[SpyGuy10]

My wife drives a 2015 Santa Fe Sport AWD. We are moving to Colorado next month and I want to be prepared in case she gets stuck in snow during the trip. I'll be driving my Toyota Tundra 4WD.

I'll be carrying a "snatch strap" and I thought I could use a couple of axle straps to connect to her car. But looking under her car, there isn't much of anything substantial to connect to. I could buy a hitch receiver to mount to her frame, but that will cost $120 and will require me to install at a time when my schedule is already hectic. And she'll never tow anything, although it's possible she could use it in the future for a bike carrier.

Any other ideas?

(I do have SCC Super Z6 cable chains for her car. This is for "just in case.")

 

[greysave]

Never looked under mine to be honest even though I carry one on board myself. I will put out one caution for those who have vehicles from any manufacturer with factory tow hooks.....Those hooks are designed for STRAIGHT pulling only. If you pull from an angle, such as to tow a vehicle around a corner or pull one out of a ditch....They may snap clean off. We do several customer pay repairs to those for our customers every year.

 

[dtech]

Currently there is no snow in much of Colorado, some ski areas remain closed, those that are open are skiing on mostly made made snow, was 81 degrees last Monday. So what snow ?

There are however large numbers of people moving here, riding ski lifts last year with out of staters I'd say it was typical for 50% to tell me they are planning to moving here. What has become more of an issue than snow in the metro areas is highway capacity, traffic tie ups are now the norm.

 

[hochiinn]

our elantras have a tow hook on the front, i am sure your car has one. look for a small rectangular cover in the front bumper cover. the tow hook should be in your car's tool kit. remove the cover, and it screws in

 

[SpyGuy10]

our elantras have a tow hook on the front, i am sure your car has one. look for a small rectangular cover in the front bumper cover. the tow hook should be in your car's tool kit. remove the cover, and it screws in

Thanks, I am aware of the emergency towing hook. However, that is only for moving a vehicle a short distance in a straight line on a level paved surface (basically, you can only use it in a situation where you could push the vehicle by hand). It's not strong enough to be used to "unstuck" a vehicle.

Probably the best solution is to install the hitch receiver. But that raises another problem, as the manual contains the following warning:

CAUTION - Automatic Transaxle. If the car is being towed with all four wheels on the ground, it can be towed only from the front.

Obviously, using a hitch receiver as a pull point will necessitate pulling from the rear. Besides, in many (if not most) situations where a vehicle gets stuck, you will need to pull it back out to get it unstuck.

So now what?

 

[hochiinn]

i used have a 2002 outback. i got stuck in a ditch, guy hooked up a chain/hook to the rear left sway bar link. all 4 tires were spinning when he pulled, and it came right out. there was no damage at all. however, car only needed to be pulled a couple feet, then it was able to get out on its own.

 

[austin flagger]

Obviously, using a hitch receiver as a pull point will necessitate pulling from the rear. Besides, in many (if not most) situations where a vehicle gets stuck, you will need to pull it back out to get it unstuck.

So now what?

I would think that forward only limitation is only for over the road towing behind another vehicle. For a short distance like getting unstuck, just put the vehicle in reverse to assist the rearward pulling force. I'm in a FWD SFS, so that's just an opinion... HTH