IMO the soft shackle will fail before the steel one. Even if you were to get the hole in the bumper chamfered, it's still steel rubbing a much softer material causing wear.
Making D-ring mounts soft shackle friendly
- Thread starter Camdenst
- Start date
Yes, maybe "without transferring kinetic energy like steel" would have been a more accurate way of saying it.
I tried to help since it wasn't clear if you had succumbed to the common myth that synthetic just drops to the ground when it breaks. Common, wrong, and still out there being repeated 25 years later.
While that statement is correct on the face of it, it has little to do with reality. The rubbing is minimal and the amount the shackle sees during recoveries would take 100's of times to wear it far enough to fail and to slow down how much rubbing wear happens to one spot, just move it about an inch each time and put a non rubbed section in contact with the hole. Not to mention, you would have to be using a very tiny soft shackle for it to fail during any but the most contrived winch use.
No, I understand the principle (thanks high school physics!) just used poor verbiage.
I also use both steel and soft shackles for the bumper mounts. I wouldn't bet on the soft shackle failing first, BUT I would bet that the 2-shackle combo will handle MUCH higher loads than just a soft shackle connected to a deburred D-ring mount.
Most examples I've seen posted aren't a big enough diameter to maintain full strength. Minimum full-strength static-mount ratio for dyneema is 1:1, so a 1/2" soft shackle needs at least a 1/2" diameter bend. The standard 3/4" steel shackle gives 1.5:1, which is perfect.
My shackle mounts are 3/4" thick, so a proper grind is at least 1/4" radius on each side leaving no more than 1/4" flat in the middle.
People get away with less because shackles are far stronger than needed. But you really don't know how much strength you're losing with a grossly-undersized bend. It'd be cool if someone did some testing.
I also have tow hooks on my front bumper, which have a nice radius and super convenient for attaching soft loops.
I did that testing in a relatively unscientific manner. Stock TJ Unlimited, well mounted receiver hitch. Neighbor got his 2 wheel drive Suburban stuck behind his house trying to use his back gate after some serious rain. Kinetic rope, and neither of us had a proper hitch pin for his receiver. Instead, he stuck a 1/2" allen key through the hole and we used that for the soft shackle. I started easing into in with longer and longer runs until I was backing up with only a few feet between us before punching it. I would only move him a few inches at a time so it was 30+ assaults to get him out.
I fully expected the shackle to fail, it barely suffered a small bit of abrasion damage from the sharpish edges of the hex. That was enough to convince me that most of this stuff is good, but not always as important as we make it out to be.
what about the mall cruisers that drive around with d rings attached all over the place.
I can't explain that but I am surprised that I haven't seen any mall crawlers with multiple soft shackles being displayed. I know there might be the threat of other mall crawlers (not real Jeep people) stealing them but almost any modern super glue could prevent that.
I want as few links in the chain as possible. A proper soft shackle linked to a chamfered D-ring mount or hitch pin on one end is totally sufficient for what we do. Making it stronger or increasing longevity is irrelevant to the equation.
oh for God's sake, now I have to buy a new tool ...
They are noisy, moderately difficult to get consistent results with, and the chamfer/radius is a lot smaller than you think.
What tool would you stick that into and then how do you get it into the bumper tab in any way that gets the intended job done of chamfering the hole?
I keep getting the feeling that some of you guys have never used tools to do things with before.
I keep getting the feeling that some of you guys have never used tools to do things with before.
I know, right?! I have no idea what I would use that tool/bit for. A plain metal file will chamfer the D-ring holes or a die grinder. Easy. If you want to take a significant portion off the edge of sheetmetal or a board get a router! That’s what they do! And I’m really one of the last people that should have any good advice when it comes to tools and terminology since I don’t know much!
I don’t think you’re going to get the clearance to use any kind of router…or described tool above.
A porting bit it might be a better place to start-
If any of you guys have not tried one- the Milwaukee 12 V die grinder is a joy to use.
A porting bit it might be a better place to start-
If any of you guys have not tried one- the Milwaukee 12 V die grinder is a joy to use.
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