What driving modes to use if towing someone out of a ditch

[bc1]

Hello guys. Winter is here. I stuck in a receiver hitch with a clevis and shackle. Got 3 20' nylon 10,000# tow lines up in the frunk. Few questions.

1. If I am up on dry pavement pulling someone out of a ditch what driving mode to use?

2. If I am up on a slick icy/snow/slush covered pavement pulling someone out of a ditch what driving mode to use?

3. If I am in the ditch or field or gravel road that is full of snow and slick but frozen underneath trying to pull someone out what driving mode to use.

4. If I am in a soft/muddy/snowy/slushy ditch or field or gravel road barely drivable for me what driving mode would I use?

Another idea. I have a 120 volt electric winch that I could hook to a receiver hitch and also a common 12 volt winch. Is their a 12 volt plug in back there in the pro power area for winches and other high amperage items to connect to and/or where do they connect to?

Thanks for your help.

Sponsored

 

[The Weatherman]

Tow haul or normal

I don’t think so.

I drive a Lariat so not sure about that.

 

[chriserx]

Sorry, but no experience doing this in the lightning, but surprisingly a lot in my Fiesta including towing a Ford Escape back to my house for an apparently pointless transmission rebuild (the filter was clogged, otherwise pristine).

Back on topic, I'd leave it in normal until it becomes apparent that more traction is needed, the reason being, while pulling someone else out, especially if you aren't on pavement, you could potentially get stuck and slippery mode or tow mode could help you out of the slippery situation.

 

[pullinggs]

In general, if you can't recover them while in normal mode then you have a non-trivial problem and it's time to consider next steps carefully. Things can break when you get serious about recovery and there is absolutely nothing at all fun about that ("terrifying" and "OH HOLY $H!T" are more accurately descriptive).

p.s. Please, don't ever try to pop them outta the hole using your momentum unless you have a kinetic recovery rope rated for dynamic loading. Snapping a tow strap can really ruin your day.

 

[Maquis]

I always drive in Sport mode. If I end up in a situation where traction is inadequate, I switch to Off-road. I’ve only had to use Off-road once.when pulling a trailer full of rock up a dirt hillside in the rain. Off-road engages the differential lock.

 

[RLXXI]

Pretty sure every mode is covered in the owners manual. Fwiw I stay in sport mode but I haven't pulled anyone out of a ditch either. I've got a 12klb winch on my other truck, I'd use that with the truck high and tight.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Looking below I see the FORUM suggested the following thread which came to mind when reading your query.

Also agree that OFF ROAD will improve potential traction, and @pullinggs advice is priceless

For your research:

I pulled a FedEx truck out of a ditch tonight

 

[Heliian]

Diff lock.

That's the only actual mode that will make a difference.

Back in the day when I was pulling my buddies out of ditches weekly with my f150 long dog 5.0l(the limo truck) I would select 4 low, diff lock and gear 1.

We have no gears or transfer case now, just an elocker.

 

[Dan C]

Sport mode to quickly get to some one with a tow truck.

 

[RickLightning]

Hello guys. Winter is here. I stuck in a receiver hitch with a clevis and shackle. Got 3 20' nylon 10,000# tow lines up in the frunk. Few questions.

1. If I am up on dry pavement pulling someone out of a ditch what driving mode to use?

2. If I am up on a slick icy/snow/slush covered pavement pulling someone out of a ditch what driving mode to use?

3. If I am in the ditch or field or gravel road that is full of snow and slick but frozen underneath trying to pull someone out what driving mode to use.

4. If I am in a soft/muddy/snowy/slushy ditch or field or gravel road barely drivable for me what driving mode would I use?

Another idea. I have a 120 volt electric winch that I could hook to a receiver hitch and also a common 12 volt winch. Is their a 12 volt plug in back there in the pro power area for winches and other high amperage items to connect to and/or where do they connect to?

Thanks for your help.

3) Good luck with that.

4) Pass. Drive to dry road and call a tow truck. Unless you have massive off-road tires, you're not going to pull anyone out of a barely drivable situation.

You're asking if your truck has a 12v plug in the bed? Have you looked?

 

[rlbussard]

I pulled someone out in normal mode with no problem whatsoever. He wasn't paying attention and slid off the road and was leaning down the hill long ways in his truck.

 

[Altivec]

The lightning has the torque to pull stuff out in any mode. Traction is going to be the determining factor. Off Road turns on the rear locker which can improve traction if your truck is in a rut or not balanced to the point where you see one rear tire spinning and the other rear is not. The throttle mapping also changes which gives you more finesse throttle control. Other than that, not much more you can do other than have better tires for traction.

When it comes to power, you got 120V outlets everywhere. Why not just use the 120V you already have. There is 12V in the hitch outlet but you would have to get some kind of adapter to access it. Also remember if you are using 12V, You are using the small 12V battery and drawing huge short burst amperage off of that. I wouldn't recommend that.

 

[bc1]

3) Good luck with that.

4) Pass. Drive to dry road and call a tow truck. Unless you have massive off-road tires, you're not going to pull anyone out of a barely drivable situation.

You're asking if your truck has a 12v plug in the bed? Have you looked?

Thanks guys. I just looked. No 12 volts connection for a 2 gauge cable so a 120 volt winch is necessary.

I haven't got to the point of thinking about using or trying to understand how to use the 9.6 pro power yet, just taking one step at a time. At some point I may plug in a power tool but so far have been using all battery powered tools.

I haven't really driven it enough to think about trying all the different power modes yet. Been a crazy winter here in Kansas so far. I don't know about the rest of the country but us small town Kansas country boys stop and help out someone in need as much as we can. I've been pulled out of mud holes and snow drifts enough that I return the favor. I know a farmer who lived a couple miles from our farm on a road that wasn't maintained and impassable when it rained or snowed so that attracted all the kids with 4 wheelers who had been drinking at midnight. I completely understood his $200 charge at night or $100 charge during the day to pull them out with his big 4 wheel drive dually Versatile tractor.

Growing up poor and doing a little hitch hiking back in the 60s and 70s, I'm not afraid to pick up a hitch hiker (my wife is though) but if they look rough enough I can tell them to jump in back (until I get the bed liner and bed cover bot and put on). If I see a disabled car on the side of highway and someone walking towards town, then I stop. Still have to be careful with all the people who steal cars and drive them till they run out of gas.

 

[tls]

I always drive in Sport mode. If I end up in a situation where traction is inadequate, I switch to Off-road. I’ve only had to use Off-road once.when pulling a trailer full of rock up a dirt hillside in the rain. Off-road engages the differential lock.

Does off-road *always* engage the differential lock? I always engage it using the Vehicle settings screen. Not that I use it very often. But we had 11" of medium weight snow here and then I got plowed in - I sure used the locking diff to great effect this morning.

Off-Road mode disables 1-pedal. I know some people don't care for 1-pedal in the snow but I sure do. I really, truly try never to do this, but later this morning I had to drive about a mile in ski boots. 1-pedal is invaluable for that! And no trouble, really, modulating torque with the single pedal to hold traction - even downhill around curves. Maybe it had to do with my extreme 7MPH speed.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

If you don't have the experience towing people out of ditches, it's safer to simply provide people with a warm place while waiting for a proper tow truck. This isn't just for the OP, but anyone thinking about this.

Sponsored