The good old D-ring itself is perfectly fine. It's what they are mounted to, like any piece of metal with a 90 degree bend in it, that create the problem.
There is a significant difference in moving large equipment around that isn't stuck versus trying to extract a stuck rig.Stuff that's meant to pull equipment way bigger and heavier than anything most people would encounter operating a vehicle.
I don't have a preference. If I were to pick one, the nod would go towards a shackle but the vast majority of shackle mounts are made incorrectly so that defeats any advantage. Hooks are more than fine and we have never had a single hook related issue.
Proper shackle mounts should have a hole large enough to allow the shackle to follow the line of pull and not be turned into a lever that increases the leverage against the shackle tab.I’m probably opening a can of worms with this question, but other than a weak attachment how can a shackle mound be designed incorrectly? I’m still learning...
Can anybody explain to me why most bumper manufactures weld/mount their bumper D-ring tabs in the vertical position versus the horizontal? From my experience, almost all recovery positions entail some level of side pull which the vertical orientation would not favor. When I build my bumper I mounted them horizontally and also slotted the hole so that any vertical load would tilt the shackle and not lever so much on the lug.
Can anybody explain to me why most bumper manufactures weld/mount their bumper D-ring tabs in the vertical position versus the horizontal? From my experience, almost all recovery positions entail some level of side pull which the vertical orientation would not favor. When I build my bumper I mounted them horizontally and also slotted the hole so that any vertical load would tilt the shackle and not lever so much on the lug.
Just so the shackle will be in its natural hanging down position, there's no benefit to vertical or horizontal. A common winching direction is from above to someone below you and I have far more of those types of assists and recoveries than I do pulling from the side.Can anybody explain to me why most bumper manufactures weld/mount their bumper D-ring tabs in the vertical position versus the horizontal? From my experience, almost all recovery positions entail some level of side pull which the vertical orientation would not favor. When I build my bumper I mounted them horizontally and also slotted the hole so that any vertical load would tilt the shackle and not lever so much on the lug.