Guys, I know my questions might seems ridiculous to some, but it's about time I start taking advantage of my adventure package (2007 H3) and honestly, I never did it before. I've been checking Badlands, Indiana off road park regulations, and some of them are not clear to me. I was hoping you could help me out:

[ul][*]Roll bar protection for ALL occupants in vehicle[/ul]Do I really need to install roll bars??

[ul][*]Straps required for the safety of the trees[/ul]This is required if I was using winch (which I won't), right?

Thanks guys and gals!

 

No roll bar needed unless OPEN top vehicle..

You should have straps.. for pulling someone out or getting pulled out.. But not required, unless you have a winch.

Fun place... have Fun!

 

Thanks, Jeremy!

Yes, you should have some straps just incase....

Love the quote in your signature!! I wish we had a picture!!!

 

Yea - no ghetto-rigging your winch w/out a tree strap. But since you don't have one -- I'd just recommend wheeling w/ a buddy and grab a ~30,000 lbstrap (just for good measure) and a couple heavy duty shackles...have fun - be safe!

 

no kidding!!!

 

[/ul]
Yep, like they pointed out. Usually, roll cages are only required for vehicles with no tops, or tops that are removable. Wrapping a winch cable around a tree will almost always, if not always (there's always an exception) kill the tree. So, these straps are reffered to as tree savers. Don't mistake them for "tree huggers" which are usually good for stuffing under your tires for better traction.

You should carry a quality strap in the event it's needed. DO NOT bother to buy, carry, or use one that has metal hooks, or any other hardwareattached to the strap. Just get something that has looped ends. These ends are made to slip over your factory tow hook, after the bolt's been removed to allow it to slide over the D portion. Then re-install the bolt. It's a little more work, but if the strap beaks it is much safer. Too many people have been killed by straps that have metal hardware afixed to them. Having one with just looped ends will ensure that if you or someone else needs a tug, the correct style of strap is available for use. I can't stress enough, that you should not be a part of any recovery that involves a strap with metal hardware afixed to it. If you see it happening, kindly offer the use of your strap, and if they refuse, then at least you tried.

Also, if winching or being tugged, any vehicle that has a driver inside the cab, with a strap attached to it's front end should open the hood for added safety in the event of a failure. This will put a much more strudy barrier bewteen that driver and the strap.. other than a winshield.

Have fun

 

The ones that look like this.. (may be yellow depending on brand used)

 

ZYNE and I are actually (maybe probably) going there on Sunday. It was planned but I'm still up in the air about it. It's a cool place. Me, HummerMike, ZYNE and jdrew all went there a few weeks ago, and they aren't really strict about alot of that. The only thing you need to make sure of is you don't bring alcohol into the park, and that you have a decent place to mount your flag. I had to use duct tape for mine, but am probably going to drill a hole somewhere for it. One of the guys at the park made a good suggestion to drill a hole in the rear tire bracket on the door and screw the flag to that. That's probably what I'll end up doing. I really don't want to drill a hole in the bumper unless I have to. The flags they sell you are good and they bolt through a hole that's probably about 3/4" in diameter.

 

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I understand why you wouldn't want hardware in a strap.

But, the winch's cable is obviously metal, along with the hardware attached to it, so what difference does it make?

Or do they never break?