I think it was completely staged.
My new MasterCard marketing campaign:
Remember: Instruction manuals and disclaimers exists for obvious reasons. Never underestimate the amount of stupidity in this world.
Perfect assessment.
+1
I'm going to be brutally honest here so put on some thicker skin:
You're right. My initial post in this thread was mainly to call out the idiot (aka CT owner) who got themselves stuck in the sand. It wasn't to discredit Matt or his recovery team. As I mentioned, their videos inspired me to learn more. All I was trying to say is: As far recovery went in the video, I can't imagine pulling on a vehicle while in park was a good idea. Furthermore, I think the idiot actually got lucky that the CT was in park as he wasn't holding the steering wheel straight as instructed by Matt. Perhaps you can tell me what could've resulted in such a scenario.
I believe it had a dual ball hitch but I understand your point. He seemed to tie up in a particular way to ensure it doesn't come undone while it was being yanked on. At first, I (too) thought it was a single ball hitch - honest mistake.
Obviously it's never a good idea to try to extract a vehicle in Park! This is not even "Extraction 101", it's just common frickin' sense. I'm sure no one intended it to be in Park, it was operator error.
Probably nothing would have happened if he didn't turn the wheel. Because tires skid on sand pretty easily, it wouldn't have climbed out of the holes if the tires couldn't rotate. The Cybertruck's hitch is many times stronger than it needs to be in this situation when pulling in line like Matt did in the video. The kinetic recovery rope absorbs the impact of pulling tight over time, greatly reducing the peak snatch force.
Just remember that extraction is all about physics, understanding the forces involved, and the strength of different materials and the designs involved (what kind of forces they are intended to handle in various directions). You don't want to learn most of these principles from experience, AKA the school of hard knocks, because that would involve a lot of dangerous and failed extractions. If you don't understand the physics and materials involved, you can still safely do easier extractions just by following established rules and procedures, just don't attempt riskier, more difficult extractions. You don't want to learn what you don't know by totaling vehicles or killing someone!
As a general rule, we can assume all humans are far from perfect.
What an absolute moron. I've said this time and time again. It's not the vehicle, it's always the driver!
This moron went with stock wheels into the sand dunes not expecting to get stuck. I have a Cybertruck and I've driven in just about every terrain you can think of with no issue.
He needs to be grateful the tow hitch didn't get ripped off after the initial jerk pull from the recovery vehicle since it wasn't in neutral. This could've ended very badly for him. My guess is, there might actually be some structural damage even if the tow hitch didn't yank off - he'll most likely realize this during his next Service Center visit.
Disclaimer: Guys... please use your brains. Off-roading is no joke; go prepared. From proper wheels to understanding vehicle limitations to proper tools for recovery. Don't be like this idiot.
P.S. 2:21 - The kid has more sensibility than his father.
