WHY DO YOU NEED RATED RECOVERY POINTS?

Rated Recovery Points

All vehicle recovery operations can be fraught with danger, especially when performed without the proper training and/or the right equipment.

Good quality vehicle recovery kits always consist rated equipment: rated snatch straps, rated tow straps and rated shackles, which means the gear has been tested to exceed the extreme loads that can be expected in a vehicle recovery operation. But having good quality rated recovery gear is of little use if you don’t have somewhere to safely attach it to your vehicle.

Let’s get this out of the way early: never, ever use a tow ball as a recovery point on a vehicle. A tow ball is simply not designed to handle the extreme loads that can be generated in a vehicle recovery situation and, if it fails, it can become a lethal projectile, and too many serious injuries and deaths have occurred as a result of this often-committed mistake.

Likewise, never attach recovery equipment to vehicle shipping points. These eyelets are often confused for recovery points, but they are actually only fitted to secure a vehicle when it’s in transit, such as on a ship, a train or the back of a truck. Like tow balls, shipping points are not designed to handle the extreme loads generated in a vehicle recovery operation and, like tow balls, they can become lethal projectiles if they fail.

While some vehicles are equipped with rated recovery points from the factory, many are not, so you’ll have to look to the four-wheel drive aftermarket for a solution. Fortunately, there are many companies out there that manufacture rated recovery points that can be affixed to your vehicle, but it’s imperative you only fit properly designed, engineered and tested recovery points to your vehicle.