You’ve probably heard about the YouTuber who is in hot legal water for jumping and pretty much destroying his new 2021 Ram TRX. YouTuber Street Speed 717 (Mike Hyssong), who has over 1-million subscribers, is currently being charged with 18 criminal charges by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for the jump, along with other acts in his videos, like driving up a creekbed. We’re not here today to talk about any of that, as the real issue we have is the extremely dangerous recovery method Hyssong uses for one of his off-road trucks in his response video to the legal charges.
How NOT To Recover A Vehicle
Check out 16:19 in the response video below. Hyssong goes out into the woods to recover his purpose-built off-road machine with his pickup. He does this by himself, and just throws his recovery snatch strap over the ball of the tow hitch on his truck. This is dangerous, and should never be done during a recovery scenario. Also, it is never a good idea to do any recovery with two vehicles and only one person.
The Correct Way To Do A Snatch Strap Recovery
There are lots of safe ways to attach a snatch strap to a vehicle, but over the tow ball is not one. Tow balls are not designed for lateral loads and are generally made of cheap cast materials. There are more than a few videos online (here’s a great one) of people having the tow ball snap off during a recovery like this. Think of the tow ball as a cannonball that is likely to fly back at the vehicle being recovered, or any people that are nearby.
If you don’t have a solid rear bumper recovery point or a shackle hitch receiver you can always use the hitch pin to securely attach your recovery strap. A hitch pin is a solid, secure, and safe way to attach your recovery strap. Sure it takes a few seconds longer than throwing the strap over the tow ball, but it’s exponentially safer.
Again, there are many great videos online on how to use a snatch strap properly to recover your off-road vehicle. A short and clear one is this one from ARB and Australian off-road expert Pat Callinan.
Be smart. Be safe. Off-road vehicle recovery is often times necessary, but can also be extremely dangerous if you don’t know the basics and you rush things. Slow down, think about what you’re doing, and use the right tools for the job.
Ram TRX Jump Video
Now, if you just want to watch the TRX jump over a small creek in a field and pretty much get destroyed, watch this video.
Hyssong says he drove it home at “85 MPH” without an issue, but it does pull a little left and the body is rough. That is an understatement, as most of the body and frame are tweaked and or damaged. Surprisingly the truck generally drove away unscathed mechanically. Hyssong estimates that he hit 60 mph off the jump. He landed on the front right of the truck, which is why the truck got so tweaked, which probably wouldn’t have happened if he had landed flat.
Bilstein, the shock company that makes the custom TRX shocks, even reached out to the YouTuber to replace the shocks for free and do research on the shocks that were jumped. While probably just a PR move by Bilstein, it is a smart one on all fronts.
Hyssong is claiming that all the legal charges are bogus and the acts were performed on private property. While he might have been on private property, time will tell if he’ll get away unscathed from the charges.
