What's the damage?

[1JeepFamily]

TL;DR: What kind of damage could have been done by the kind of recovery in the video attached below (shot on a potato).

I did a no-no by testing out a few mud puddles off a back road by myself, with no winch. The route led to a powerline road (illegal to drive on in NC), so I backed out—instead of doing the smart thing and turning around. I slid into a deep mud rut, got beached, and my AT tires got caked in mud and basically turned to ice.

Recovery happened while I was applying reverse power in 4lo, rear dif locked (I think—hard to remember), recovery strap attached to both rear recovery hooks. Recovery truck had to pull me out at an angle due to dropoff on both sides of the road.

I'm worried about frame damage (you can hear the strain in the video audio). JTM seems to drive fine, except for a little rumble at 70+ mph that I attest to pushing a tire out of balance during the shenanigans?

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[futzin']

Other than being a bit quick, I personally don't see or hear an issue here.

Rinse, repeat!

 

[khockey02]

Hard to really tell with the video downsampled so aggressively, but it looks pretty harmless to me. Sometime dragging a vehicle around on pavement with the lockers on can tear up a diff, but there was none of that here and your tires look pretty well lubricated. The factory tow hooks are designed to take a beating.

I wouldn’t worry about it but if your convinced it’s driving funny, it’ll probably run $80-160 for an alignment.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

Looked like a straight-forward recovery.
Caked mud/ clay can put your wheels out of balance.

 

[1JeepFamily]

Other than being a bit quick, I personally don't see or hear an issue here.

Rinse, repeat!

??? I could hear something strain, and then rebound at the end of the video—so it sounded like just a flex? Other ears help. 'preciate you looking and listening to the vid.

 

[1JeepFamily]

Hard to really tell with the video downsampled so aggressively, but it looks pretty harmless to me. Sometime dragging a vehicle around on pavement with the lockers on can tear up a diff, but there was none of that here and your tires look pretty well lubricated. The factory tow hooks are designed to take a beating.

I wouldn’t worry about it but if your convicted it’s driving funny, it’ll probably run $80-160 to take it in for an alignment.

Thanks for taking a look. The tires really were like driving on ice for the next few minutes. Had to do a U-turn shortly thereafter and I applied just enough power to basically pivot on the front wheels a full 180 degrees ?. I'll schedule an alignment/balance this week.

 

[1JeepFamily]

Looked like a straight-forward recovery.
Caked mud/ clay can put your wheels out of balance.

It was the angle of recovery I was worried about most. By the end, the recovery truck was almost pulling me out at 90° ?

But that mud was CAKED! North Carolina red clay ain't no joke. My tires were worthless! Made me realize how useful mud-specific tires probably are.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

It was the angle of recovery I was worried about most. By the end, the recovery truck was almost pulling me out at 90° ?

But that mud was CAKED! North Carolina red clay ain't no joke. My tires were worthless! Made me realize how useful mud-specific tires probably are.

Did you remove the wheels to clean the backside of them?
I've seen a lot of M/Ts buried to the axle. I think they're more handy slogging through a bog but you have to keep the tire speed high enough to sling the mud/ clay off the tread before it digs back in.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

By the end, the recovery truck was almost pulling me out at 90°

By the end you were rolling.
He could probably drag you at 90° in a circle with no problem or maybe crack a track bar bracket. They seem a little susceptible so it might be worth a gander.

 

[1JeepFamily]

Did you remove the wheels to clean the backside of them?
I've seen a lot of M/Ts buried to the axle. I think they're more handy slogging through a bog but you have to keep the tire speed high enough to sling the mud/ clay off the tread before it digs back in.

I didn't remove them, but I did the highest external wash (incl. undercarriage and a manual spray down) and then got underneath with a hose when I got home to get the caked stuff off that side of the wheels and off the top of some of the skid plates.

Think that was good enough?

 

[1JeepFamily]

By the end you were rolling.
He could probably drag you at 90° in a circle with no problem or maybe crack a track bar bracket. They seem a little susceptible so it might be worth a gander.

This is the kind of confidence I need in my life ?

 

[Gvsukids]

Besides the recovery vehicle being a little too sharp of an angle, only issue would be if the lockers were left locked. Otherwise the process was normal.
Here's a recovery out of a ditch with no issues.


Or at the 5:00 mark,

 

[1JeepFamily]

Besides the recovery vehicle being a little too sharp of an angle, only issue would be if the lockers were left locked. Otherwise the process was normal.
Here's a recovery out of a ditch with no issues.


Or at the 5:00 mark,

The lockers might've been left locked? I feel like I was smarter than that though. Can't really remember. But the wheels were so thick with mud, I feel like they would've just slid with the angle. I had, like, no traction on the pavement for a few minutes ?

 

[1JeepFamily]

There's such a damn fine line between "Let's use this thing for what it was made for!" And "Holy shit this is the second most expensive thing in my life right meow."

 

[FloridaMan655321]

TL;DR: What kind of damage could have been done by the kind of recovery in the video attached below (shot on a potato).

I did a no-no by testing out a few mud puddles off a back road by myself, with no winch. The route led to a powerline road (illegal to drive on in NC), so I backed out—instead of doing the smart thing and turning around. I slid into a deep mud rut, got beached, and my AT tires got caked in mud and basically turned to ice.

Recovery happened while I was applying reverse power in 4lo, rear dif locked (I think—hard to remember), recovery strap attached to both rear recovery hooks. Recovery truck had to pull me out at an angle due to dropoff on both sides of the road.

I'm worried about frame damage (you can hear the strain in the video audio). JTM seems to drive fine, except for a little rumble at 70+ mph that I attest to pushing a tire out of balance during the shenanigans?

Finally someone who understands how to use the TLDR function. It should always be up top!!! Thank you kind internet friend.
Also, accurate on potato video.... nice attempt though, I surely wouldn't have attempted that by the looks of that massive puddle.

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