tow points

[AKMark]

ok, maybe I was a little too brief in my answer. The reciever hitch is 2" wide and the space between the snatch block and wall of the reciever hitch is only hundredths of an inch (ok, maybe a bit more but bear with me). The load is held with the 5/8" of steel but with very little leverage. Now with a strap in the middle there is really no telling if you really push the strap where the most force is, but eventually if you push it the pin will bend and that bend is going to go to the middle giving 1" of leverage. Might not sound like much, but if you compare it to the less then 1/16" originally planned it is a whole bunch and a design for disaster. I have no personal proof of this but I have bent 3/4" tow hooks pulling vehicles out of the mud.

It's good info. I still like hitch pins. I used to use an A model John Deere to pull folks out of the mud pit near our house. I pulled off several bumpers, bent a few frames, even broke a logging chain that was in fairly good shape. I did manage to remove a class 3 hitch from a Suburban. We were using the hitch pin, and it didn't bend. The hitch came off first. I know because it was my hitch pin. That Suburban had to be lifted by a loader then pulled with the A. That was a bad day. I remember lifting the front tires (narrow front) almost two feet off the ground trying to do that one. Scary.

[chwtoy]

Talked about this with my structural engineering buddy and he said the short (1") lever arm wouldn't be enough to worry about the bending forces. The pin wouls still fail in the double shear direction, though he also said even with 3/16 box tubbing chances are the pin would stay intact and the metal would tear.

In that case I would rather have the receiver shackle, since the pin would have to rip through both sides of the tubing the entire length of the receiver vs. just one end ripping enough to let the pin leave the receiver at an angle.

This is of course all in theory and the only practical reason I have seen for having the receiver shackle is to be able to pull or be pulled from the side, as that damages the strap if using just the hitch pin.

On a side note" "michaeljr5" Where did you get the shckle that actually goes through the hitch pin hole and swings in fron tof the receiver? That sound like a great solution and a smaller object to carry around in the truck.

[michaeljr5]

Talked about this with my structural engineering buddy and he said the short (1") lever arm wouldn't be enough to worry about the bending forces. The pin wouls still fail in the double shear direction, though he also said even with 3/16 box tubbing chances are the pin would stay intact and the metal would tear.

In that case I would rather have the receiver shackle, since the pin would have to rip through both sides of the tubing the entire length of the receiver vs. just one end ripping enough to let the pin leave the receiver at an angle.

This is of course all in theory and the only practical reason I have seen for having the receiver shackle is to be able to pull or be pulled from the side, as that damages the strap if using just the hitch pin.

On a side note" "michaeljr5" Where did you get the shckle that actually goes through the hitch pin hole and swings in fron tof the receiver? That sound like a great solution and a smaller object to carry around in the truck.

It's out of this humongous D Ring shackle carrier that looks like it use to be on a tank or a Deuce and a half. Crazyforink gave it to me and it's been kicking around my garage for awhile. If I can get a picture of it, I'll post it. I never had any use for it till Ladydurango actually wanted to take the Durango off road. Now as far as hitches failing, I have a class three 5000 lb hitch on the Dodge, the tranny of the truck is rated to 7500 lbs and I did this on purpose. I want the hitch to fail before the tranny does. Now if I over work the hitch, the 5 bolts that hold it on should snap before the hitch does. :allrighty:

[LowNSlowNeon]

I love how stuff gets off topic but goes into a nice tech thread....

Good information here...

[AKMark]

We're still talking about tow points, so it's all good. On topic in my book and I'm a mod on a HUGE site.

[LowNSlowNeon]

Oh man I wasn't being sarcastic.. I was being for real.

[AKMark]

Oh man I wasn't being sarcastic.. I was being for real.

:gears: :fist::alfdance::owned::fool: :hide::trulies::clown::troutslap::beer::banplease::zj:tupid::fly:

And I'm spent. My kids are driving me nuts, and my hitch pin isn't enough to pull them around with.

[SHoppe715]

This is of course all in theory and the only practical reason I have seen for having the receiver shackle is to be able to pull or be pulled from the side, as that damages the strap if using just the hitch pin.

I've had as many side pulls as straight.