Mission Reports: Old Flowers Silverado

Monday afternoon, a team from Colorado 4×4 Rescue and Recovery went up Old Flowers Road west of Fort Collins to recover a Silverado that was having some kind of electrical issue.

The owner reported that the alternator stopped charging while on the trail, so they turned around and attempted to get off the trail before the battery died. Unfortunately they didn’t make it very far, as once the voltage started dropping in the truck, other systems started malfunctioning like the electronic 4WD switch, fuel delivery, etc.

Once the team got on scene, they spent 30-40 minutes working on starting the truck. Fuel pump relay would click and close, 4×4 system was still having some kind of issue, but no matter what cranking the engine, it would not start. There was just no fuel pressure.

We found some cell service on a hill top and looked up where any possible impact related fuel pump resets would be on this year of truck, and unfortunately were unable to locate any on the truck after another 10-15 minutes of searching.

With the setting sun, the decision was made to convert this to a flat dead tow and get it off the mountain.

The towing vehicle was rigged up with an X-strap configuration which helps pull vehicles around tight corners on trails, and the brake vehicle was setup with a kinetic rope to absorb the shock loads of stopping the vehicle in front of it.A slow 5 mph pull began off the mountain going up and down the steep sections of trail on Old Flowers Road, and the team was on pavement around 8 PM last night. The truck was secured where a tow could much more easily access and was hauled into town where a mechanic can look it over.

Colorado 4×4 Rescue and Recovery

We Recover the Rockies!