A kinetic recovery rope stretches under load and stores energy so it can snap a stuck vehicle free. It's not built to rip a crossmember off a truck, and Murphy's doesn't rate it for that job. That didn't stop Wrecker Rick. He's 1,500 miles from his own shop, bolting a 30-ton wrecker unit onto a military 10x10 with whatever tools he packed, when a stubborn crossmember gets in his way. Instead of reaching for a cutting torch, he grabs his own rope kit. It works. It's also not the job the kit is rated for, and this article is about both halves of that sentence.
- Rick's 1,500 miles from home with minimal tools, installing a 30-ton wrecker unit on a military 10x10, when a crossmember has to come out before the job can move forward.
- He's got a cutting torch sitting right there. He uses his own Murphy's Diesel rope kit instead, and drags the loose crossmember clear once it breaks free.
- On camera, Rick says it straight: rope kits "aren't just for recovering... they're for ripping crossmembers off of 10 by 10s."
- The rope and the full kit are rated for pulling a stuck 3/4-ton to 1-ton truck or heavy SUV, not for tearing loose steel off a frame.
- It held up on camera. That's not the same as being built for the job, and Murphy's own rope supplier is specific about what the rating actually covers.
- Murphy's sells the rope by itself or as part of a complete kit with slings, soft shackles, and a bag, all made in the USA.
1. No shop, 1,500 miles from home, and a crossmember in the way
Rick opens this episode with the honest version of the problem: a 30-ton wrecker unit needs to go on the back of a military 10x10, he's got minimal tools, and it won't stop raining. He mentions a gas axe, a cutting torch, sitting in reserve in case the bolt-up gets ugly. That's the backdrop for everything that follows. No shop bay. No lift. No second truck of tools waiting back home. Whatever gets this wrecker body mounted has to come out of what's already on hand, 1,500 miles from anywhere Rick would call his own shop. Ever tried to fix something 1,500 miles from your own toolbox? You know the feeling.
Partway through the install, one piece of the old setup won't budge. A crossmember, structural steel that the fifth-wheel and towing hardware ran through, needs to come out before the new wrecker body can go on. It's bolted into a truck platform, not a stuck vehicle sitting in mud, and it's got no interest in moving on its own.
2. Getting a crossmember ready to move
Before anything can get pulled clear, Rick has to disconnect what's still attached to it. On camera, he mentions pulling a couple of air lines off his glad hands first, the coupler fittings that connect a truck's air brake lines to whatever it's towing. You've probably driven past a hundred sets of these and never noticed them. Glad hands aren't rigging hardware. They're plumbing. But they're exactly the kind of small, easy-to-forget connection that turns a straightforward pull into a five-minute prep job first.
Once the air lines are clear, Rick calls the crossmember ready: "I believe that's it. We ought to be able to take this crossmember out now." That line's doing real work in this story. It's the moment the job stops being a wrench-and-torch problem and starts being a pulling problem. And pulling problems? That's where a rope kit and a cutting torch start to look like the same tool.
3. What Rick reached for instead of the torch
He had the gas axe sitting right there. He grabbed the rope kit instead. Wild choice, and it works. Once the crossmember's free to move, Rick hooks up his own recovery gear and says exactly what he's doing, on camera, without dressing it up:
"See, wrecker Rick rope kits aren't just for recovering, folks. They're for ripping crossmembers off of 10 by 10s."Wrecker Rick, mid-install, "No Shop. 1,500 Miles From Home."
That's not a marketing line dressed up as a joke. That's Rick, on camera, describing exactly what he's about to do with a product his own store sells, and being upfront that it's not what the label promises. A recovery rope kit exists to pull a stuck vehicle. A crossmember bolted into a truck frame isn't a vehicle, whatever you want to call it. Rick used the kit anyway because it was already in the truck bed, not because Murphy's rates it for structural steel removal.
4. What the pull actually looked like
Rope hooked to the loose crossmember, Rick drags it clear of the work area. He's pleased enough with the result to point it out directly:
"That's about a chunk of steel. Look at the distance we got. I drug it right there."Wrecker Rick, after clearing the crossmember
No violent snap. No truck-versus-truck kinetic pull. Picture a heavy, awkward piece of steel, dragged clear of a job site by a rope built to move something much heavier under different conditions. It slides clear, clean, no drama. Satisfying, even if it's not what the rope is rated for. It's a fair way to show a rope kit can handle serious weight. It's not the same thing as showing it's meant for this.
5. What this rope kit is actually built and rated for
Murphy's recovery rope is a 1 inch by 30 foot kinetic rope built by Yankum, rated for 3/4-ton to 1-ton pickups and heavy SUVs. Its own spec sheet lists a minimum tensile strength of 33,500 lbs and a working load limit between 6,700 and 11,200 lbs. If you're doing the math on your own truck, that's the number to start with. The complete kit builds around that same rope: two 7/16 inch recovery slings, two 7/16 inch soft shackles, a roll-top bag. Everything a truck owner needs for a real recovery, in one case.
Yankum's own guidance on this exact rope is specific about how that rating's meant to be used. It cuts straight through the crossmember stunt: "Remember to pair the recovery rope with the recovery vehicle, NOT the stuck vehicle."[1] The rating's matched to the truck doing the pulling, not to whatever it's pulling against. A stuck pickup and a jammed steel crossmember aren't interchangeable loads just because both of them eventually moved. You can't swap one rating for the other and call it good.
1" x 30' Murphys Diesel kinetic recovery rope, two 7/16" heavy duty recovery slings, two 7/16" soft shackles, and a medium roll-top bag. Built by Yankum, rated for 3/4-ton to 1-ton trucks and heavy SUVs. Made in the USA.
6. The rope alone, or the full kit
Rick's crossmember trick only needed the rope. A real vehicle recovery usually needs more. Something to wrap an axle or a control arm. A metal-free way to connect it all, so nothing scratches paint or damages a bumper. You don't want to be the one explaining that scratch to whoever owns the other truck. That's the difference between the two products Murphy's sells off this same rope.
| Recovery Rope | Recovery Kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $269.99 | $795.94 |
| 1" x 30' kinetic rope | Included | Included |
| Recovery slings | Not included | Two 7/16" |
| Soft shackles | Not included | Two 7/16" |
| Storage bag | Not included | Roll-top bag |
| Best for | A truck that already has slings and shackles on hand | Starting from nothing, or wrapping an axle or control arm |
1" x 30", black with red rubber-dipped eyes. 33,500 lb minimum tensile strength, rated for 7,200 to 10,249 lb vehicles. Double-braid nylon with a polymeric coating. Made in the USA.
The same rope, plus two 7/16" recovery slings, two 7/16" soft shackles, and a roll-top bag. Built by Yankum, tested by Rick, made in the USA.
7. Why "it held" isn't the same as "it's rated for this"
A stuck vehicle gives. It rolls. It slides. It comes free at roughly the speed and direction a kinetic pull is designed around. A half-detached steel crossmember doesn't have to behave that way. It can hang up on one bolt longer than the others, then let go all at once, in a direction nobody planned for. Rick's crossmember came loose clean on camera. That doesn't mean every chunk of stuck steel will, and you shouldn't bet your knuckles on it.
This is the honest gap between what happened in this episode and what Murphy's actually sells the rope kit to do. Rick isn't recommending anyone copy his trick. He's showing that the gear held up under a load it wasn't designed around, which says something real about how it's built. That's not the same as calling it a rated use case.
Rick's crossmember trick makes a good story. It is not the job this kit is tested or rated for, and neither of those facts should talk you out of the basics.
- Match the rope to the vehicle doing the pulling, not whatever it's pulling against. Yankum's own spec for this rope says it plainly: "Remember to pair the recovery rope with the recovery vehicle, NOT the stuck vehicle."[1]
- Know the rated capacity before you load it. This rope carries a minimum tensile strength of 33,500 lbs and a working load limit of 6,700 to 11,200 lbs, sized for 3/4-ton to 1-ton trucks and heavy SUVs pulling each other free. That number describes a vehicle-to-vehicle pull, not a blank check for any other load.
- Inspect the line before every use. OSHA's rigging guidance does not hedge on this: a qualified person should check a line "each day before use for damage or defects," and it should never be loaded "in excess of the rated load capacities."[2]
- Stay out of the line of pull. The same OSHA guidance is direct about a line under tension: personnel should never "stand in line with or next to the legs of a sling that is under tension," and should never "stand or pass under a suspended load."[2]
Sources: [1] Yankum, Rattler Kinetic Recovery Rope specifications · [2] OSHA, Wire Rope Sling Safety
8. If you want the honest version of this story
Shopping for a recovery rope kit because you actually get stuck? Buy for the truck doing the pulling, not the story you saw on YouTube. Check your own vehicle's weight against the rope's rating. Keep the slings and soft shackles in the truck alongside it. Treat a line under tension the same way every time, recovery or otherwise: inspected, rated for the load, clear of anyone standing near it.
Rick's crossmember pull is a good story about how tough the gear is. It's not instructions, and if you try it anyway, that's on you.
Sources
- Yankum, Rattler Kinetic Recovery Rope product specifications. "Minimum Tensile Strength of 33,500 lbs." "For use on vehicles that weigh 7,200 to 10,249 lbs." "Remember to pair the recovery rope with the recovery vehicle, NOT the stuck vehicle." yankum.com/products/rattler-kinetic-recovery-rope
- OSHA, Wire Rope Sling Safety. "Designate a qualified person to inspect slings and all fastenings and attachments each day before use for damage or defects." "Ensure that wire rope slings have suitable characteristics for the type of load, hitch, and environment in which they will be used and that they are not used with loads in excess of the rated load capacities." "Ensure that personnel never stand in line with or next to the legs of a sling that is under tension." osha.gov/safe-sling-use/wire
FAQ
The kit includes a 1" x 30' Murphys Diesel kinetic recovery rope, two 7/16" heavy duty recovery slings, two 7/16" soft shackles, and a medium roll-top bag. It's built by Yankum and rated for 3/4-ton to 1-ton trucks and heavy SUVs.
The rope by itself is the same 1" x 30' kinetic rope, without the slings, soft shackles, or bag. The kit adds all three around that same rope for $795.94 versus $269.99 for the rope alone.
It's rated for vehicles weighing 7,200 to 10,249 lbs, roughly 3/4-ton to 1-ton trucks and heavy SUVs, with a minimum tensile strength of 33,500 lbs.
Murphy's doesn't rate this rope for anything besides vehicle recovery. Wrecker Rick used his own rope kit to drag a loose crossmember clear during a truck build, and it held up, but that's not the job Murphy's or Yankum designed or rated it for.
Yes. Both the rope and the complete kit are made in the USA.
No. The recovery rope and kit are rated for 3/4-ton to 1-ton pickups and heavy SUVs. Rick's 10x10 HEMTT and the crossmember he pulled off it are well outside that rating; the rope kit just happened to be strong enough for the job anyway.