Receiver Shackle Advice Please

[BritKLR]

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.

That's some mad milling skills!

 

[Metcalf]

That's some mad milling skills!

Thank you, it was a very challenging part to have manufactured. All that is sorted now in the 2.0 size, now moving onto the 2.5 and 3.0 version.

 

[WOODY2]

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.

Hey I have one of those. It's almost too pretty to use.

 

[jbaucom]

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.

I re-read the thread and don't see where anyone said "don't overthink" the safe use of recovery gear.

The original question was about a receiver shackle mount for recovery. As long as one is buying a solid mount from a reputable manufacturer of towing/recovery gear, there's no need to overthink the receiver insert mount designed for a shackle (not speaking of the shackle itself, just the receiver insert). As was rightly pointed out, there are valid reasons to consider the weight of the mount and choose aluminum instead of steel. Reese, Curt, Superwinch, Warn, Factor 55, and I'm sure there are others, all make a solid receiver shackle mount. A hitch pin, strap, the hitch structure itself, or the bolts holding the hitch to the frame, are all more likely to fail than that solid chunk of steel or aluminum that's inserted into the hitch. A properly rated shackle from a reputable manufacturer is still necessary.

 

[Ultima Thule]

I started to order one of Metcalf’s design from Brennan’s Garage (not related in anyway) because I appreciate the compact, simple design. And I will likely get one of those in the future as well.

Considered the Factor55, but then settled on the USA made, aluminum version from Agency6. I wanted USA made for sure. The deciding factor was that I was just given a $60 Amazon gift card, and they happen to be $59.99, LOL!

I have learned quite a bit reading this thread, thank you and please keep the education coming my way, I am others appreciate it!

 

[dstefan]

I started to order one of Metcalf’s design from Brennan’s Garage (not related in anyway) because I appreciate the compact, simple design. And I will likely get one of those in the future as well.

Considered the Factor55, but then settled on the USA made, aluminum version from Agency6. I wanted USA made for sure. The deciding factor was that I was just given a $60 Amazon gift card, and they happen to be $59.99, LOL!

I have learned quite a bit reading this thread, thank you and please keep the education coming my way, I am others appreciate it!

I did buy one of his. Haven't needed it yet, but very impressed with the workmanship - top notch. I also like that its much smaller and more lightweight than other hitch shackle blocks.

 

[DCH109]

So I have the Factor 55 one (it was old stock from my company and yes US made). I had the solid steel one from made by someone else, however it walked away one day.
The steel ones with a soft shackle will not work unless they have been milled with rounded edges. the Factor 55 unit is rounded and will work with soft shackles and metal shackles.
I think Factor55 still includes the tests they do on these hitch receiver tow points in the box.

 

[Metcalf]

I re-read the thread and don't see where anyone said "don't overthink" the safe use of recovery gear.

The original question was about a receiver shackle mount for recovery. As long as one is buying a solid mount from a reputable manufacturer of towing/recovery gear, there's no need to overthink the receiver insert mount designed for a shackle (not speaking of the shackle itself, just the receiver insert). As was rightly pointed out, there are valid reasons to consider the weight of the mount and choose aluminum instead of steel. Reese, Curt, Superwinch, Warn, Factor 55, and I'm sure there are others, all make a solid receiver shackle mount. A hitch pin, strap, the hitch structure itself, or the bolts holding the hitch to the frame, are all more likely to fail than that solid chunk of steel or aluminum that's inserted into the hitch. A properly rated shackle from a reputable manufacturer is still necessary.

The typical 5/8 hitch pin is going to be the most critical part in the assembly ( smallest widest beam section ). A quality unit is going to show signs of failure about 35klbs-ish ( and there is no rating system on them in the market pretty much at all ). The good news is that most hitch assemblies are going to start to show signs of bending the main tube long before that. If you are bending your hitch tube, use more shovel in the recovery. A receiver hitch is actually one of the better recovery structures on most vehicles as it loads the frame rails rather evenly and distributes loads out over longer sections of the frame rail. The failure mechanism ( tube bending ) is also rather safe and visually apparent before something more catastrophic like the frame or fasteners failing. LIke all recovery gear, the receiver hitch assembly should be regularly inspected for cracks in welds, any folded tabs, and all hardware.

 

[Superduty]

I just looked at the Agency 6 product.

They indicate a WLL of 13,000 lbs for the block and then 9500 lbs for the shackle.

If you have a full size pick up truck it's fairly easy to get to these numbers, particularly if stuck in mud.

How do those numbers translate into real world safety?

Someone above mentioned that the agency 6 block can be used for soft spackle and steel shackle. Be real careful if you interchange them. Any rough edge caused by the steel shackle can be detrimental for a soft shackle.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Metcalf]

I just looked at the Agency 6 product.

They indicate a WLL of 13,000 lbs for the block and then 9500 lbs for the shackle.

If you have a full size pick up truck it's fairly easy to get to these numbers, particularly if stuck in mud.

How do those numbers translate into real world safety?

Someone above mentioned that the agency 6 block can be used for soft spackle and steel shackle. Be real careful if you interchange them. Any rough edge caused by the steel shackle can be detrimental for a soft shackle.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

In general, I believe most of the WLL 'ratings' are seeing in the market are just CYA marketing with little actual value.

Anything WLL rated, should also have a FOS ( Factor of Safety ) available and listed. This IS available for most metal shackles used in overhead lifting at places like Crosby. Overhead lifting usually requires a FOS of 4-6:1 depending on the device. Vehicle recovery ( drag loading ) is trending towards 2-3:1 FOS in the market, but has no real driver behind that to date. The metal shackle that is '9500lb' WLL, would have a MBS ( minimum breaking strength ) of anywhere from 20000-60000lb depending on who is doing the 'rating'.

Most of these devices are build around using the standard 3/4" Screw Pin Anchor Shackle. A good quality unit is usually rated at 4.75 ton WLL ( usually metric tons, not US tons ). They can be proof tested to something like 1.5 times WLL for 20,000 cycles. Minimum Breaking strength from Crosby is 6:1(!), so we would be looking at 62,700lbs(!)

Here is the issue.

All this (potential mass) is connecting to a 5/8" diameter hitch pin. Most of those do not have any kind of similar rating. Very high quality units like the one available from Factor 55 is listed as '50,000+ lb Shear Strength'. I have found very few examples of ratings on pins. I always recommend using the highest quality pin you can find. Do NOT use a bolt, even a Grade 8, if any of the threads are inside the hitch assembly. The shank would need to be longer than the hitch is wide. But what FOS should we use for a hitch pin.

Hitch Pins | Factor 55

factor55.com

Then there is the hitch itself. They do have a rating for TOWING, but not one for recovery work. I do honestly think that it is one of the better engineered and durable structures on the truck to pull from, but it falls on it's face when we look at trying to figure out what they should be 'rated' for in recovery work. I've definitely seen failed hitches that may or may not have been used for recovery. Who knows.....

On the use of a soft shackle. That device does not have large enough radii to prevent fiber damage at high loads.

 

[Wilbah]

This post reflects why the receiver hitch may not be the best way to go for a recovery. Granted I don't know a lot about what they did from the article but the ball was not the weak link, the entire receiver tube let go. So while Factor 55 or some other similar 3ntity might make something bulletproof if the receiver tube lets go it's horrible. Just be careful.

Freak Accident Kills Good Samaritan Trying To Pull A Rig Out Of The Mud!

Stay Safe Out There, Y’all! https://www.azfamily.com/2022/08/06/kingman-mom-raising-awareness-about-proper-towing-techniques-after-husbands-death/ From what I can interpret from this story, this well intentioned, helpful guy had headed out to try to pull another rig out of the mud, when his...

expeditionportal.com

 

[Metcalf]

This post reflects why the receiver hitch may not be the best way to go for a recovery. Granted I don't know a lot about what they did from the article but the ball was not the weak link, the entire receiver tube let go. So while Factor 55 or some other similar 3ntity might make something bulletproof if the receiver tube lets go it's horrible. Just be careful.

Freak Accident Kills Good Samaritan Trying To Pull A Rig Out Of The Mud!

Stay Safe Out There, Y’all! https://www.azfamily.com/2022/08/06/kingman-mom-raising-awareness-about-proper-towing-techniques-after-husbands-death/ From what I can interpret from this story, this well intentioned, helpful guy had headed out to try to pull another rig out of the mud, when his...

expeditionportal.com

The receiver hitch assembly is one of the most well engineered structures on a vehicle. It typically has a known 'rating', which is better than 90% of other devices I see bolted to vehicles. We typically don't know what the FoS was when it was designed unfortunately, but it was intended to last the life of the vehicle with weights often exceeding the vehicle GVW slamming back and forth, up and down, on it for a few million cycles.

In failure, during gross abuse, they will tend to bend the main crossover tube. This is honestly typically a 'safe' failure mode that is easy to spot during a casual inspection. The most common issues I see with hitch assemblies is missing hardware at the frame connection points. Either they where never installed or vibrated lose. Always at least do a casual inspection of what you are hooking to!

A good quality hitch pin, usually made of material with about 100k psi Tensile capacity ( grade 5 equivalent generally speaking ), will start to show signs of failure in double shear above 35,000lbs. There are a few different factors in putting a hard number on that.....gaps, oversize holes, etc. In lab style testing, good quality 5/8 pins can exceed 50,000lbs when properly loaded.

When in doubt, use more shovel.

 

[Wilbah]

The receiver hitch assembly is one of the most well engineered structures on a vehicle. It typically has a known 'rating', which is better than 90% of other devices I see bolted to vehicles. We typically don't know what the FoS was when it was designed unfortunately, but it was intended to last the life of the vehicle with weights often exceeding the vehicle GVW slamming back and forth, up and down, on it for a few million cycles.

In failure, during gross abuse, they will tend to bend the main crossover tube. This is honestly typically a 'safe' failure mode that is easy to spot during a casual inspection. The most common issues I see with hitch assemblies is missing hardware at the frame connection points. Either they where never installed or vibrated lose. Always at least do a casual inspection of what you are hooking to!

A good quality hitch pin, usually made of material with about 100k psi Tensile capacity ( grade 5 equivalent generally speaking ), will start to show signs of failure in double shear above 35,000lbs. There are a few different factors in putting a hard number on that.....gaps, oversize holes, etc. In lab style testing, good quality 5/8 pins can exceed 50,000lbs when properly loaded.

When in doubt, use more shovel.

100% my bad. Read it on my phone and I thought the receiver tube had split apart. I see it now (when I open my damn eyes... ?) the hitch " bar" broke off. Thanks for correcting that. I still get leery of any receiver hitch recoveries as the static load of a trailer (while heavy certainly) are not the same as a recovery "jerk". Too often guys seem to say "if I get a really good running start it will come out". Anyway good discussion on right/wrong ways to do things. This is one of those areas where cheap can be far more expensive in the long run.

 

[BritKLR]

This is going around as an example of a hitch pin failure (bent) as a recovery point. Someone said they had never seen a hitch pin bend.........Don't know the details of the pull, just fyi.

 

[pith helmet]

I’ve used the pin technique plenty in straight pulls. I always figured that it wouldn’t fail easily and if it did, there would be a low likelihood of it becoming a projectile.