Hoping some of you might share best practices from when you have actually used your Land Cruiser to recover another vehicle. Would like you to consider type scenario you might drive up on, or just while off-roading. What driveline settings, MTS mode, diff locks, etc. I’ve not pulled another vehicle out with our Land Cruiser, but have many times with a PU.
Recovery settings are on my mind as I recently had a situation with a 2026 Tundra. We have a lake house & our driveway is after a hard 90 degree left turn coming down a hill. Recently had 8 girls in a CanAm came down the hill, radio blaring & caught the passenger tires off the road edge, overcorrected & rolled the UTV into our cedar thicket. It was after 9p, and I was just walking in the house from the shop when I heard the wreck. Lots of noise, a boom & music went silent. Ran inside the house yelling to my wife & kid there’d been a wreck, call 911 & grab my truck keys. I ran down the driveway to help, & I don’t think you’re ever prepared to see what you have to see. 2 of them were pinned up under the UTV & rest had been tossed out.
My kid pulled my Tundra out to the road, & I had assessed we were in some trouble w/ several head injuries & 2 girls stuck under the vehicle. My son positioned the truck for a pull, I rigged a tow strap to just lift up the UTV off of them to get the girls out. Proud of my son who climbed inside the UTV calming the girls & he guided me from inside on the lift to get the vehicle off of them. He got the girls out, & it took the VFD about 15 min to arrive. My wife did good job on her cell as we had a sheriff, DPS, & highway patrol there before the ambulance, & this was way out in rural central Texas. Ages were 8 - 17, & 4 kids got a LifeFlite ride, the other 4 walked away w/ bruises. Sheriff deputy told us that UTV accidents happen out there 2-3x month, often with not very good outcomes.
Specific to the Tundra I had it in 4Lo & never touched the MTS. UTV ended up laying on its passenger side, bottom of the chassis facing the road, probably 6’ down in a sandy ditch. Rigged the pull from the top of the can am roll bar to pitch it up onto the passenger side wheels using the tow strap attaching it by soft shackle in the chain hole in the receiver hitch. Once everyone was clear I lowered it back down. We had to pull a second vehicle that night as one of the parents had pulled off the road into a sandy ditch & got their Escalade stuck. Straight pull out, easy (my son actually did it) only tough part was finding a place to loop the soft shackle on the SUV.
So glad the girls all okay & healing up, they all were visitors from out of town & unfamiliar w/ area. Dark road, bad UTV lighting, going too fast. Pretty damn lucky. Sorry for the long story, but yes there was emotion in the scene.
We had quick access to a truck with my recovery gear in a bag. So I’m thinking I should understand how to properly recover a vehicle in various road conditions. Could have been raining, icy, muddy or different type of road. I have nothing but street sense, no off road training, so no question there are better ways others know. And the AWD in the LC is a remarkable starting point advantage.
My Lessons -
First aid kit - I carry a 3-fold military triage medical bag in all of our vehicles. Has a lot more quantity than the 1-2 items the avg store bought kit. My wife went through a bunch of gauze pads that evening, & after the paramedics arrived & cleared kids, she gave at least a case of bottled water out. I’m sure some may be wary about first aid, but whether you learned in Girl Scouts, YMCA or in survival school, you need a good medical bag.
4Lo - From prior familiarity I knew 4Lo was stable, controllable, & would allow me to be firmly planted on the oil top surface. 4Hi wasn’t worth the risk.
MTS - Honestly didn’t even think about it in the moment - on firm ground not sure I needed its assistance. Maybe I should have? If this had been a 100 yards away we would have been doing the same pull, but having to do it on a Caliche rock road surface.
Recovery Gear - All worked well. Glad I carry a 3” wide 20’ tow strap (I’d labeled as tree saver), as my $150 1”x30’ kinetic rope in my opinion was the wrong call in this case. While the UTV was being held up, I see why people would use a recovery blanket to calm the strap if it did fail when you have people around.
Position - Maybe it’s me, but I feel pulling a recovery forward versus reversing is safer for both vehicles. I think you could argue either way. Tundra has a power rear glass I opened to hear. If I’d thought of it I could have used the View button to use cameras, but I was focused on my son’s voice & 2 kiddos under that UTV. Pulling forward feels safer should a strap break, & I felt more in control in D1, than if in reverse.
That is really the reason to ask for your input, as sometimes the recovery can be a tad stressful, & since Toyota didn’t provide instructions, might be cool to collect some best practices.
Recovery settings are on my mind as I recently had a situation with a 2026 Tundra. We have a lake house & our driveway is after a hard 90 degree left turn coming down a hill. Recently had 8 girls in a CanAm came down the hill, radio blaring & caught the passenger tires off the road edge, overcorrected & rolled the UTV into our cedar thicket. It was after 9p, and I was just walking in the house from the shop when I heard the wreck. Lots of noise, a boom & music went silent. Ran inside the house yelling to my wife & kid there’d been a wreck, call 911 & grab my truck keys. I ran down the driveway to help, & I don’t think you’re ever prepared to see what you have to see. 2 of them were pinned up under the UTV & rest had been tossed out.
My kid pulled my Tundra out to the road, & I had assessed we were in some trouble w/ several head injuries & 2 girls stuck under the vehicle. My son positioned the truck for a pull, I rigged a tow strap to just lift up the UTV off of them to get the girls out. Proud of my son who climbed inside the UTV calming the girls & he guided me from inside on the lift to get the vehicle off of them. He got the girls out, & it took the VFD about 15 min to arrive. My wife did good job on her cell as we had a sheriff, DPS, & highway patrol there before the ambulance, & this was way out in rural central Texas. Ages were 8 - 17, & 4 kids got a LifeFlite ride, the other 4 walked away w/ bruises. Sheriff deputy told us that UTV accidents happen out there 2-3x month, often with not very good outcomes.
Specific to the Tundra I had it in 4Lo & never touched the MTS. UTV ended up laying on its passenger side, bottom of the chassis facing the road, probably 6’ down in a sandy ditch. Rigged the pull from the top of the can am roll bar to pitch it up onto the passenger side wheels using the tow strap attaching it by soft shackle in the chain hole in the receiver hitch. Once everyone was clear I lowered it back down. We had to pull a second vehicle that night as one of the parents had pulled off the road into a sandy ditch & got their Escalade stuck. Straight pull out, easy (my son actually did it) only tough part was finding a place to loop the soft shackle on the SUV.
So glad the girls all okay & healing up, they all were visitors from out of town & unfamiliar w/ area. Dark road, bad UTV lighting, going too fast. Pretty damn lucky. Sorry for the long story, but yes there was emotion in the scene.
We had quick access to a truck with my recovery gear in a bag. So I’m thinking I should understand how to properly recover a vehicle in various road conditions. Could have been raining, icy, muddy or different type of road. I have nothing but street sense, no off road training, so no question there are better ways others know. And the AWD in the LC is a remarkable starting point advantage.
My Lessons -
First aid kit - I carry a 3-fold military triage medical bag in all of our vehicles. Has a lot more quantity than the 1-2 items the avg store bought kit. My wife went through a bunch of gauze pads that evening, & after the paramedics arrived & cleared kids, she gave at least a case of bottled water out. I’m sure some may be wary about first aid, but whether you learned in Girl Scouts, YMCA or in survival school, you need a good medical bag.
4Lo - From prior familiarity I knew 4Lo was stable, controllable, & would allow me to be firmly planted on the oil top surface. 4Hi wasn’t worth the risk.
MTS - Honestly didn’t even think about it in the moment - on firm ground not sure I needed its assistance. Maybe I should have? If this had been a 100 yards away we would have been doing the same pull, but having to do it on a Caliche rock road surface.
Recovery Gear - All worked well. Glad I carry a 3” wide 20’ tow strap (I’d labeled as tree saver), as my $150 1”x30’ kinetic rope in my opinion was the wrong call in this case. While the UTV was being held up, I see why people would use a recovery blanket to calm the strap if it did fail when you have people around.
Position - Maybe it’s me, but I feel pulling a recovery forward versus reversing is safer for both vehicles. I think you could argue either way. Tundra has a power rear glass I opened to hear. If I’d thought of it I could have used the View button to use cameras, but I was focused on my son’s voice & 2 kiddos under that UTV. Pulling forward feels safer should a strap break, & I felt more in control in D1, than if in reverse.
That is really the reason to ask for your input, as sometimes the recovery can be a tad stressful, & since Toyota didn’t provide instructions, might be cool to collect some best practices.
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