This off-roader manages to get the rig back on the road, but not without having to take some sketchy risks.
Screenshot: Overlandmydeadbody on TikTok
Off-roading is risky business. Push your limits enough times and you’re bound to overstep them. Recovering from these moments is just as important as avoiding them, and it’s much easier to do so with help from another rig or at least another person. As this TikTok video series shows, recovering a vehicle alone can be complicated, patience-testing, and dangerous.
@overlandmydeadbody #offroadrecovery #offroad #overland #gx460 #rollover #lexus
♬ original sound – overlandmydeadbody
That’s true even if you’re well-versed in using recovery gear. Overlandingmydeadbody, the TikTok user who posted the series, clearly knows how to use his winch. But experienced off-roaders still make mistakes. In this case, he managed to roll his truck into a ditch despite being on a relatively flat and unremarkable trail section of West Virginia’s Hatfield McCoy trails. As is often the case when wheeling, he was far from help, likely inaccessible to most tow or recovery trucks, and not within walking distance to good shelter. It’s a high-stakes position to be in.
“It was pouring rain, I had no cell service and thought about how I was going to get home and get my vehicle back,” Overlandingmydeadbody wrote in the description of his YouTube video. “The snorkel was being force fed water and I didn’t think it had a chance. Then I took a picture and thought about it. I watched enough YouTube videos on vehicle recoveries and I got this. So got it up and drove it 300 miles back home and parked it. I can’t believe the battery made it!”
@overlandmydeadbody #offroadrecovery #offroad #overland #gx460 #lexus #4×4 #4wd #4wd247 #4wd247fails #badlandswinch #screammovie
♬ original sound – overlandmydeadbody
He was able to get the truck righted using an HF winch. But if you watch the videos, you’ll see him crossing under winch cables that are supporting the full weight of his truck. To move them, he has to keep his kinetic rope under tension to hold the truck as he repositions the winch. That’s sketchy. Especially because he doesn’t use a winch dampener or even a blanket, as far as we can see. That’s a potentially deadly mistake.
The off-roader also runs the winch on a battery that only charges when the car is on. So the entire time, he’s rationing a very limited amount of energy for his high-draw winch. If the battery failed, he’d have little hope of starting a truck that’s upside down. And even when he gets it righted, he can’t immediately start it because he’d have to climb into the precariously perched, damaged car.
That he got out safely is a testament to his problem-solving capabilities and experience. But watching this video should remind any aspiring overlander or off-roader what it takes to go it truly alone. If he had a second vehicle—even a small one, with no winch—he would have a far safer list of options. It could provide power to the battery if it dies; a safe, warm location to problem solve; another person to minimize how much anyone has to cross the winch; and, most importantly, a safe way out if the truck can’t be recovered. With another vehicle, you can always go get more help.
@overlandmydeadbody The 3 year old lead acid battery is the real hero #offroadrecovery #offroad #overland #gx460 #lexus #4×4 #4wd #4wd247 #4wd247fails #badlandswinch #screammovie
♬ original sound – overlandmydeadbody
Recovering the rig in place is, of course, still the best-case scenario. But a key thing to remember when wheeling is, when there’s no safe way to get it out, it’s better to leave the rig than risk your life saving a piece of metal. That’s especially true when you consider that any vehicle in such a position is likely totaled anyway. Though Overlandingmydeadbody got through the 300-mile drive home, the insurance company ended up writing it off anyway.
Keyword: Watching Someone Solo Recover a Rolled Lexus GX Is a Good Reminder Not to Wheel Alone