dwhitt74

I am in the market for a snatch strap (not a tow strap), and would like to know what size and weight rating is adequate for a JKU. I've seen the ARB snatch straps in different sizes (17500 lb, 24000lb, and 33000lb), and several other snatch straps in various sizes and weight ratings. Since there is a measurable price difference between the different choices, I would like to know how not to buy overkill. Thanks for educating me!

WLF

I had the same question and I found some videos on youtube that helped educate me a little bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AQoB...eature=channel

this guy has a few videos out there that I thought were pretty informative.

I decided on a 2" strap which sells for 24 bucks. It should be sufficient without going overboard. Like I said, I don't have much experience with using straps so if anyone else can chime in I'd like to know if my thinking is correct.

RAINSTATEBEAR

I go overboard! Cheeper than a tow truck!

sa29560

My thoughts exactly. I would always love to have that extra weight rating than having to stress equipment failure in a recovery situation.

Sad thing is failure comes down to when not if

dwhitt74

That video was helpful with deciding on width. What's the gvw of a JKU? That might help with the weight rating. I just wander if an over kill strap will stretch like it needs to in order to help with recovery or will it just be rigid until it's put under a bigger load? Does that make sense? Thanks for the replies guys

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Tdaz250

Actually i've heard that if you dont have the correct weight strap it will not work as it was designed. If you have a strap thats meant to stretch with certain weight and you overkill it then its not going to stretch...therefor not giving you the same effect.

Just something i've read in the past. I havent tested it myself but i dont see why not to believe it. I dont think a strap thats meant to handle 14k pounds is going to snap. It COULD happen but i have faith the 60 dollar strap is going to hold up from a recovery here and there.

dwhitt74

Hey, welcome to the forum! Thanks for chiming in. It seems like to me (just based on physics) that a strap rated at 60,000 lbs wouldn't stretch a whole lot when put under 12,000 lbs by a JK recovery attempt. But, then again, I am not a physicist... I'm kinda leaning towards going one step above what I think is the correct poundage, and the strap should still give some stretch.

BUMP for any more thoughts.... Thanks!

WLF

I think you are right about the 60,000 lb one not stretching as it is supposed to. From what I've read on the internet that seems to be true. With that in mind I decided to go with a strap rated at 20,000 lbs. It is plenty more than what is needed for most vehicles, but doesn't go too far overboard. I believe the JK four door is under 5,000 lbs so that leaves a margin of saftey plus a little extra but not so much extra so the strap won't stretch properly. Just my two cents. I haven't had the chance to use it yet, though, so we will see.

Menard666

I bought the 33000lb arb snatch strap. I've used it several times to pull out full size pick ups from frame deep stucks. I've hammered on it hard in 4-low and it works great. Only moves a vehicle maybe 6 inches each pull, but you can hit it as hard as you want and it just absorbs all of the shock and springs the vehicle out of the hole. Overkill? Maybe, but as for not stretching, well it works great for me.

dustdriver

Recovery straps (ie, "snatch straps"... not to be confused with anchor straps, tow straps, or "tree saver" straps) are one area you want to avoid the overkill principle.

Straps are a very commonly misunderstood item. Vehicle recovery situations can generate immense amounts of energy, which can lead to disaster when something breaks. It's important to understand the basic differences and use the strap for what it was intended.

Nylon stretches, polyester doesn't (well, very very little). That's why recovery straps are almost always nylon, while good anchor (tree saver) straps are usually polyester. If you are yanking a rig out of a mudhole, you want a stretchy nylon strap, but if you are setting up a winch rigging, you want to minimize stretch in your system (because if something breaks, that kinetic energy can be lethal).

Recovery straps are designed to act like a big rubberband, absorbing the shock of the pull and converting that into pulling power through the stretch and rebound. If it's rated too heavy, it won't be able to do that, and will instead act like a static strap and transfer all that energy and shock directly into your tow points and other components, which has a jarring effect that can cause things to break ("all that energy has to go somewhere"). (I've seen guys snap off all kinds of parts using chains to pull people out and they gun it and WHAM! SNAP!)

17,500 is a good pick for most 4x4 vehicles, including a JKU, IMO

(The arbusa.com site has a good explanation of this stuff if you want more.)