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- Location
- Mesquite, NV
Just returned from pulling out two stuck vehicles with the deuce. No one had a camera and it was pouring rain and dark anyway. Let me set the stage:
We are on our 5th day of rain here. The area has hills and dirt and gravity. Some of the roads lead into those hills and they turn to chit real fast.
I went to the usual Tuesday scout meeting tonight and I wanted to drive the deuce to REALLY test those new alternators. In the end I drove my little truck - a 2008 GMC 2500HD crew cab with the Duramax and a real 8 foot bed.
After the meeting one of the leaders asked me if my truck was a 4 x 4. It's not, but I reminded her of the deuce. She told me her son got her mini SUV thing stuck the day before and she was now actually in a rental. I suggested we go get the deuce and pull it out. Another leader chimed in that the rain was supposed to be getting heavier all night so maybe we should wait a few days. The owner of the stuck SUV thought the deuce was "too heavy" for the area.
At this point I had two leaders basicly telling me it could not be done with the deuce. Two other leaders (we do have a lot of leadership in this unit) threw the BS flag and we decided to at least go look.
Three of us got in my little truck and guided by some sparse directions and an iPhone GPS we found the stuck SUV. It was off the road at a 90 degree angle, like someone was parked in their driveway. There was no way to get a straight pull from the rear, getting to the front was impossible. The drivers side was on the downhill side and buried to the frame. The passenger side was buried farther because the rain had been washing the hill down against it for more than a day. This needed to come out tonight.
The plan was simple - return to my home and get the deuce. Pick up the owner of the stuck SUV and her two boys. Put all extra bodies in the rear of the deuce for the short ride to the site. I planned to have the boys dig the left side out and I will pull it sideways from the rear at the best angle I could get.
We left the scene and started backing up looking for a place to turn around. My co pilot found a spot and told me to back hard to the right. I did and fell into a rut quickly dropping down to the frame. Now I'm stuck. Now this isn't fun and exciting. We call for a ride and 1/2 hour later a 4 x4 dually Ford shows up. He has no chain or strap. Niether do I. I leave one leader (the co pilot who mis directed me) to guard my truck and we go to my house.
I had called ahead so the wife had loaded the straps, rain gear and towels (to use as a window defroster) in the deuce. My new co pilot tells me we need to stop by her house to get boots for her and her son - the guy guarding my truck. When we get there she insists we bring her younger son.
I recently installed a springer seat and moved the box seat to the passenger side. 1 + 1 = 2 not 3. Soon he is on her lap. I now know I'll be in jail soon. We make the short drive back to my little truck with me sweating bullets the whole way. The rain is coming down even harder now.
I engaged the front axle and put the transfer case in low. Probably overkill, but what the heck. I grabbed two military issue cargo straps and went to hook up. The hook was to small to clamp onto the GMCs recovery points. I stuck the strap through and hooked it on to itself. I used two straps for good measure.
It's hard to get a smooth uphill start in 1st gear low uphill in the rain. I felt the 1st strap break and then the second. When I got out to check it out it was easy to see why. The hooks are fairly thin so any jerking caused them to cut thru the strap. I got two more straps and then another short strap with two d rings on it. I threaded that through the recovery point and hook two fresh rachet straps to it. The deuce pulled my little truck out at idle.
Once unhooked I backed the GMC up myself to turned around somewhere else safely. The owner of the stuck SUV called and said she was at the bottom of the hill with her rental car so I drove down and got them, leaving the young lap riding boy scout sitting in the idling deuce with his foot on the brakes.
Back up the hill and safely turned around in the GMC again we went to the stuck SUV. The boys started diging out the left side while I approached at the best angle I could and hooked up. We pulled. It moved a foot, caught and started to tip. The boys dug, we pulled, it moved a foot and started to tip when it caught. After three trys I moved the deuce as far as I dared to the right side of the road and got a small angle on it. The boys dug, I pulled, it started to tip and I pulled a little more. It finally gave in to the mighty deuce and followed along.
The other leaders and boys started to cheer and high 5, but I reminded them we needed to back the deuce out, That was the hardest part. We backed up the deuce with multiple ground guides while the newly freed SUV followed at a safe distance. Once we got both turned around the leader driving the SUV reported no brakes. A check with the maglite showed mud packed in all the rotors.
We knocked on the door of the nearest house and soon a hose was brought out. 15 minutes later we headed downhill - me solo in the deuce, the GMC filled and a few people in the SUV.
And not even one pic. It's midnight and I need to get up in four hours to go to work. I know I should have never let that kid ride on his moms lap - that was stupid. My bad - I learned.
We are on our 5th day of rain here. The area has hills and dirt and gravity. Some of the roads lead into those hills and they turn to chit real fast.
I went to the usual Tuesday scout meeting tonight and I wanted to drive the deuce to REALLY test those new alternators. In the end I drove my little truck - a 2008 GMC 2500HD crew cab with the Duramax and a real 8 foot bed.
After the meeting one of the leaders asked me if my truck was a 4 x 4. It's not, but I reminded her of the deuce. She told me her son got her mini SUV thing stuck the day before and she was now actually in a rental. I suggested we go get the deuce and pull it out. Another leader chimed in that the rain was supposed to be getting heavier all night so maybe we should wait a few days. The owner of the stuck SUV thought the deuce was "too heavy" for the area.
At this point I had two leaders basicly telling me it could not be done with the deuce. Two other leaders (we do have a lot of leadership in this unit) threw the BS flag and we decided to at least go look.
Three of us got in my little truck and guided by some sparse directions and an iPhone GPS we found the stuck SUV. It was off the road at a 90 degree angle, like someone was parked in their driveway. There was no way to get a straight pull from the rear, getting to the front was impossible. The drivers side was on the downhill side and buried to the frame. The passenger side was buried farther because the rain had been washing the hill down against it for more than a day. This needed to come out tonight.
The plan was simple - return to my home and get the deuce. Pick up the owner of the stuck SUV and her two boys. Put all extra bodies in the rear of the deuce for the short ride to the site. I planned to have the boys dig the left side out and I will pull it sideways from the rear at the best angle I could get.
We left the scene and started backing up looking for a place to turn around. My co pilot found a spot and told me to back hard to the right. I did and fell into a rut quickly dropping down to the frame. Now I'm stuck. Now this isn't fun and exciting. We call for a ride and 1/2 hour later a 4 x4 dually Ford shows up. He has no chain or strap. Niether do I. I leave one leader (the co pilot who mis directed me) to guard my truck and we go to my house.
I had called ahead so the wife had loaded the straps, rain gear and towels (to use as a window defroster) in the deuce. My new co pilot tells me we need to stop by her house to get boots for her and her son - the guy guarding my truck. When we get there she insists we bring her younger son.
I recently installed a springer seat and moved the box seat to the passenger side. 1 + 1 = 2 not 3. Soon he is on her lap. I now know I'll be in jail soon. We make the short drive back to my little truck with me sweating bullets the whole way. The rain is coming down even harder now.
I engaged the front axle and put the transfer case in low. Probably overkill, but what the heck. I grabbed two military issue cargo straps and went to hook up. The hook was to small to clamp onto the GMCs recovery points. I stuck the strap through and hooked it on to itself. I used two straps for good measure.
It's hard to get a smooth uphill start in 1st gear low uphill in the rain. I felt the 1st strap break and then the second. When I got out to check it out it was easy to see why. The hooks are fairly thin so any jerking caused them to cut thru the strap. I got two more straps and then another short strap with two d rings on it. I threaded that through the recovery point and hook two fresh rachet straps to it. The deuce pulled my little truck out at idle.
Once unhooked I backed the GMC up myself to turned around somewhere else safely. The owner of the stuck SUV called and said she was at the bottom of the hill with her rental car so I drove down and got them, leaving the young lap riding boy scout sitting in the idling deuce with his foot on the brakes.
Back up the hill and safely turned around in the GMC again we went to the stuck SUV. The boys started diging out the left side while I approached at the best angle I could and hooked up. We pulled. It moved a foot, caught and started to tip. The boys dug, we pulled, it moved a foot and started to tip when it caught. After three trys I moved the deuce as far as I dared to the right side of the road and got a small angle on it. The boys dug, I pulled, it started to tip and I pulled a little more. It finally gave in to the mighty deuce and followed along.
The other leaders and boys started to cheer and high 5, but I reminded them we needed to back the deuce out, That was the hardest part. We backed up the deuce with multiple ground guides while the newly freed SUV followed at a safe distance. Once we got both turned around the leader driving the SUV reported no brakes. A check with the maglite showed mud packed in all the rotors.
We knocked on the door of the nearest house and soon a hose was brought out. 15 minutes later we headed downhill - me solo in the deuce, the GMC filled and a few people in the SUV.
And not even one pic. It's midnight and I need to get up in four hours to go to work. I know I should have never let that kid ride on his moms lap - that was stupid. My bad - I learned.
Last edited:
I got the little truck stuck by following bad directions when we went on the preview.