Hopefully you never find yourself in a situation where you need to attach a tow strap to your truck or SUV. However, if you do, properly attaching one, whether you have tow hooks or not, is critical to preventing damage to your vehicle, the vehicle providing the tow, and injury to the people in and around either vehicle.

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It’s best to use quality recovery gear like the recovery tow straps produced by Rhino USA. However, Harbor Freight also carries a selection of gear that could come in handy for off-road enthusiasts. Ideally, you’ve taken the initiative to modify your truck before taking it offroad by at least adding some recovery points or tow hooks. If not, it’s best to use your truck’s receiver hitch by looping the tow strap ends into the receiver before sliding the hitch pin through to hold it, or using an accessory designed for vehicle recovery, such as Rhino USA’s shackle hitch receiver. If you have to attach a tow strap to the front of a truck without tow hooks or other recovery points on the bumper, you’ll have to attach it to the vehicle’s frame or an undercarriage attachment point using a D-shackle or by passing the tow strap through its looped end. However, keep in mind that this method is guaranteed to cause damage to the vehicle if you attach the tow strap to the wrong place.

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Whether your truck came with hooks or you’ve added some, it’s best to use a tow strap with looped ends rather than the type with hooks already attached (pictured above). Safety is the main concern with this recommendation as the connected metal hooks can become projectiles at the end of the strap should they come loose under a load.

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Likewise, another practice we’d like to discourage is the use of your truck’s trailer hitch ball as an attachment point for a tow strap. While there are many ways to use your truck’s tow hitch other than towing, using the hitch ball as an attachment point for your tow strap is dangerous since it was not designed to handle the shock forces a tow strap can produce. The same advice goes for nearly any component under your truck or under the hood, such as suspension and steering components, radiator supports, hoses, and axles.

Even when you’ve done everything right, things quickly can go wrong. It’s best to have any spectators that are not essential to the recovery effort to stand far away, preferably behind a barrier or another vehicle. It’s also a good idea to put something over the tow strap near each end. This could be a blanket, a jacket, or even other unused tow straps tied loosely. The idea is that if something comes loose at either end the extra material will slow it down as the tension recoils toward the other truck.

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