We Need To Talk About Crossovers And Recovery Gear

It’s popular right now to carry recovery gear on your Subaru or similar. But doing that might kill you.

Recovery is the act of getting a stuck vehicle unstuck. And there’s all manner of gadgets—from a simple shovel on up to complicated, expensive devices like electric winches—designed to help with that. But many popular types of recovery gear are not compatible with crossovers, or may be dangerous to use with that type of vehicle.

What’s A Crossover?

Thanks to a loophole in corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) regulations, vehicles equipped with four or all-wheel drive, and which have an approach angle of at least 28 degrees, a breakover angle of at least 14 degrees, and a departure angle of at least 20 degrees, along with at least 7.8 inches of ground clearance, are allowed to pollute more than regular cars.

Because it’s cheaper to make dirtier cars than it is to make clean ones, car companies have spent billions of dollars on a disinformation campaign intended to convince people who don’t drive off-road or in winter weather that they’d be better served by a jacked up car that pollutes more than a regular car that pollutes less.

I hate to spoil this for you: a jacked up economy car offers only disadvantages when compared to a normal equivalent.

Here’s a visual definition of the angles referenced above. Look at most crossovers, and they stick nearly exactly to that minimum requirement for the loophole, without actually taking things far enough to deliver genuinely useful clearance.

But, because people’s brains have been so fried by all that marketing, they insist on believing they can use their Subaru, RAV4, Pilot, Cayenne or similar in remote areas, on unpaved surfaces, and in winter.

This creates a logical conundrum. Drivers who insist on believing that their crossover has some level of genuine capability beyond dry pavement also acknowledge that their vehicle does suffer significant limitations when compared to an actual 4x4. They acknowledge that it’s likely they’re going to get stuck, and so they rightly attempt to equip themselves with the ability to get unstuck by carrying recovery gear. But, in failing to understand the correct use of and the limitations inherent in that equipment, crossover drivers are setting themselves up to fail, potentially with lethal consequences. Let’s fix that.

No, your economy crossover is not a rally car, no matter how much crap you bolt to it. Photo: Warn (a company that should know better).

How All-Wheel Drive Works

I’m going to start here, because it will inform a lot of the rest of this discussion. When it comes to vehicle traction, the easiest way to understand it is to talk about wheel speeds. Ignore any talk of torque vectoring or power apportionment, that’s just disinformation designed to confuse you.

Four-wheel drive locks the speeds of the front and rear axles together. When enabled, the wheel on each axle with the least traction is only able to spin as fast as its equivalent on the other axle. Versus two-wheel drive, this doubles traction. But, it still sends power to the wheels with the least traction. So, to take things further, some 4WD vehicles are equipped with locking axle differentials. When enabled, those match wheel speeds across that axle. With both four-wheel drive and front and rear lockers engaged, the speed of all four wheels is matched, and traction is maximized.

Because software is cheaper than hardware, and also because maximum traction can be so hard on mechanical components that it can break mission critical parts like axle shafts, modern traction systems have been developed that use the anti-lock brake system to enable some degree of wheel speed matching across axles. By independently applying the brake on a single wheel to slow its speed of rotation to match the other wheel on that axle, much of the effect of a locking axle diff can be achieved for less money, and with a lower propensity for making things go pop.

In contrast, all-wheel drive allows all of the wheels to spin at different speeds. Because power follows the path of least resistance within a drive system, it will go to the wheel with the least traction, and in a low-grip situation, that wheel with the least traction will then spin freely, while the other wheels receive no power. This is a worst case scenario for forward progress in slippery conditions.

Before the advent of electronic safety aids like traction and stability control, AWD’s innate lack of traction was actually useful. If a driver applied too much throttle in a slippery corner, all power would go to the wheel with the least traction, leaving the other three free to retain grip, and get them safely around that corner. But such an arrangement actually works against a vehicle’s ability to accelerate. And with the addition of traction and stability control, that problem is actually made worse. On an AWD car, not only is all power going to the wheel with the least traction, but once that starts spinning, those electronic aids start cutting power, further restricting acceleration.

Makers of crossovers understand all that, and equip their AWD vehicles with a variety of mechanisms designed to provide some degree of wheel speed matching between the front and rear axles. None is capable of mechanically locking the speeds of the axles together, so no AWD system is, by its very nature, capable of matching the traction provided by a basic 4WD setup.

Another big differentiator between a body-on-frame truck, SUV or 4x4 and a crossover is in their ability to move vast amounts of weight. A big pickup truck will be designed to safely tow and haul thousands of pounds. Your cute little crossover will be designed to safely move a family and their luggage. So the brakes on a truck will be substantially larger, and feature the ability to deal with significantly more heat.

I’m explaining that in a section about traction systems because many crossovers are now also fitted with ABS-based wheel speed matching systems. And while those can be effective in short bursts, the smaller, lighter, weaker brakes on a crossover can quickly overheat when used to provide traction. Acknowledging that, crossover makers design significant limitations into these traction systems. A crossover may be able to use its ABS system to find a little extra acceleration during a brief moment, but it will not be able to use that system during sustained climbs, or through really significant obstacles as a result.

Another important consideration is the fact that a wheel must remain in contact with the ground in order to do anything. This is why real 4x4s feature suspension systems designed for articulation. In contrast, crossovers prioritize low costs and safe on-road handling. Even the smallest obstacle can be enough to lift one or more wheels of a crossover off the ground, massively reducing its ability to continue moving. As pictured on top of this article.

That photo demonstrates just how little capability the new Outback has, it blows my mind that someone at Subaru thinks it demonstrates something off-roady.

Since it has no way to interface with a Crosstrek, and will never be used, color matching your hi-lift to your Subaru actually kinda makes sense. Photo courtesy: Alexander Verhaar.

Recovery Gear vs Crossovers

Thanks for letting me explain all the above, I think it’s an important predicate as we now move onto talking about how various pieces of gear interface with crossovers, then into some effective guidance on how you can avoid the need for most of it.

Hi-Lift Jacks: One of my readers and I text each other photos any time we see a Subaru or similar carrying a hi-lift. That’s one part comedy since there’s no good way to use a hi-lift with a crossover, and one part tragedy, since this is probably the fastest way crossover owners are going to kill themselves.

Hi-lifts are also often called farm jacks. That’s because they weren’t actually created for use with 4x4s, but to serve as sort of multi-tool for challenging tasks around a farm, like pulling fence posts or straightening rails.

And while hi-lifts are a very powerful tool, they’re also a very dangerous one. Not only are they inherently unstable, but with mechanical advantage provided by the length of the handle alone, that instability combines with the long handle to create significant risk of a slip, causing the handle to flap up and down with the full force of a vehicle’s weight behind it.

And the other big caveat about hi-lifts is that they require specific interfaces with a vehicle. You need a strong steel or aluminum bumper if you hope to use a hi-lift to jack a vehicle up from the front or rear, and a strong steel or aluminum rock slider if you hope to use one to jack a vehicle up from the side. Crossovers don’t have those parts, so you can’t actually use a hi-lift in combination with one. Look closely the next time you see one of these mounted to the roof of a Crosstrek and you’ll notice that it’s shiny and unused, since you can’t actually use one with the vehicle that’s carrying it.

(Yes, you can add wheel straps to a hi-lift and use one like that, but it’s still just as dangerous, while adding the step of setting the vehicle down on stands to any tire change.)

Say it with me: Orange covers do not hide recovery points. Note that the Crosstrek has been photoshopped into this location. Photo: Subaru.

Shackles: Call me crazy, but I find it extremely unethical that any vehicle manufacturer would lie to its customers about the presence of a real recovery point, without providing a real recovery point, as is the case on Subaru’s Wilderness trim Outbacks, Crosstreks and Foresters, and the gold covers accentuating their tow eyelets.

A recovery point is a place where you can attach a shackle, which would then allow you to winch or pull a stuck vehicle out of an obstacle. Because doing that often involves extremely high momentary loads several times the weight of the vehicle, and stuff like deep mud or snow can multiply the force required to pull a vehicle to safety, such points need to be massively strong, and designed to resist unusual force vectors.

The tow eyelets and tie down points that come standard on most road vehicles are not designed for the loads experienced during an off-road recovery. Attempting to pull from one of them could cause that part to come free, sending metal components flying at lethal velocities.

For that reason, you can understand why it’s ridiculous to see crossover owners driving around with metal shackles hanging off their vehicles. They’re doing that to try and advertise some sense of preparedness, but in reality are just demonstrating that, should they ever actually get stuck, they’ll have no idea how to get their vehicle free.

There is so, so much going on here. Absolutely none of which is functional. Photo: Alexander Verhaar.

Winches: Believe it or not, but some crossover owners go through all the expense and effort required to mount a winch to their front bumper. Warn—a maker of high quality winches and winch accessories—even did this to a Crosstrek show car itself a few years back.

The winch that most people are using is the Warn Axon 55-S which, as a design intended for ATVs, is rated to pull 5,500 pounds. The typical safety factor recommended by Warn is to go for a winch rated to pull 1.5 times the GVWR of the vehicle it’s mounted to (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is the maximum safe weight of a vehicle and anything in or on it, including passengers, cargo, fuel, accessories, etc). That number for an Outback is about 5,000 pounds. 5,000 x 1.5 = 7,500. The Axon 55-S is about 2,000 pounds too weak for a Subaru.

Not only does that winch fail to provide the necessary safety factor, but winches and their mounts have never been designed to work with the unibody construction used in crossovers. Nobody has ever performed a physical crash test with a winch mounted to a crossover, so we have no actual idea what impact they may have on such a vehicle’s airbag sensors, or the crumple zone. Trucks use body-on-frame construction which typically involves large frame rails that run parallel along a vehicle’s length. Mounted between those, a winch does not get in the way in a crash in the way one will mounted to the front of a unibody vehicle.

Drivers who do this are making compromises to the safety of themselves and their families, both while driving on pavement, or in the very hypothetical circumstance in which they employ their winch.

Recovery Gear That Will Safely Work With Crossovers

The thing is, all the above items are overkill, with an emphasis on the kill. Since crossovers aren’t any more capable on slippery surfaces than a normal economy car, you’re going to get them stuck really easily, but that’s actually going to work for you. Because your Subaru or RAV4, or Cayenne or whatever is going to utterly shit its pants at the first sight of sand or a mud puddle, the kind of stuck they’re going to get is going to be the kind of stuck it’s easy to recover from. So if you insist on believing that a crossover is capable enough for your needs, at least play into how easy a mud puddle is to get out of.

Traction Boards: You just shove these under your tires, and they then provide a traction interface between whatever is being slippery, and your tire, so you can just drive on out.

With an actual truck, it’s common to get really, really stuck, really deep into a bog or beach, and then have to use, and re-use your traction boards over and over again until you reach safety. And for that reason, it’s nice to have some nice long boards, which minimizes the number of times you need to set everything back up. With a crossover, you’re going to get stuck in the first six inches of that bog or beach. So, you can save space in your trunk, and just throw a cheaper set of Maxtrax Minis ($150) in there. You only need a single pair.

A Hitch Receiver: If you do really want to make it possible for another, more capable vehicle to pull you to safety, you need a place to safely mount a shackle. While you could make that complicated and expensive and order rated recovery points from Australia, you could again just acknowledge your vehicle’s limitations, and take the easy way out.

Stop by U-Haul the next time you’re out, and ask them to mount a two-inch hitch receiver to the back of your vehicle. It must be a two-inch receiver. Into that, shove a PakMule Scout to use instead of a roof rack. Then carry one of these receiver shackle mounts, and an ARB Weekender kit ($150) in your trunk. Once you find a more knowledgeable driver wiling to help, hand them all that, and they’ll be able to use it to pull you rearwards, back onto pavement.

Just Use Your Head: I realize this is asking a lot, but let’s war game this out. You know (after reading this article) that your AWD system sends all your power to the wheel with the least traction. You also know your traction and stability control systems kill power as soon as that wheel starts to spin. You also know that brakes can be used to counteract that spin, and create a little wheel speed matching.

First, deflate your tires. Lower pressure will help increase the size of your tire’s footprint, and give it more grip. Honestly, that alone should get you out of most things. Your stock pressure is probably about 30 PSI. Cutting that in half should roughly double your tire’s grip.

Next, switch off all of your vehicle’s traction control systems. Since you’re probably not far enough afield to lack cell phone signal, just put the year, make, model, and trim of your vehicle (for example: 2025 Subaru Outback Wilderness) into YouTube, and ask it how to do that.

Now, take your left foot and put it on your brake pedal. Don’t push all the way to the floor, but give it a nice firm shove and keep it there. Then use your right foot (the usual one) to hit the gas. That should halt that wheel with the least traction from spinning freely, thereby sending some power to a wheel with traction.

Nine times out of ten, that should be enough to get your crossover unstuck. Now drive yourself to the car dealer, and trade it in for something that actually has four-wheel drive. Here’s hoping all that useless crap you bolted on doesn’t hurt your resale value too much.

Top photo: Subaru

Wes Siler is your guide to leading a more exciting life outdoors. Upgrading to a paid subscription supports independent journalism and gives you personal access to his expertise and network, which he’ll use to help you plan trips, purchase gear, and solve problems. You can read more about what he’s doing on Substack through this link.