Quote Originally Posted by tom4bren View Post
BTW, the running start ... really isn't. You're supposed to inch forward until the strap becomes tight but not stretched. At that point, the recovery vehicle guns it. The stretch of the strap will provide a measure of momentum to overcome the suction of being stuck in muck.

A running start will only guarantee a broken strap, potential damage to both vehicles and possible injury to anyone within reach of the strap.

... or so I've heard ... I've never experimented to find out.
There are two different kinds of straps out there...the standard "tow strap" has a little natural stretch but isn't elastic per se, so the running start is not a good idea with this kind of strap.

There are also "snatch straps" (or other names) that are made to be elastic like a giant bungee cord, these are intended to be used with a running start such as on the Top Gear episode (just watched that the other night).

Most of our vehicle have tow points, that is the easy part. As noted, most cars will not have anything easy...you might be able to find the tie-down point which is your best bet, but even it is not intended for heavy tugging. If you're very lucky they will have a tow hitch and you can insert the tow strap loop into the receiver and put the pin through the loop of the strap (this also works well for those of you that have hitches as a pull point).

If I were y'all I would buy a tow hook and install it on the rear, those tie down points just aren't made for serious tugging.