Harbor Freight $9 receiver tow hook

[Halboo]

For a few bucks more you can have something a whole lot safer and more adaptable.

I've said it before; I am very leery of any discount house/offshore fab'd gear that may be put under a heavy strain.
My 2¢

 

[ntsqd]

The only problem with those is their unnecessary mass. There is no reason that the 2" square section needs to be solid other than for ease of manufacture.
Still, I'd take one of those over anything with a hook.

 

[DaveInDenver]

There is no reason that the 2" square section needs to be solid other than for ease of manufacture.

Nothing wrong with that! I'll don't mind living with the extra few pounds.

 

[flyingwil]

What are the advantages of the hook? I think the shackle is much more better IMO.

 

[Halboo]

I was a Boatswain's Mate in the Navy and have worked as a shipyard rigger so I have extensive experience when it comes to moving heavy stuff.
For a hook to work properly(read safely) it must be moused (seized off) thereby nagating it's only advantage which is speed.

 

[ntsqd]

Nothing wrong with that! I'll don't mind living with the extra few pounds.

It's nit-picky since I'm sure I've given away those pounds elsewhere w/o realizing it, but every pound I don't carry extends my range that much further & improves the ride quality.

Agreed that making it that way max's out the load rating, but I've got to wonder if it were actually engineered & mfg'd with efficient materials use in mind just how much more it would cost and how much less it would weigh.
As an experiment I pocketed the sides of a model 3/4" deep w/ 5* of draft angle. In Ductile iron that cut 1.13 pounds from a 5 pound part. Would want to do some analysis to be sure, but SOP is that this didn't significantly alter the stresses in the part. Looking at that from the mfg point of view that means that the metal for every 5th part is free since marketing isn't likely to cut the price of the new and improved part.

 

[Willman]

^..Nice work!

I think that habor Freight looks like plastic coated with steel:hehe:......

 

[\\'anderer]

If anyone needs one.. may be good for one pull only since it's from Harbor Freight lol

But hey $9.99, Can't beat that!

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95594

***NOTE*** it's rated for 10,000 lbs

I'm having nightmares of a small black cresent shaped object flying through the air at high velocity:Wow1: