paulforeman
Active member
You don't need to spend over $150-$250 for a piece of aluminum bling... That's just one more piece of metal to go flying when the winch rope breaks anyways. Don't hear me wrong. I'm not trashing on Factor 55 products. They seem great (although I've never used any of them). It's just unnecessary for most people. The Factor 55 ultra hook might be helpful in certain scenarios, but usually you could use a shackle in place of a hook anyways, which is safer in my opinion since you have a closed loop. Most people are just putting a shackle in their Factor 55 Flat Link if they ever use it anyways. So why not skip the $150+ social-media-influencer bling and just put a 3/4" shackle right in the end of you winch cable. You're going to be using a shackle with the Factor 55 link anyways, so why not cut down on cost? Get a good rust-proof shackle (painted, zinc coated, etc) and just leave it in the winch. It doesn't rattle if your cable is tight. Ditch that crappy hook that came with your winch though. It's working load limit is only 5400lbs if it's a Smittybilt anyways, so it's already unsafe. But just use a shackle in it's place.
Just an idea, It's what I'm doing and it works perfectly for every situation I've ever been it. If you're worried about using a shackle against a shackle in a recovery-type situation (which you don't need to be), you can get some isolators like the one on my shackle and just use that.
Good luck and be safe on your recoveries.
Just an idea, It's what I'm doing and it works perfectly for every situation I've ever been it. If you're worried about using a shackle against a shackle in a recovery-type situation (which you don't need to be), you can get some isolators like the one on my shackle and just use that.
Good luck and be safe on your recoveries.
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