Factor 55 flat link vs standard winch hook
- Thread starter jazngab
- Start date
My jeep never have that tow hook. So I was not aware. The way the savvy bumper frame tie ins are placed I'm not sure I would be able to use that mounting location. I will have to look when I get home.
Nobody's Jeep has that tow hook; that's an aftermarket model that's been mounted into an existing hole, with a second hole drilled in an appropriate location. Regardless of location, the same idea applies: make a direct connection and skip mounting something to something to something to a shackle if possible.
The milspec grade of hard anodizing is the same stuff they use on higher end cookware like Calphalon which is what gives that stuff its particular greyish color. Again though, it's the same spiel. You need this and no one has shown nor does the problem exist with higher grade aluminum alloys being detrimental to synthetic lines when they are in raw form or coated from other forms of anodizing. I don't disagree with the use of it at all.
Read the caution about side loading and go from there. Thor at Viking made one many years ago and it failed in side load tests, horribly.
As i suspected I cannot place a tow hook were the above picture shows one do to the design of the savvy frame tie in, seems I am very limited in my options. what would be the difference in side loading a hitch link vs. side loading the tow hook shown above? Does the tow hook have a rating that is that much higher? In the picture posted above by @Mr.Bills wouldn't you be side loading that hook anytime you use it? Does that tow hook have a rated capacity on it? in looking at the hitch link they are rated for 9k lbs. I know you have to reduce that amount when side loading, but how much?
If you have a soft shackle and a receiver pin, stick the shackle in the receiver, stab the pin through it and there is all the recovery point you will likely ever need. Personal preference only, I've never been a fan of the frame hook mounted that way.
Other than being aluminum how is it different than the $25 one that you pickup at places like princess auto (and I assume harbor freight)? I suppose being lighter it's less of an impact if it let loose but I'm betting if that happens both will do similar damage to a soft squishy human body.
Funny enough I was once dead stuck on my factory tow hook. Couldn't go forward due to the rock face I was planning to drive a few feet up and then reverse off of to reposition. Tow hook dropped under the lip of what I thought was a smallish rock... Turned out to be a solid chunk of the Canadian shield. Once the hook snapped in half I was completely free. It can be a clearance issue.
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There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
other than being aluminum it's not. I only brought it up because i was looking for an option for a recovery point on my rear bumper, and this thread was about factor 55, it made me curious because I hadn't really looked at their products. In browsing their website I came across the hitch link so I asked a few questions about it. In the end @mrblaine pointed me in the right direction, I now have a viable way of recovery using a soft shackle and a hitch pin.
Hmm he must have posted that while I was typing my response. Good solution, I've done it with straps before but a soft shackle is a great idea. @mrblaine I've never seen this but I've heard of people bending hitch pins using them with recovery straps. Is that something you've seen or is it just internet lore started by someone using an old nail?
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There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
Yes, we've seen bent ones. Also saw a bent Allen Wrench that was just small enough to fit through the hole in the receiver this past Saturday. I bent it with a soft shackle and a kinetic rope trying to yank my neighbor's Suburban out that was buried to the running boards. Knowing my neighbor though, I can't vouch for the quality of the Allen Wrench.
The other side is we have never bent one on the trail but we aren't yanking on them. Yanking with a snatch strap is the only way we have seen them bend.
Good to know, so it would seem like the best bet is use the pin and a soft shackle for winching, and a shackle hitch mount for recovery straps.
—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
Just because we haven't seen it winching doesn't make it impossible to do so keep that in mind and evaluate the pull and modify the set up appropriately.
I have a couple questions as I try to be more safe while winching. What is the main purpose of a safety thimble? I thought is was to keep hands away from the fairlead as well as damaging the fairlead with the small thimble/hook? What other benefits are there? Looking to purchase some soft shackles to use for safety reasons, but need to get ride of the giant hook on the winch line for them to be any benefit.
It forces you to use correct rigging technique while posing no risk of damage to the fairlead and/or the winch rope.
I have steel line and the typical roller fairlead. While not the most glamorous looking, I use a shackle and some big ass washers. The washers keep the shackle snug and protect the rollers and my hand. Also keeps it out of the way so I can mount my license plate to the rollers. Any problems with this setup?
That is one area I don't understand. How does the safety thimble prevent your hand from being sucked into the fairlead? Simply because its large enough you don't worry about guiding a normal thimble into the fairlead?