mode to warn other traffic that you're there. 
• Having a light on the compressor frees up your flashlight for other work.

Noise

• I'm sure you've all heard an air compressor before; they're loud. These little ones can be just as loud as the larger ones, maybe even louder. Noise is caused by vibration, which is a common problem on these small compressors. The lack of quality control means that the moving parts aren't always perfectly balanced and they vibrate more than a good compressor. 
• The little ones also tend to run at a much higher speed, which increases the noise and reduces the life of the moving parts.

Extras

• Most of the little compressors will come with a bag of fittings for inflating air mattresses and balls. This is a nice additional use, and if you're lucky may be more common than airing up tires. 
• I've seen several of the newer models some with a soft-sided case or a hard-shell plastic box. This will help keep all of the parts and pieces together in your trunk or toolbox and will prevent damage to cords and hoses, so this is a definite plus. 
• Cordless models are starting to pop up, but I've not had a chance to play with one. I'm leery of rechargeable batteries in emergency gear, since they tend to require periodic recharging if you try to store them. Pulling out a flat spare tire would only be made worse by trying to inflate it with a dead compressor. I also doubt that a rechargeable battery would be able to power a compressor long enough to inflate anything larger than a motorcycle tire, especially after a year or two of storage or use.

For something that costs less than $100, this is a good addition to any car's emergency gear. Get the best you can afford and learn how to use it before you need it, just like any other emergency equipment.

Guest Post: Getting Unstuck

by Xander Opal

It's a situation that will eventually happen if you drive on snowy roads or go cross-country: your vehicle will get stuck. Or perhaps you'll get a call from a friend or family member who is stuck, or encounter someone whose vehicle is stuck.

I have had quite a bit of experience getting stuck, from tractors in a field to a car on a snowdrift. Hopefully, you can learn a bit from me about what to do, and what not to do. This article is about getting unstuck, rather than recognizing Where Not To Go.

Know when to stop trying to get out by yourself.
Sometimes you can get out by rocking back and forth, shifting from drive to reverse to back in quick order, but that can just dig your vehicle in deeper, especially in mud. It's a lot easier to pop a vehicle's wheels out of relatively shallow divots than it is to drag a vehicle that's axle- or frame-deep in muck. It gets even more complicated and difficult if you have a trailer or piece of equipment in tow.

Generally, if you feel the vehicle settling deeper when attempting to change directions, or there is no progress more than a few inches in either direction, stop.

In all cases, it is very important to know where it is safe to hook a chain or strap onto your vehicle, as well as the towing vehicle, to prevent damage or injury. (For example, there's the time I discovered it was a bad idea to wrap a chain around the radiator mount on a truck.)

Additionally, when a stuck vehicle is being pulled out, ensure that onlookers are standing back more than the length of the strap or chain used. That strap or chain is being loaded with the energy it takes to move several tons of metal; if it breaks under load, you do not want that energy being applied to the human body.

Stuck in Snow
Useful gear:

• A shovel (one that can be disassembled for easy storage is good)
• Some kind of grit (sandbag, oil-absorbing material, kitty litter)
• Carpet scrap/tarp/welcome-mat sized 'rug'
• Safety orange reflective vest

When hung up on a snowbank in the middle of the road:

1. First make sure there is no other traffic; you do not want to be outside of your vehicle in a freeway pile-up. You also want to be visible to any other drivers, which is where the safety orange reflective vest comes in useful.
2. Determine which is the clearest method of travel. If the road ahead is as bad as the spot you're hung up on, it is best to turn around and find another route or a safe place to wait for the road to be cleared. 
3. Use your shovel to clear out the snow from the direction you want to go, and also pull the snow out from under your vehicle if you cannot see clearly to the other side. Take special care to ensure that the wheels are not stuck in a packed snow/ice 'dish' under each.
4. Pour a bit of the grit material before and behind the wheels, both under the vehicle and a car length in the way you're going to go (pickup truck drivers often put bags of sand in back to put more weight over the drive wheels). This will give the tires something to grip and move you with better than the icy snow-pack it had just created. You can also put the carpet/rug pieces right against the powered wheels of your vehicles in the direction of travel (front wheels of most cars, rear wheels of two-wheel-drive trucks).
5. If you are not stuck too badly, putting the vehicle in low gear and gently putting your foot on the gas should get it moving back to a safe spot, at which point you can pick up any carpets used and proceed on.

Stuck in a Ditch
Useful gear:

• Tow strap or chain
• Some kind of grit (sandbag, oil-absorbing material, kitty litter)
• Distress signals like flares and/or reflectors
• Safety orange reflective vest

Unless you have a winch and a handy stout tree in a direction nobody's going to hit the cable with their vehicle, you're going to need help if your vehicle can't move itself. This is a bit more complicated, especially as traffic is more of a concern since your rescuer will be in the way of at least one lane. Signs to warn other drivers, such as flares and reflectors and bright visible vests, are a necessity.

1. Again, make sure the tow strap or chain is attached correctly to the proper locations.
2. Do not jerk or yank suddenly to try to break the stuck vehicle free. This is a good way to break the strap or chain, and possibly do damage to one or both vehicles. 
3. Carefully draw the strap or chain tight, then gradually apply more power. If the rescue vehicle is having problems with traction, it is a good idea to sprinkle grit over the working area. 
4. Slow is best in all things. The rescue vehicle will have to angle down the road; it often helps to pull the stuck vehicle out in the direction the end toward the road is aimed. 
5. The rescue vehicle needs to be ready to stop when the driver sees the formerly stuck vehicle getting closer, meaning it has traction. The formerly stuck vehicle's driver needs to be ready to stop when they see they're at that point as well.

Stuck in Mud
This is where knowing when to stop is very useful, and if you don't, you've literally dug yourself a hole.

Useful tools:

• 2-4 boards, 2x4 or 2x6
• Shovel
• Carpet scrap/tarp/welcome-mat sized 'rug'
• Long chain or tow strap
• Boards

If you aren't stuck too badly and you're by yourself, you can wedge 2x4 or 2x6 boards behind the wheels of your vehicle (tree branches may also work in a pinch) and use them to back out of your situation.

1. If your vehicle is loaded down with a lot of weight, remove that weight before attempting to get it out. It is a bit of a pain to deal with, but not as much as getting stuck worse from failed attempts. 
2. Use the shovel to remove high points of dirt/mud from behind the wheels, and from under the vehicle if it is resting that deep. 
3. Ease the vehicle with slow acceleration to get it onto the planks or branches (tarp or carpet scraps can be handy here for this). If you can get up on there, accelerate quickly and Do. Not. Stop. until you get well onto safe, dry ground. 
4. As always, make sure any bystanders are a safe distance away.

More often, a rescue vehicle is needed. This is why long chain or tow strap is specified; I've linked a good 40' or more of logging chain together to get a tractor out of a bad spot. At worst, two or even three rescue vehicles (and thus tow straps or chains) might be required if the vehicle is well and truly stuck.

1. Remove as much weight and stack the material out of the way.
2. Hook the chain or strap to the correct places on both vehicles; a shovel might be needed to get to the right spot on the stuck vehicle. 
3. Keep the rescue vehicle on good, safe ground, and bystanders well away. 
4. Pulling the stuck vehicle at an angle, even a sharp one, can be useful to get it out of the ruts getting stuck makes. 
5. Very gently take the slack out of the tow chain or tow strap, then gradually apply power to keep traction and not break the chain or strap. 
6. As noted above, the driver of the rescue vehicle must be ready to stop when the formerly stuck vehicle is onto safe ground. The driver of the formerly stuck vehicle needs to be ready to stop when they see the rescue vehicle has stopped. 

A Few Notes on How to Pull Someone Out

• Agree on signals for "Ready," "Go," "Faster," "Slower," "STOP!!".
• The rescue driver watches the stuck vehicle driver, and does not begin until the stuck vehicle driver signals readiness.
• Both parties watch for the possibility of a bystander in a bad spot, a broken chain/strap, or a chain/strap that comes undone.
• Try to stay calm and methodical. It is easy to be angry or frustrated, rush through the process, and make the situation worse by getting stuck more deeply, breaking the only means of getting un-stuck, or worst, causing injury.

Miscellaneous Updates

Since this is my 201^st article on this blog, I'm going to update a few of my previous posts.

Emergency Ration Bars

I wrote a few reviews of some emergencyration bars that I found on Amazon this last summer. I recently had a reason to break a few of them out and eat them and found a few more data points:

• Below 40°F or so, both the Quake Kare ER Bar and SOSFood Lab bars became hard as rocks. I'm not sure if it is the palm oil or some other ingredient, but I found that I had to carry them in a pocket next to my body for a while to warm them up enough to be able to bite a chuck off. 
• Opaque packaging is good for storage (it keeps the light from breaking down certain chemicals), but bad for customer quality assurance. I got one 3-day bar that had been in the oven a bit too long and was almost burnt. It was enough to change the taste, but fortunately not bad enough to make it inedible. 
• Part of the US Coast Guard certification for emergency rations requires that at least 25% of the rations have to be mixable with water. This is to provide a source of food for infants or someone who can't open their mouth due to injury. I ground up a “meal's” worth of one of the bars and made a gruel out of it to test. The taste was the same and while it wouldn't go through a straw, I could eat it with a spoon without problems. 

Vehicle Recovery

In part 2 of my series, I covered various chains, cables, and straps for towing a vehicle. My pickup recently decided that it needed a new starter (with no warning) while I was in a gas station, so I had to go home and get the big truck to drag the miscreant home so I could work on it.

I kept a nylon tow strap in the pickup and a good chain in the big truck. The helper who was steering my pickup while I drove the big truck managed to break both of them. I had to improvise and use a heavy tie-down strap to make it the last half mile.

• The tow strap met its end when it went slack and the towed pickup's front tire ran over it. This has been eliminated for future towing by the purchase of a spring-loaded tow strap that will not go slack and hit the ground. I'm sure that I'll get a chance to use it some time this winter. 
• The chain snapped when my helper stomped on the brakes. Since the big truck weighs a little more than twice what the pickup does, the pickup's brakes weren't going to stop both vehicles. This can only be prevented by further training of my helper (or finding a different helper). As I mentioned in the original article, chain is easy to repair once you have the time and tools. 

Blisters

I discussed how to prevent blisters on your feet a few years ago and recommended that you learn how to treat them, but I never got around to giving the simple treatment. Fall is convention time around here and I've had to teach a few friends how to take care of blisters caused by costume shoes that don't quite fit right. 

Blisters don't just happen to your feet, either. One of my newer co-workers has limited experience with a shovel and hasn't learned that gloves are good things to wear. His first two weeks were painful, but he's starting to develop some calluses.

If you do end up getting a blister, they're not hard to take care of properly. Small blisters will heal themselves if you leave them alone, but the bigger ones will need to be drained to make walking or using your hands possible again. Here's how it's done:

1. Leave the skin covering the blister intact. Don't tear off the loose skin, it's best to leave it there to protect the flesh underneath. 
2. Clean the blister with soap and water. Antibacterial soap or hand sanitizer is best if you have them around. 
3. Find a sharp needle or pin (I've used fish hooks when that's all I had) and sterilize it with hand sanitizer or alcohol. Don't use a flame unless it is your only option, you run the risk of getting soot on the needle and into the blister. 
4. Puncture the blister in several places along the edge where the loose skin meets the good skin. If you feel pain, you're digging into the good skin. 
5. Lightly press on the blister to squeeze out the liquid. Blot it dry with gauze or clean cloth. 
6. Apply a layer of antibacterial ointment (if you have it) to the blister. 
7. Cover the blister with a non-stick bandage. Change the bandage at least once a day until the flesh under the blister has hardened and dried into new skin. 

I'm hoping I can get at least another 199 articles in the next few years, just to make my total a nice even 400. That will also mean that nothing drastic has happened, and that's always a good thing to hope for.

Vehicle Recovery Part 2: Connectors

It's raining hard and you're trying to get out of town before the hurricane makes landfall. Friends are following you in a convoy to higher ground when one of the cars slides off the road into a muddy ditch. Now what?

In last week's post I covered what attachment points to look for on your vehicle when retrieving or towing it; this week I'll cover a bit about what to use to make the connection between the stuck car and the towing vehicle. You should select a connector that has a breaking strength of at least the weight of the stuck vehicle.  Bigger is both better and safer.

Regardless of which type of connector you use between the two vehicles, it is always a good idea to toss a blanket or tarp over it once it is tight but before you start to (slowly) pull. If a cable or strap breaks, the ends can whip in any direction and can maim or kill, but a blanket or tarp will provide drag from air resistance and slow it down.

(It works the same as using a piece of paper to break a ruler. If you never did it as a kid, get a wooden ruler and place it on the edge of a table so that half of it is sticking out away from the table. Smack the free end as hard as you want, and all you'll do is launch the ruler across the room. Now put it back in the same position and cover the end on the table with a sheet of newspaper. Strike the free end a sharp blow and the ruler will break in half. The paper will create enough resistance that the ruler will beak before the paper tears.)

Connectors break down into four main groups; cable, chain, rope, and strap. Here are the pros and cons of each.

Cable

Also known as wire rope, cable is made of several strands of steel wire twisted together to form a flexible connector.

Advantages

• More resistant to heat, abrasion, sunlight (UV light degrades most plastics), and chemicals than rope and straps. 
• Like rope and straps, cable will stretch when a load is applied. 

Disadvantages

• Cable is more stiff, heavier, and more prone to damage from kinking that rope or straps. 
• It can fray, with the individual steel strands breaking and protruding from the surface of the cable, causing nasty cuts to your hands. 

Best Practices

• Cable comes in a variety of sizes and the breaking strengths are shown on this chart.
• Inspect cables after use and always wear gloves when handling it.
• Buy your tow cable from a reputable dealer with the ends already attached. Unless you work with it on a regular basis, cable can be a challenge to put an end on correctly.

Chain

Made of steel links that are welded together, chain comes in a few different grades or strengths. 

• The common chain you will find at the hardware store is Grade 30, which is the lowest actual grade. 
• Chains used by truckers to secure loads will be at least Grade 70.
• Any chain used for overhead lifting should be Grade 80 or better. 
• The various strengths of the different grades are shown on this chart, but notice the note on the bottom -- breaking strength is four times the “safe” working load.
• Graded chain will have a stamp on a link at least every three feet. No stamp showing maker and grade means that it is a cheap imported chain that is best suited for decorative purposes.

Advantages

• Chain doesn't take a “set” if stored coiled up, nor will it fray. 
• Similar in strength to cable, but chain is easy to splice or repair with readily available repair links and adding a hook to the end often doesn't even require tools. 
• Chain doesn't stretch until right before it breaks, making it the most rigid connector. Rigidity is good when retrieving a stuck car but not when towing, where a bit of stretch will take the minor bumps out of a tow.

Disadvantages

• Chain is the heaviest option of all connectors.
• Chain doesn't stretch until right before it breaks (see above).
• Beware the decorative stuff. 

Rope

Natural or artificial fiber rope is easy to find but has a low strength-to-weight ratio. You're going to need a pretty thick rope to move a car with. Choose your rope by the breaking strength, which is usually three or four times the "working load". 

Advantages

• Rope is easy to work with.
• Splices and knots are simple and easy to do,
• Rope is inexpensive and common. 

Disadvantages

• Knots will reduce the breaking strength of your rope, the amount of reduction depends on the knot.
• Storage can be a hassle; there's nothing worse than picking up a length of rope that is a tangled rat nest when you need to use it. 
• Rodents love fiber for making nests, so store your ropes with care.
• Natural fiber ropes are normally treated to repel pests, but the artificial fiber ones are not. 

Straps

Made of one of a number of artificial fibers woven together, straps share the flexibility of rope but store better. 

Advantages

• Most straps come with eyes on both ends for attaching hooks/clevises or looping around a hook. 
• Passing one end of a strap around an object and then through the eye on the opposite end is a quick way to securely attach a strap. 

Disadvantages

• Splicing or repairing straps takes specialized equipment, so once they're damaged they should be removed from service.
• Since the base fibers and construction of straps can vary so much, you need to determine its breaking strength. A good strap will have a tag sewn on near one end with breaking strength and other information on it; this is the only way to decide if the strap is going to be strong enough for your use. 

Last week I mentioned “snatching” or jerking a stuck vehicle out of a ditch. There are special straps that are made for this trick, they are more elastic than normal straps and will stretch before contracting and giving an extra “pull” to the car.

Ends

I should mention the different types of hooks and ends that you'll find on towing gear. Pictures will help. All pictures courtesy of Amazon. There are so many variables that I can't post links to them all.

http://amzn.to/2yP0PSq

This is a Grab Hook. It is designed so that it will “grab” a chain link and not move. Never use a grab hook on anything other than a chain since the edges will cut through cable, rope, or a strap once you put a load on it.

http://amzn.to/2yNkt1d

This is a Slip Hook. It is designed so that it will slip along the chain, cable, rope, or sling creating a tight loop. Slip hooks are great for hooking up to holes on a car's frame and attaching to other hooks. This one also has a safety catch so it can't fall off once it's attached. Notice the "G70" stamped on the side? It stands for Grade 70, so this is a transport chain hook.

http://amzn.to/2yPPSQP

This is a Clevis. It is designed to be placed through a hole to provide a better method of connecting a hook. Most of them are flat, but they are also made with a 90° twist if you need to change the angle of the hook.

http://amzn.to/2jBlXJq

This is a Thimble, used to create an eye on the end of a cable. Thimbles spread the load out and prevent the cable from kinking at the eye when a load is applied.

I hope this basic primer on towing connectors is informative, although I hope you never have to use the information. I work with farm machinery and we spend too much time dragging things out of ditches and fields for it to be fun any more. 

I prefer to use chains when I have to drag something since they are more versatile and durable than any of the others, but I also keep a tow strap in my own truck for emergencies.

Vehicle Recovery Part 1: Attachment Points

So, you're escaping the zombie uprising by driving in a convoy of your tribe to your super-secure BOL when you run over an especially squishy crawler and your vehicle slides into the ditch. Can you get back out of the ditch before the zombie horde catches up to you? Since AAA isn't likely to be running on time (or at all) during an emergency, you may have to be your own tow-truck. Part 1 will cover the vehicles and Part 2 will cover the methods and equipment. There may be a Part 3 if I receive feedback requesting specific information.

Front-Wheel Drive Vehicles
If you're driving any front-wheel drive (FWD) vehicle made in the last 30 years, it is likely an unibody and doesn't have a frame that the body is attached to. Rear-wheel drive (RWD), all-wheel drive (AWD) and 4-wheel drive (4WD) vehicles are more likely to have a sturdy frame underneath to accommodate the transfer of power from the engine to the rear wheels. A sturdy frame will provide plenty of places to hook up to, but a unibody style vehicle will be trickier.

The majority of cars on the road today are FWD, and thus present a challenge when trying to tow them or pull them out of a ditch. Without a solid frame, there are few places sturdy enough to attach a hook without damaging the car. I have seen newer cars with tow hooks or loops welded onto the underside by the factory; this makes life a bit easier if you ever need to hook up your car for a tow or recovery. Older FWD cars need to be studied a bit, with a healthy dose of common sense applied, to find a good place to place a hook for pulling the weight of the car:

• Don't attach a tow line to anything that is designed to move. Axles, steering components, and suspension parts (shocks/struts, coil springs, etc.) are not going to be strong enough to withstand the force needed to drag a car, and once any of them are bent or broken, your car is out of service until you can find the right parts or shop to replace them. Trying to drive a FWD car with a bent half-shaft is a good way to shred a transmission.
• It is unlikely that you will find anything to hook to near the center of your vehicle. Most tow points are about mid-way between center and either tire. This means that any force applied will tend to pull the vehicle to the side as well as forward. Keep this in mind when planning your path!
• The metal you hook to should be at least half the thickness of your chain or cable. Find the beefiest place you can to hook to -- there will be some serious force applied to it.
• Look for where the engine bolts to the car. That may be as close to a frame member as you're going to find on a FWD car.
• Rear axles on most FWD cars are only there to keep the vehicle's rear end off the ground. They have no structural strength to speak of. This is why you see fewer of the old-style tow trucks on the road and more of the flat-bed style. lifting the front end of a FWD car shifts the weight to the rear axle, and most of them aren't sturdy enough to handle it.

Rear and 4 Wheel-Drive
These vehicles have their own peculiarities:

• A lot of RWD/4WD vehicles have trailer hitches installed on the rear. I will detail the types and limits of hitches in part 2, but they generally make good tow points since they are bolted to the frame. 
• Axle housings are usually castings and may not survive a narrow cable pulling on them. They kind of fall into the "parts that move" category, but are stiffer that a bare half-shaft that you'll find on a FWD car. Use a tow strap if you have to pull by the axle housing, as it'll spread out the force and be less likely to cause a crack in the casting.
• There are usually holes in the frame of a RWD/4WD vehicle for attaching accessories. These will make for good places to attach a tow line, especially if you add an eye or clevis before you need it.

Some General Rules
 These apply to all vehicles:

• The towing or recovery vehicle will need to have enough power and traction to pull the weight of itself and the towed vehicle, as well as overcome any slope or suction involving the towed vehicle.  Power is the size of the engine and the type of transmission; traction is the weight over the drive tires and the surface the tires are sitting on. Do what you can to improve the traction (increase the weight over the tires or modify the surface under them) if you have to.
• Pull gently. Jerking or "snatching" a car out of a ditch without the proper gear will only break things. If you're lucky you'll only break the chain or cable; otherwise you're going to do damage to one or the other vehicle. Automatic transmissions should be set to low gear; manual transmissions should be in the highest gear you can pull forward in.
• Snow and sand aren't bad for "sticking" a car, but mud will cause suction and make it much harder to pull a car. 
• Lighten the towed vehicle as much as you can before trying to pull it. Common sense should tell you to make it as easy on the towing vehicle as possible. The exception to this rule is if you are using the towed vehicle drive wheels to assist the towing vehicle. If traction is a problem, shift weight so that it is over the drive wheels. 
• No vehicle made after about 1975 has a real bumper. Old cars had steel bumpers rigidly mounted to the frame, but now they are all a part of the energy-absorbing crash protection engineered into the car. Bumpers are not a good place to try to hook onto anymore.

As with any prepping idea, it is a good idea to look under your car now while the weather is good and you're not dodging zombies. Figure out where you can hook a tow chain before you need to, so you'll be prepped for it if the need ever occurs.

Winter Driving Preps

Fall is here and winter is not far away. For the lucky people who live in warm areas, this means you may need to start keeping a light jacket in the car. Those of us who live in the northern states have to do a bit more than that to get ready for the inevitable.

I commute about 10 miles each way to and from work each day. Right now it's every day, as in 7 days a week for the last month, but harvest season is winding down and I'll soon be back to a more normal 5 or 6 days a week. Winter weather tends to stress certain parts of vehicles, so I've been preparing my pickup for a cold winter. My truck is a 2-wheel-drive Ford ¾ ton with a standard cab. I don't need 4WD often enough to justify the extra expenses in fuel and maintenance. I've owned them in the past and all those extra moving parts tend to wear out even if you're not using them.

• New tires this year. The rear ones have a more aggressive tread than the front ones, since it is rear-wheel-drive. I will add weight to the rear by carrying sand bags or some large pieces of scrap metal once the snow begins to fly.
• New starter. Normally when a starter gets weak it will give some sort of warning- hard cranking, not engaging the flywheel, sometimes they “stick” and can be temporarily repaired by tapping on them with a hammer. Mine just died one night in the local convenience store parking lot. Cold tends to make starters work harder because they are trying to turn over an engine full of cold, thick, oil. I'm glad I got to change the starter before the ice and snow hit.
• New battery this year. I had an intermittent electrical fault that was shutting down my fuel pump this summer. Any time the temps got over 90° F, I got no fuel pressure. One of the possible causes was a weak battery, not providing enough voltage to the fuel pump, so I replaced the 6-year-old battery this summer. That didn't fix the problem, so....
• New fuel pump and sender unit. Most of the country has different formulations of gasoline for summer and winter. Diesel formulation changes with the season as well. I run an ethanol blend of gasoline most of the time, which keeps the water out of my gas tank. Changing temps and high humidity cause condensation in the gas tank. Since water is heavier than gas or diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank and will freeze in the winter. Ethanol has a strong affinity for water and will absorb it and pass it through the engine.
• New alternator soon. While shopping online for the starter, I found an alternator cheap so I bought it. It is sitting in my toolbox, waiting for a day off from work so I can get it installed. Cold weather puts a strain on the battery and charging system by making the starter work harder. The heater will be running constantly for the next few months, and it short daylight hours means the headlights will be getting used a lot more. I make it a habit to change out the battery and alternator at the same time, since one going bad will stress the other and usually kills it. I also look for an alternator rated for more amps than the factory installed, in this case I am replacing a 90 A alternator with a 130 A one. I like to have a bit more than stock power for giving jump-starts all winter long.
• New (to me) toolbox. I picked up a used cross-over toolbox off Craigslist for $40. It needed a little TLC and I need to replace the locks, but it gives me more weather-tight storage for my tools and winter supplies. Standard cabs are becoming rare since everyone wants a four-door pickup, but I need the full 8 foot box to haul things in and I still need to be able to park it in a single-car garage. The downside is that there is very little room behind the seat anymore, and it gets worse when I have to move the seat as far back as it will go because they don't engineer things for tall people. I now have a place to safely store a winter Get Home Bag (GHB) and some spare clothes.

All in all I think I have a good start on getting my truck ready for winter. The first-aid kit and jumper cables are still behind the seat along with the tow rope and folding shovel. I've been driving for 40 years now, I think I may have finally figured winter out.

P.S. The ads you see on TV for rockauto.com are true. Their prices beat the local parts stores and their shipping is reasonable. I got a new (not rebuilt) starter and alternator for less than any of the parts stores wanted for just the starter. No core charges to mess with, either, which means I'll have a functional alternator to play with next year (think DIY 12V generator). The fuel pump was the same way, cheaper to buy online and wait an extra day for it to ship.