Something that we have examined in the past and will do so again in the future, and a vitally important area for those of us who use our 4WD vehicles to explore remote and often difficult terrain is vehicle recovery, and specifically, self-recovery equipment that you can bring with you on your trip to help to ensure that you can recover your vehicle from a variety of possible ‘getting stuck’ scenarios. ARB’s vehicle recovery accessories are engineered and manufactured to the highest standards, making them ideal for recreational use as well as for competition. Whenever we know that we will be traversing unfamiliar or difficult terrain, we always ensure that we have some of this essential equipment on board.

One essential bit of equipment is a set of ARB TRED Pro recovery boards, we have used these many times in sand, mud and on extremely boggy and wet grassy terrains. These boards are designed to get your 4×4, ATV and equipment out of trouble when traction is lost in sand, mud, sludge, or snow. Engineered and manufactured in Australia from high quality materials, TREDs are designed to handle intense levels of torque, flex, weight and impact. With a designated shovel feature, extreme hex grip nodules, aggressive ramp entry teeth and ultimate wear resistant properties, TRED will allow you to explore with confidence, without letting traction disrupt your journey. Featuring a unique composite construction ‘EXOTRED’, TRED Pro are extremely durable, wear resistant and can handle high levels of flexibility; providing the ultimate traction by maintaining a high level of pressure on the tire while withstanding the flex of being under vehicle weight on less than stable ground.

We also carry the ARB JUMP STARTER PRO , the lithium powered ARB Jump Starter has plenty of power to start a 12V vehicle with engine capacity up to 5L V8 Diesel or 6L petrol. Thanks to intelligent sensing and charging technology, when charging the jump starter from either the included AC or DC chargers, the inbuilt sensors prevent overcharging or undercharging of the lithium battery. When the time arrives to use the jump starter on a vehicle, the intelligent heavy-duty jump cables monitor battery voltage, polarity and charge condition alerting the user via a series of LED lamps to any potential installation problems.The Jump Starter itself measures just 188 x 134 x 37mm and weighs just 860 grams, but it has a potent lithium-ion battery with a 24,000mAh capacity.

Even if it seems that you have all of your vehicle’s power requirements sorted and you’ve installed a dual battery system, charging system, solar panels and more, there’s still the possibility that one day your starting battery simply won’t have enough power to start your vehicle. And if this happens, you’ll be glad you’re carrying your ARB Jump Starter.

Safety and reliability were high on the list of priorities when developing the ARB Jump Starter. The whole device is packaged in a fire retardant casing and features include an in-built smart charger control to prevent overcharging and discharging. The Jump Starter is also supplied with intelligent heavy-duty jump cables with boost function, reverse polarity and spark protection.
The boost function is designed to start engines that have a completely dead starting battery. “If your battery is completely dead, if there is minimal charge available whatsoever, you activate the boost function and the Jump Starter pushes the amperage right out to 1,000 amps as required; it also delivers anywhere up to 15V so there’s plenty of power there for a short period of time to jump start vehicles that have really low power left in their battery,” says Ben Rieson , ARB product manager. The Jump Starter is supplied in a zippered EVA nylon carry case and comes with heavy-duty jump cables, 240V AC and 12V DC chargers, and a smart cable that’s capable of charging both micro and lightning USB smartphones.Additional features of the ARB Jump Starter include a built-in 100 Lumen flashlight, a battery level indicator, 2.1A and 1A USB outlets, and a 12V accessory outlet for powering larger devices. In fact, the Jump Starter can even be used as an emergency back-up power supply for lighting, depth sounders or a GPS (dependent on power consumption).

Finally the ARB Weekender Recovery Kit brings together components for snatch recovery, including a cotton canvas bag, an 17,600lb snatch strap, two 4.75T bow shackles, and a pair of gloves. This kit can help you recover your vehicle albeit with the help of another 4WD vehicle. In the next issue we bring out the big guns – and take a look at winch recovery.

Check out some of our videos on other ARB recovery-related equipment below, and we’ll also take a closer look at the ARB Jump Starter Pro in an upcoming video.