Just this week I won an Ebay auction for a pair of ‘73-’80 style front tow hooks, so the Suburban will finally have solid front and rear recovery points very soon. Today I laid out the majority of the recovery/repair/get back home in one piece gear that’s now specifically designated for the Suburban.
Not sure the best way to separate this, but let’s start at top left and work our way to the right.
Extreme top left: Spare wiper blades, zip ties, spare hoses (fuel, vacuum, heater, etc...), ice scraper/brush.
Left side, top to bottom: 2 metal Blitz 5 gallon fuel cans with one flexible metal nozzle, one 6 gallon water can, automotive fluids including motor oil, gear oil and ATF (forgot to include power steering and brake fluids together with wheel bearing grease) aerosol cans of starting fluid & carb cleaner, orange box with three road triangles. Tree Hugger 10’ tree strap, Big Bubba 1 1/4” x 30’ kinetic recovery rope. Small funnel, frisbee, Warn receiver shackle mount w/ 3/4” shackle, two Crosby 7/8” shackles, two long spark plug wires and one coil wire. Spare spark plugs, coil, ignition module, cap, rotor, fuel pump, IAC motor, ECT sensor, fuses and bulbs. Hub engagement tool, pen, maps and atlas. Spare upper & lower radiator hoses, spare serpentine belt, self vulcanizing silicone tape, duct tape, electrical tape, brass tire pressure gauge, PowerTank tire repair kit, super duper jumper cables
Middle vertical divider, top to bottom: MaxAx tool (ax, shovel, hoe, pick), all cast Hi-Lift with handle keeper (to stop it from clanking around all the time), bumper lift attachment and off-road base
Right side, top to bottom: 18’ of 5/16” chain with chain hook ends, tire iron, two 2.5 lb extinguishers (one is a very nice B&C unit charged with Halotron and the other is a cheap ABC from the hardware store), wool blanket, flashlights, headlamp, glow sticks, space blanket, leather work gloves, snow gloves, water purifier, shop rags, electrical wire, garbage bags, 2 light duty ratcheting tie-down straps for securing stuff, 1 heavy duty ratcheting tie-down strap for compressing suspension or reseating tire on bead, one 15’ extremely light duty tow only strap with metal hook ends, one proper 25’ recovery strap, well stocked first aid kit, pair of tire chocks and cheap 12V tire inflator/flashlight (best I’ve got until I buy an OBA solution)
Extreme top right: tools in the truck tool box
Leaving out the fluids, their containers and the road triangle kit (which is 11 lbs all by itself and which I’ve never really had a need for), all of that weighs in at 181 lbs. That’s pretty much the weight of one extra passenger. The toolbox full of tools is the single heaviest item coming in at 40.1 lbs. Of course, not all of this stuff will be in the vehicle at all times. Some of it would be more apropos on a long back country excursion, other stuff is there in case of a general break down, fire or first-aid and some is purely recovery equipment. A lot of these things I’d rather were in the vehicle with me off road instead of regretting having left them at home though. This is mostly stuff that could come in handy over the long run, through multiple stages of potential future upgrades and various adventures.
I don’t currently have a place for the fuel containers because if I were to carry them then they’d stay outside the vehicle. Been there, done that and stunk to high heaven because I carried a plastic gas can inside the vehicle on a trip once. I’m working on finding ways to store and secure the rest of it inside the Suburban. All of the small items pack very well within three 3 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck containers that sit nice and snug under the middle seat together with the Bubba Rope and Tree Hugger (not pictured).
The fire extinguishers will be solidly mounted in plain view with one in front and one in the back (well, I’ll ditch the Kidde hardware store special once I acquire a 5-10 lb halotron unit for the rear). I did buy some 1/8” bar to fab up a couple of solid mounting points on the interior for my Hi-Lift. It should fit nicely under one of those long rear windows. That leaves the tool box, one 10 gallon Roughneck container and the MaxAx free floating until I find good places to secure them. Don’t want any of that stuff flying around in case of a crash or roll. Not that I’m planning on doing either of those things mind you. Not that I want to run right out and get stuck in some deep mud either , but I do really want to see the Big Bubba in action. That thing is super beefy and comes with its own carrying bag.
That isn’t some miniature roll of duct tape either. This rope has a 52,300 lb breaking strength.