F350 DRW, Is 4 Wheel Drive Really Needed?

[ScoobyDoo]

Originally Posted by Jshopes81

I dont really consider a 2500hd chevy a pickup labeled car but to each his own. If you want to find out with your own truck thats your deal but think about it. The crossmember that supports the frame rails is back under the engine. So theres maybe 1.5-2ft of leverage working against that point. Run a short length of chain from one hook to another where most people do and pull on the center. Most people dont hang a chain from one hook to another thats 20ft long (or long enough so that the chain/strap is almost straight), they put one on thats just long enough to make it from one to the other.

Just for S&G, compare the front of your late model 3/4 ton to a 3/4, or even 1/2 ton of the '50s-'70s. Or for that matter, a late model 1/2 ton to GM station wagon. While the "crumple zone" makes it safer in a wreck, it will be easier to bend the ends of frame.
If you are deep stuck, both sides, where a pull might require enough force to bend anything, and you hook to the end of one rail, by the time you get out that rail might be some distance ahead of the other.
Test my pickup? I was driving other farm truck before I bought my first in '64. Been very few years that I didn't own at least one. And in all that time, the only time that I had one stuck was when I slid off road. But I have pulled more than a few out. Whenever one was dug in I always wrapped chain around frame behind cross-member. If down on one side, hook to low side, if both down, pull both...

[Jshopes81]

I guess a better response to that would be dont use a connector between the rails that will cause a high degree angle from the connector to the rails. I was just getting some stuff out of my work truck and was looking at a ram frame that was laying out back. The distamce from the crossmember to the attachment point for the tow hooks was around 3ft. Thats quite a distance. The reason i brought it up is i see alot of people with a small length of chain running between the tow hooks. Its usually just enough to get from one side to the other. They then attach to the center of that connection and get to pulling. If youre say 20ft out from the 2 attachment point the leverage on the frame horns will be greatly reduced.

[ScoobyDoo]

Originally Posted by Jshopes81

I guess a better response to that would be dont use a connector between the rails that will cause a high degree angle from the connector to the rails. I was just getting some stuff out of my work truck and was looking at a ram frame that was laying out back. The distamce from the crossmember to the attachment point for the tow hooks was around 3ft. Thats quite a distance. The reason i brought it up is i see alot of people with a small length of chain running between the tow hooks. Its usually just enough to get from one side to the other. They then attach to the center of that connection and get to pulling. If youre say 20ft out from the 2 attachment point the leverage on the frame horns will be greatly reduced.

IMHO, the little buckhorns on the end of frame rails are kinda like the imitation bullsacks on the back. Say more about the owner than do anything useful.

[dix39]

And if we're really concerned about getting stuck there are winches. I've seen vehicles with one on both ends. There are also devices to place in the ground that "dig in" as pressure is applied to them if there is nothing else to connect the winch cable to, at least there used to be.

I haven't been part of the "I'll probably get stuck" crowd for many years, well, since I realized it was expensive and required a lot of my time to fix what I had broken.

Steve