Getting stuck off-roading is always a bad time, but even if you become immobile, you're typically just one tow or push away from being back on the trail. Sometimes, of course, it's not that simple. Sometimes you take your stock half-ton truck up to 11,000 feet and slide it off the edge of said mountain's face. It doesn't matter how many differentials you lock at this point, you need somebody like Matt's Off-Road Recovery to haul you out of the wilderness.
And that's just what this specialized company does in its latest video. A bone-stock Chevy Silverado 1500 decided it was game for a trail that was way out of its league, and it got very stuck. Five other companies attempted to recover the truck with no success over the course of six months, but Matt's team is clearly a cut above those guys. They make quick work of a truck that looked like it had met its final resting place.
It didn't help the rescue effort that the stuck vehicle—and I do mean stuck—was two hours into the wilderness on an off-roading trail. Half the trouble was actually getting to the place where the vehicle was stranded. And yes, even these professional recovery guys have mechanical issues. Their primary tow vehicle—a heavily modified XJ Jeep Cherokee—had problems with its exhaust and suspension during the journey to the stuck Silverado.
But once they got there, you can tell how deep the team's knowledge of, well, unsticking things is. A plan is quickly hatched to use a series of winches, snatch blocks, and cables to get the truck out of its predicament. And if you're unfamiliar with what a snatch block is, they're pretty cool. Here's a good video explaining why they're so useful.
Once all of the cabling is anchored to trees, and the trucks are in the right place, the Silverado is pulled out at surprising speed. When they get the truck back on reasonably level ground, it's driven out under its own power. Matt and his team really do make it look easy.
The funny part about the video is, the truck being stuck there was clearly such a hassle for the owner, that he just sold the truck when it was recovered. In fact, he sold it to one of the camera operators who filmed the recovery. So all in all, it seems like everyone got a good deal out of it. Maybe I should get into the recovery business. Looks like a lot of fun, actually.
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