D-ring suggestions?

[Jack Stilts]

Looking to get a D-ring / clevis to put on my hitch receiver, but don't know where to start. Do I attach it right to the receiver? Use a shaft? Any suggestions or recommended products would be awesome. Thanks!

[davcos]

You would get something like this

Here is a cheap one from amazon

Here is a cheap one from amazon

[Ricel]

Ive actually been rocing that one for a while. She works good and i can pull someone out if needed.

[Jack Stilts]

That's what I figured. I've seen those, but I've also seen different styles and didn't know if one worked better than the other.

[Dimo]

Not to stop you from spending your money, but you can just use a hitch pin. It works quite well, it's cheap, and it wont effect approach or departure angles like a large shackle sticking out. Plus, with our already low hanging hitches, a lower hanging shackle just does look right to me. Just feed a looped rope through the receiver, then put the pin through. Success.

[Jack Stilts]

@Dimo - I've heard of that. But I've also heard that from an engineering perspective, that's a big no-no. I've heard both success stories and horrible failures. At this point, I'm thinking of just shelling out the $40~ and going with the "rather safe than sorry" approach.

[robcarync]

The load is carried through the hitch pin regardless of which device you loop your strap to. The only difference is whether you have the strap on the pin or the shackle. Depending on how you loop the tow strap around the pin, you could get an uneven stress distribution/concentration in the pin. The good thing about the receiver/D-ring is it ensures the stress in the pin is always uniform. For most tow jobs, I wouldn't think it would cause a problem, but there is always the possibility. I have no experience either way, this is just a little engineering thoughts off the top of my head.

On a side note, since this is a related thread:

My X has stock bumpers and no trailer hitch. Do I need D-Rings for stock tow points? I've crawled around a little bit under the X and wasn't really sure. I haven't been off road yet, but am working towards having my X trail ready...what are my options?

Thanks

[Ricel]

Rob:
I'd suggest picking up a hitch if your not going to upgrade the bumper soon. The stock bumper mounts are held to the frame with sheet metal and outing a load like a tug in it will just find you staring at a bumper on te ground.


I tried the shackle pin idea before but you can't really get the recov straps loop in the receiver very easily. I use a synth shackle to make it easier.

[robcarync]

OK cool thanks, good to know...I will bump the trailer hitch up a little bit higher on my priority list. Is there any place to recover from in the stock front tow points, or should I just never go somewhere that I can't be recovered from the trailer hitch?

[Jack Stilts]

You know, I was just wondering the same thing. How would I go about mounting front-end D-rings, or some other recovery point?