Receiver Shackle Advice Please

[Ultima Thule]

I have a 2021 Rubicon Unlimited, and just got a trailer hitch installed, wasn’t one on it from the factory, and I wasn’t going to pay dealer prices! Now I need a shackle to mount a D-ring. What advice and brands can you point me to? Looking for very occasional use, not going into business pulling people out or getting stuck, but I like to be prepared.

Thank you for the help!

 

[shrineboy]

I have a 2021 Rubicon Unlimited, and just got a trailer hitch installed, wasn’t one on it from the factory, and I wasn’t going to pay dealer prices! Now I need a shackle to mount a D-ring. What advice and brands can you point me to? Looking for very occasional use, not going into business pulling people out or getting stuck, but I like to be prepared.

Thank you for the help!

Factor 55 makes pretty good stuff and they test all of the stuff they make.

 

[nwoods]

Bill Burke recommends just inserting the eye of your recovery strap into the hitch receiver, and threading the hitch pin through both. The hitch pin carries the load. While extremely simple, I have always been a bit dubious about this method

 

[Ultima Thule]

I certainly wouldn’t presume to contradict Bill Burke, but that just doesn’t “feel” right to me.

Looking at the Factor55 stuff. I will not buy anything made in China, already had their flu and was not impressed.

 

[BritKLR]

Well done doing your research and looking for "certified, rated and tested" recovery tools. As for receiver pin technique, Bill does discuss it, demonstrates it, yet he also cautions it's use do to possible pin failure/bending since that is not what the pins are designed/rated for. In his own training kits he uses rated receiver/shackle recovery points.

Factor 55 and Safe-Extract recovery gear seems to be what the pros are using. Cheers and be safe!

 

[jbaucom]

I have a Reese shackle mount in my truck receiver. I also considered Curt, among others, but the Reese was cheaper at that time. Neither has a fancy off-road branding markup. Both companies make solid towing equipment, and the shackle mount is a solid piece of steel. Mine takes a 7/8" shackle and came with an unbranded Chinese 6.5T shackle with the WLL cast into it. I figure it's sufficient for recovery, but I bought a US made Campbell 7/8" shackle and put the Chinese one in my wife's Subaru (which also takes a 7/8" shackle in its recovery point) because it's a couple thousand pounds lighter than my truck.

Unless you just enjoy analyzing things, don't overthink it. Buy one that's a solid piece of steel and add a quality shackle. There are a lot of good, name-brand shackles that are rated for lifting which are more than sufficient for recovery and don't cost a fortune. I've had good luck finding deals on new Van Beest, Campbell, CMP Titan, & Chicago 3/4" & 7/8" shackles in the $15-$20 range.

 

[carleton]

I have a Reese shackle mount in my truck receiver. I also considered Curt, among others, but the Reese was cheaper at that time. Neither has a fancy off-road branding markup. Both companies make solid towing equipment, and the shackle mount is a solid piece of steel. Mine takes a 7/8" shackle and came with an unbranded Chinese 6.5T shackle with the WLL cast into it. I figure it's sufficient for recovery, but I bought a US made Campbell 7/8" shackle and put the Chinese one in my wife's Subaru (which also takes a 7/8" shackle in its recovery point) because it's a couple thousand pounds lighter than my truck.

Unless you just enjoy analyzing things, don't overthink it. Buy one that's a solid piece of steel and add a quality shackle. There are a lot of good, name-brand shackles that are rated for lifting which are more than sufficient for recovery and don't cost a fortune. I've had good luck finding deals on new Van Beest, Campbell, CMP Titan, & Chicago 3/4" & 7/8" shackles in the $15-$20 range.

I think one of the considerations of a Factor55 vs. a Reese/Curt is steel vs. Aluminum with regards to weight. A quick look is that Factor 55 is 2lbs (aluminum) vs. 10.5 lbs steel for a Curt one.

Some folks may have a rig that is already pushing the boundaries of weight, so paying the extra money may be worth it to them.

Otherwise I'd agree not to overthink it.

 

[JackW]

I have a Warn shackle adapter that I've used for many years. I use Crosby shackles.

 

[Superduty]

Bill Burke recommends just inserting the eye of your recovery strap into the hitch receiver, and threading the hitch pin through both. The hitch pin carries the load. While extremely simple, I have always been a bit dubious about this method

35 yrs of four wheeling I've done it this way. No problems yet. Obviously, my experience is a small sampling.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[billiebob]

Bill Burke recommends just inserting the eye of your recovery strap into the hitch receiver, and threading the hitch pin through both. The hitch pin carries the load. While extremely simple, I have always been a bit dubious about this method

agreed, quick, simple, light, convenient but ask any manufacturer and they will tell you, not engineered for the bending loads applied to the pin. Shackle pins are only rated for shear forces of holding a reciever ball. It only works til it doesn't.

There are hundreds of products built, engineered to do this.

 

[BritKLR]

Not sure what is meant by "don't over think it" regarding the safe use of recovery gear. Maybe a little training and understanding of the forces involved could be helpful while trying to recover a multi-ton vehicle in the wild.

For example, a basic 4-door Rubicon weighs in at +/- 4200 lbs, add another +/- 1000lbs of driver, fuel, gear, RRT, supplies, hotdogs and beer and your close to +/- 2.5 tons. Since we're talking about pulling a stuck vehicle, throw in a mire factor of 100% to 150% (stuck in mud upto the wheel rim or axle) and you could be well over 5-6.25 tons really quickly, then throw in a winch pull or a couple of tow strap pulls or a couple of dynamic strap yanks and you may very quickly exceed the truly unknown WLL of a Chinese shackle or hitch pin. Just good info to know.

What I'm not saying is don't use these things, sometimes it's all you have. Heck, most of us have (including extension cords, garden hoses, swingset chain, jumper cables, barb wire, random pieces of clothing and/or many loops 550 cord) for one reason or another but, there is better and safer gear and techniques available now that will result in a safer recovery. Cheers.

 

[Superduty]

I am guessing the tow strap fails before a hitch pin is sheared. I am talking about a high quality hitch with a 5/8" hitch pin. The sheer strength of a 5/8 pin is probably pretty high. I suppose you might bend a hitch pin from trying to snatch out a vehicle, but I am guessing that is mostly internet lore. I have never seen a photo of a bent hitch pin from someone getting pulled out from being stuck.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

If You want higher bend resistance from the pin, use a short piece of heavy walled tube inside the strap (that the pin passes through).
Then all the loads on the pin will be shear.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[BritKLR]

FWIW, I agree that depending on the strap, a cheap strap or poorly cared for strap (tow strap, dynamic strap) may break before other parts do. As for the hitch pin, they most likely won't "shear" but bend and possible break if overloaded. They are designed for the receiver shear load versus the center point load a strap puts on them.
A good article regarding these loads is attached.

So a hitch ball is okay as a recovery point? (But I saw it on the Internet!) — Exploring Overland

A couple weeks ago Gigglepin 4x4, a UK company that specializes in high-quality 4x4 recovery gear, especially for competition, posted a video on Facebook that showed someone attaching one of their rapid-deployment Hook Link recovery hooks to . . . a hitch ball. The reaction was swift. Several peopl

www.exploringoverland.com

 

[Metcalf]

This is how I solved all the common issues.



I call it the SSRA ( Soft Shackle Receiver Adapter) 'SaRAh' Device.

Features-

-Safe 1.0" working pin diameter for soft shackle load interface. This provides the strongest possible connection to the common 5/8" pin diameter possible in the 2.0 size hitch. There is also a 1/4" radius on each side to provide additional beam strength and to help limit the potential for any crack propagation at the root.

-The large 3/8" 'working' radius on the entrance of the SSRA provides protection for the soft shackle at 90 degrees in any direction without the need for re-rigging.

-Internal 5-axis machined 'reverse bell' provides a safe gentle transition to the working pin from the mouth opening

-Constructed from 6061-T6 aluminum, the SSRA ( 2.0 size ) weights only 0.74lbs. The minimized mass provides increased safety if the hitch pin was to catastrophically fail.

-The short 2.63" working length provides protection for the device as it is almost totally encapsulated by your common receiver hitch length. This greatly decreases the risk of damaging the unit with a rock strike.

-Currently provided in a bare aluminum finish. The bare aluminum allows for simple tactile inspection of all the critical surfaces for damage while providing for an easy repair of any damage found ( with a small fine file or 800grit sandpaper ) A light wax coating is enough to provide long term protection. (I do not recommend storing the device full time in the receiver hitch)

-Leverage limiting. The short length of the SSRA helps minimize leverage on the receiver assembly when pulling off angle.