Recovery with ball hitch?

A hitch for a D-ring costs way more than one for a ball. What about just sticking a D-ring through instead of the ball? Wouldn't that be strong enough for recovery? Or just loop the strap around the ball like a slip noose. What's wrong with these ideas?

Idea 1 is fine, people do this. People also just get a hitch pin and put it through the loop of the strap inside of the receiver and call it good.

Idea 2 is a bad idea, balls become projectiles.

The practicality of it is certainly fine. I have personally recovered a full-size Ford Bronco with my 96 XJ using my class 1 hitch with ball receiver tied to the other guy's ball hitch with a tow strap.

i have also had fun pulling around in the mud with a tow strap just pushed into my receiver and held by the pin.

The question comes in on the possibility of failure. You're using a structure for a purpose that is was not designed for. It might hold, it might not.

I started off using my ball hitch. But, mid summer I drilled 2 holes in the top of my hitch and mounted a hook to it. Works really well. The ball is still usable but, probably reeduced the rating on it quite a bit. Chris

i bought a tow hook reciever for $10 thats something anyone can afford

TheBlackSheep said:

i bought a tow hook reciever for $10 thats something anyone can afford

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Where???

I got mine at Northern... 11 bux

Highlander said:

I got mine at Northern... 11 bux

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Just checked there... $25 now :tears:

even so, if you can't afford recovery equipment over everything else, you oughta find a different sport.

I do it the cheap, but still safe way. Go to Wally World, and buy a $1.67 hitch pin. Put the strap in, slide the pin in, and presto! If the pin is strong enough to hold on a hitch, and hold in a reciever shackle for recovery, it is strong enough to use as so. I have had zero problems using it this way.

CanMan said:

I do it the cheap, but still safe way. Go to Wally World, and buy a $1.67 hitch pin. Put the strap in, slide the pin in, and presto! If the pin is strong enough to hold on a hitch, and hold in a reciever shackle for recovery, it is strong enough to use as so. I have had zero problems using it this way.

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Remember, though, that when it's holding in an insert, all it has to do is not shear. If it's a tight fit in the holes, it does not have to resist bending. I don't know how much force would be required to bend the pin, but if it did it might be a nuisance to get back out.

hammers i got it probably 8 months ago

Not sure if all hitches are made the same, by my Mopar hitch allows me to girth hitch my tow strap through the receiver. No pin/ball/ring necessary. I just feed the loop into the receiver, pull it out just behind the gas tank, and then feed the rest of the strap through the loop. I should probably be concerned with some semi-sharp edges, but so far its worked flawlessly.

- Jay

ddeadserious said:

even so, if you can't afford recovery equipment over everything else, you oughta find a different sport.

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What he said.

Ralph said:

What he said.

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I'll agree, but if I can save $30 and get by with just the pin instead of a hitch hook, I will. I know I'll have to spend more for recovery points in the front. Seems like the hook/shackle in the back is optional, and as money is tight for now, it'll have to wait.

I'll agree with Matthew Curie...those cheap hitch pins can withstand a lot of shear stress...but bending stress is another story! At least the hitch pin method is loads better than using the hitch ball! NEVER use the ball...it will become a cannonball when it fails!

I have a shackle/tow strap mounted through the ball mount hole in my hitch insert. subsequently secured to the receiver with the a standard hitch pin. no problems recovering this way.

I have a shackle/tow strap mounted through the ball mount hole in my hitch insert. subsequently secured to the receiver with the a standard hitch pin. no problems recovering this way.

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Keep in mind that the hitch drop is welded to the end of the hitch tube. I don't how likely this scenario is, but it could separate. Before purchasing a receiver shackle, I used the strap through the hitch pin 3 or 4 different times without it bending. My pulls were very tame though...

Markos said:

Keep in mind that the hitch drop is welded to the end of the hitch tube. I don't how likely this scenario is, but it could separate. ...

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huh???

only thing welded is the hitch itself... not sure what the "hitch drop" is.... maybe where the safety chains are attached if actually using it to tow. I wouldn't recomend attaching and recovery equipment to these.

tow ball (w/o ball) with shackle (where the ball used to be) connected with a nylon tow strap.

has always been solid for me...

hes talking about the insert you install into the receiver that has the hole for the ball. the part that holds the ball is flat and welded to the 2x2 square tube at an angle. hes talking about those 2 pieces coming apart.
i would guess the pin would fail in shear before the weld on those 2 components would fail. of course we are talking about mass produce parts made in 3rd world countries by people who get paid $.05 a day. I have used this method before with no problems intall shackle through the hole for the ball and away you go.. i actually flipped mine so it was not dropped and it was raised the 2 inches or whatever so it wasnt so much in the mud..

On this note how many people use pintle hitches for recovery?
I have twice not real hard pulls though..

Someone mentioned about wrapping the strap around the hitch frame and pulling it back through itself. Bad idea.
1 they are sometimes hard to get back apart after pulling
2 they are not mmeant to be tied like that and due decrease the strength
3 if it rubs the bumper when pulling youll toast your strap in no time.

I did a hard recovery. Buddy put his F-250 with plow in the center of the expressway in snow at 1 am. i got the call. i took my 99 superduty out there with a 4" strap(yes 4 inch i broke a 2 inch once) he was facing traffic so i pulled up infront of him front to front( he was in 3' of snow, black ice lost it into the ditch) cold etc... we tried to find a good pull point on his older 250 and there was non except wrapping around the plow frame( going under the plow,which was lifted all the way up.) and then to my truck shackled to the factory front tow hook...
well after about 8-10 hard pulls i got him up and out. but my 4" strap was shreeded near the end where it had rubbed up against the bumper..
I said to my self never again will i strap a vehicle like that.
The state police were there the whole time and he still got a ticket for too fast for conditions even though it was black ice, and he almost got rear ended by another car while sitting there..