Safety

[Paul Hittie]

OK time to sound like a nag, but a couple things came up yesterday:

Tow points - make sure you have them, and spend the extra $$ to go get some Grade 8 (or 10.8 metric) hardware to attach them, or burn them in with a good welder.  

Hitch balls are NOT designed for the shock loading of recovery - either pull the ball and put a 3.75 ton d-ring through the hole in the draw bar, or better yet pull the draw bar and use the hitch pin on a 2" receiver to hold the loop of the tow strap.  The fewer pieces of metal involved the better off we are.

/end nag/

[Major Mud]

Thanks Paul, couldn't agree more.

[nobodycares]

I agree and start using the coat or something on the strap deal, a tow hook to the head would not be too good.

[TechJeeper]

Hitch balls are NOT designed for the shock loading of recovery - either pull the ball and put a 3.75 ton d-ring through the hole in the draw bar, or better yet pull the draw bar and use the hitch pin on a 2" receiver to hold the loop of the tow strap.  

<< Guilty.

I am getting a new bumper in the very near future... But to make it clear, I wasnt pulling against the ball,  I pulled the strap through the loop and then snugged it onto the receiver post, still not the safest method but wont slip off like just throwing the loop on the ball.

Sorry  :oops:

[dbikers]

<< Guilty.

I am getting a new bumper in the very near future... But to make it clear, I wasnt pulling against the ball,  I pulled the strap through the loop and then snugged it onto the receiver post, still not the safest method but wont slip off like just throwing the loop on the ball.

Sorry  :oops:

i'd swear i had grade 8...but i've never broken grade 8 ....thus, they couldn't have been??  I don't know if they were or not, but i will go through front and rear tow points and make sure.

paul thanks for the rant, we need to be on our toes...we can talk all we want but a couple of things could have gone really bad yesterday.   :oops:

[Paul Hittie]

John you'll know if they were Grade 8 when you try to drill them out, or get a hole started for an easy-out.  If you can drill them, they were probably Grade 5.  I can't find a link for the stamp pattern on the head, but grade 8 has a lot more morkings on the head than grade 5.

[94_xj_country]

if im correct grade-8's have 6 dash marks on the head

[Nosilla]

grade 5 is 3 dashes and 8's have 6 dashes. 10.8's have 6 dashes and a marking saying 10.8.

[naypalm]

Yeah I need to do this to both my front and rear bumpers this spring.

[Major Mud]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are times when grade 5 are better. IIRC, grade 8 is good for a pull against the threads, as they are stronger that way, but they are brittle against shear, as in tow hooks to frame. Maybe I got that backwards, but I know one is better one way than the other.

[Paul Hittie]

To be honest - I dunno.  I have always assumed Grade 8 were better in all respects.  Something worth finding out though.

[Major Mud]

To be honest - I dunno.  I have always assumed Grade 8 were better in all respects.  Something worth finding out though.

Ask and you shall receive. And i will man up and admit that I was fooled into believing the grade 8 vs grade 5 deal. I was taught grade 5 was better in shear due to it's elascticity, or ability to flex. Grade 8 was thought to be brittle when in shear and could break as apposed to flex. I hereby declare I was wrong.

http://www.rockcrawler.com/techreports/ ... /index.asp

[Anonymous]

Nice find!!

[dbikers]

well, i was thinkin' that last night...my front bumper and my tow hooks are bolted to the frame rails using the same bolts...
i was "shocking" my front bumper when "bumping" up against Neil's buick...
i also noticed that my bumper and winch mount are a bit bent on the side that lost the hook...i'm wondering if the "shock" (shear load) or impact slamming broadside into the car fractured or cracked the bolts?  I don't know but i do know that there was quite a bit of slack in the line when Jeff was pullin' me out of the pit...i've been pretty busy since Saturday night and haven't looked at the Jeep since, but either way, looks like grade 8 all the way in just about any application that a stupid jeeper could think of.......

[94_xj_country]

just weld your junk to the jeep, no worries. unless you suck at welding, then please let a pro do it