Just get a shackle to replace the hook on your winch. It's cheaper amd has the same results

Thank you! We appreciate your business and support!

Hi Richard, thank you for your comment and your business. Yes, sometimes the thimbles (metal eyelet at the end of synthetic winch line) are flared out and need to be modified slightly to fit. You can see a video and photos of this on our FAQ. factor55.com/faq/ The ProLink is a great product for protecting the end of the synthetic rope but can have the pacifier look or like the vehicles tongue is sticking out. lol The FlatLink products or any of our foldable shackle mounts provide the same type of Closed System safety as the ProLink but may end up with a better look that you might like more. Please let us know if you have any questions and thank you again for your business!

Thank you for your comment, this is why we only sell USA made Crosby Shackles on our website. As far as using just a Crosby shackle at the end of your winch line thimble, check out the FAQ on our website. www.factor55.com/FAQ You will find some pictures that will help explain. Why can't I just run a shackle through the end of my winch line? Most thimbles are designed to collapse under hard pulls. When this happens trying to run a standard 3/4 shackle pin through the end of your winch line is impossible. The 5/8 titanium double shear pin that comes standard with our winch line shackle mounts slides through with ease. Allowing your shackle to have a new safe and secure home on the front of your vehicle paired with our shackle mount. The integrated EPDM rubber boot allows the winch line shackle mounts to be snugged tightly to your Fairlead preventing rattles and protecting your Fairlead from a metal to metal connection. Properly stowing your winch line behind the Fairlead protecting it from any vulnerability.

F E that is incorrect. The advantage of our winch line shackle mounts is they work with both steel cable or synthetic rope.

Conlan109 absolutely! factor55.com/product/replacementparts/

Kacper Ząbczyk Kacper Ząbczyk not true. All of our winch line shackle mounts are made from USA made Kaiser billet aluminum with material lot traceability. The double shear pins are cut out of titanium rod and each winch line shackle mount breaks at twice the strength of a conventional winch hook. Conventional winch hooks are made from steel. All Factor 55 products are lighter weight and have higher breaking strengths and Made in the USA.

Factor 55 then I will happily get one for my truck. Good job guys

Lowcountry Adventures lol the tires were changed on his Jeep shortly after this shoot. Winching was only performed at that location for demonstration not for need.

ok i was like... wow nice jeep and bald tires?

Lowcountry Adventures lol agreed. There will be more videos coming up featuring all our current builds.

To simply demonstrate that not all winch ropes come with gusseted tube thimbles. In fact, most do not. Thanks!

Jared Chandler nice catch. Yes sir. It is a powered switch that operates the IN/OUT control on the winch. The powered switch is turned on by the sPOD. The Rocker switches and Custom switch covers can all be sourced from sPOD or from OTRATTW Switches. For a detailed description give us a call anytime between 8-5pm M-F MST and ask for Justin. Thanks!

@@Factor55 I have an SPOD and OTRATTW switches. Great products. I'll be calling soon to get the info! Thanks!

MrAbsentdriver thanks for your comments. Have you visited our website? We have shackle mount products starting as low as 59.95. Ever make it out to any events? We always offer show discounts and from time to time even have some blem products. Veteran, Active Duty, work in Public Safety ie; Fire, Law Enforcement, EMS? Contact us at sales@factor55.com for more information and verification. Thanks

$160 is too much? you only have to buy it once! for me its worth more than they charge for the peace of mind of using a safe, american made product.

@@markdenison4959 you are just as safe with a $25 Crosby shackle. Which you need anyway to connect your link to something.

Hooks were designed for lifting purposes. Gravity continually pulls the load down into the saddle of the hook greatly reducing the chances of the load making contact to the safety latch mechanism. For horizontal pulling, especially in off-roading, it is common to experience tension and momentary slack. During these cycles it's common to have the safety latch get loaded and broken and the hook to come loose from the rigging. This is why Closed System Winching and Closed System hardware is a much stronger and safer option.

lol if you ever make it out to any offroad event or trade show there are always show deals and specials available either from us or from our Authorized dealers. Thanks for your feedback.

it is a nice extra feature but not a necessity

Bigger tires and bigger lifts are not a necessity for going off-road but they make your life easier and safer. The same as these products. As far as I'm concerned it's absolutely a necessity.

you got your opinion and I got mine. I got a stock jeep and 90% of the time I find myself having fun in the same areas as big rigs with big tires driven by guys with small penis, big heads and big wallets.

BAHHAHAAHAHAA

I’ve been off-roading and winching since I was a kid. Always with a hook and I’ve never had a problem, not once has it come loose, and I would say I winch a lot more than the average person, because I like to play with different snatch block setups and winching techniques. It’s all just marketing, you can do the same with a shackle, and with their setup you are actually adding more metal hardware to the system, you have to use a shackle anyway with this, so why not eliminate the stuff in there you don’t need. But if your more into bling than functionality, I guess it’s all for ya.

As many things in life, if you use it the wrong way, accidents are possible. Rest is marketing and looks cool!

G Iii there are a few reasons why that method is not the preferred option. One reason is how will your winch line be stowed? The heavy steel shackle being snugged up tight to your fairlead could cause damage to the fairlead surface from just daily driving, resulting in the fairlead becoming scuffed and dinged and as your line passes over these rough areas it could fray or fail early. Another reason is most tube thimbles that create the eye at the end of the winch line are designed to collapse under heavy pulls. If your shackle pin or the bow end of a shackle become trapped inside a collapsed thimble the only way to remove the shackle will be to cut the line or the shackle in order to remove it. Our shackle mount products attach to the end of the winch lines with a titanium double shear pin allowing for a safer shackle connection point and for easy removal if necessary. All our shackle mount products come equipped with integrated EPDM rubber pads to protect your fairlead surface allowing your winch line to be stowed out of harms way and providing a positive stop at the end of the winch line especially during electric winch run-on. Our parts are used by recovery professionals and trainers all over the world, they are the preferred recovery tool of the Ultra4 and Offroad racing community, are used by Law Enforcement, Fire/EMS, and the US Military and Special Forces. We have a wide variety of shackle mount products in varying styles and finishes starting as low as 75.95 and all made in the USA. We would be more than happy to send you pictures or material explaining more about our products if you're interested. Feel free to call us anytime at 208-639-1674 or email us at sales@factor55.com. You can also check out our Facebook page or Instagram for more information.

I'm not a professional and I use my winch (18000lb) on a a large diesel truck, normally for self recovery in mud or snow patches and other work related pulls, rarely if ever for actually off-roading or in rocks. That being said. The system I just rigged up yesterday has me removing the hook from the end of my steel line, and attaching it to a shackle, then that shackle is attached an eye on my bumper (so I won't pull a D up to the fairlead.) Now don't get me wrong, your product is awesome and I'm sure it works flawlessly (as I've seen in many users videos) And after watching your videos I'm a believer in "closed loop" winching. The only thing holding me back from your and similar products is the cost. Some day when the cost of an all soft/closed winching "system" comes a little closer to earth, I will definitely transfer to all closed and all soft winching. But currently for my weight requirements it just isn't fiscally feasible yet. Thanks for taking the time to reply to my comment and lacing me up with a little more info.

Dude spent his tire money looks like :(

Aaron Anthony bought a light bar lol

@@giii954 I use the same set up on My winch except I have a rubber stopper on Mine that bolts onto the cable keeping the d shackle from going against the fairlead

Rest assured we have over 100,000 products in the field and no one has ever lost a snap ring, once properly seated in the machined groove of the pin attachment hole, during any offroad race, tactical or professional application or recreational off-roading. If you lose it off the snap ring pliers during installation, replacements can be easily sourced at your local auto parts store or on the replacement parts section of our website. 🇺🇸

BUYER BEWARE- Only purchase a winch line shackle mount from an Authorized Factor 55 Dealer. Most "cheaper" versions are low quality imported products made from low-quality materials. They have not been properly tested, could fail far below their advertised working load limits, and are a violation of our US and International Patents. By purchasing a counterfeit product you only potentially endanger yourself and others around you during a winching operation. Buy once. Buy quality. Buy American.

@@Factor55 it's possible but they're still all billet alloy with a titanium pin. At $50 I'm keen to try it

​@@gqy60stephankarolyi41 We have seen some examples in person and serviced customers who have had their counterfeit products fail in the field. We have over 100,000 units in the field worldwide without a single failure. Imported aluminum alloys are nowhere near the quality of USA Made Kaiser Billet we use to machine our products. Each product we manufacture has lot traceability of the materials. Seeing these counterfeit examples in person, we can assure you they do not come with titanium pins. It is simply not worth risking your safety or the safety of others to save a few dollars. Visit with us at an event or email us at sales@factor55.com if you are looking for a scratch and dent product (if we have any on hand), we always offer Military and First Responder discounts as well, or contact your local dealer and see if you can get a deal on one. There are other ways to save money. Buying an imported counterfeit product is simply not worth the risk.

Alan, We appreciate your feedback. We have had Search and Rescue Teams as well as Research groups all over the world use our products in arctic temperatures, that's why our parts are used by Special Forces and other branches of the US Military and Fire/Rescue, Law Enforcement and certified offroad recovery trainers. Our products only need to be installed once and there is nothing complicated about using a safer technique when using your vehicle recovery winch. We do agree it is worth every penny to spend money on high quality USA made shackles. That is why you will find Crosby 3/4 and 5/8 shackles available on our website. These shackles work perfectly with all of our USA made shackle mount products.

TimD9804 thank you! We appreciate the encouragement. We charge exactly the same price for all our Military supplied products as listed on our website. You’re right. Our products are not made of platinum they are made from USA Made Kaiser Billet Aluminum with lot traceability, 6061 or 7075 alloys and most are equipped with titanium double shear pins. If you are a Veteran, thank you for your service, we offer military/public safety discounts on our products. You can contact us at sales@factor55.com for more info. Most find for UTV/ATV that $94 is a small price to pay for 100% increased safety. At a breaking strength of 21,000 lbs some Ultra4 racers including 2x King of the Hammers Champion Randy Slawson, run this product on their full size 9500 lb winches because it’s so strong and only weighs 8.5 ounces. We have over 60,000 products in use in the field without a single failure. If you’re looking for something even less expensive we also have our Splicer XTV which is only 56.95 on our website. Give us a call if you’d like some more info. 208-639-1674

Well, be smart then and aim your advertising dollars at the well healed elitists for your aluminium ( OK, its good aluminium) products, because the blue collar working man is definitely not your demographic.

The Splicer model is only $75, and not like tons of people aren't using synth rope anyway.

You can't prove that.

@@USAFJUNKIE - So I'll ask, can you prove it? Did they? Waiting for this one... This will be the best KZfaq response ever! I have probably 50 reasons, so you just tell me maybe 10% of my opinion, well my facts that explain this whole 'event'. Please do respond... My first response will be.... Wait... I'll just wait for your response first. If you dare to. This isn't Star Wars, Star Trek or the Sci-Fi fake crap so hopefully you don't include that.

Did you know the conventional Chinese made winch hook that came standard on your winch is only rated at 4,000 lbs and can destructively fail between 11-16,000 lbs? Your standard synthetic rope fails between 18-22,000 lbs. It is not always the case your rope will fail before your hook. With our USA MADE Products the rope will fail before any of our products will. Rated at 16,000 lbs and our standard size shackle mount product line does not see destructive failure to an average of +40,000 lbs. Sometimes over double what the rope breaking strength may be. A guarantee that the failure will be in the line not the connection. You do have one thing right, our products are ripe out of our machine shop in Boise, ID made from USA made Kaiser Billet Aluminum with lot traceability. Made in America, by USA Machinists and Engineers to keep everyone safe during a vehicle recovery.

abazdarhon again, it’s because the ends of most winch cables come with a thimble that creates the eye of the winch line. These thimbles are designed to collapse under hard pulls. If that thimble collapses you will never cut the shackle out of the end of the line without cutting it to remove the line. If you are using steel cable with no thimble and the cable eye is simply crimped back on itself, your method will work. Then the only topic of discussion is how are you storing the line on the front of your vehicle. Do you have the shackle pulled right up to your fairlead? Again if using steel cable, this may be ok, but for those using synthetic rope, if the rope is exposed, it can be damaged and you do not want a heavy steel shackle rubbing on your aluminum fairlead while daily driving as it could pit and gauge the fairlead surface leading to the winch rope failing early. This is why all of our winch line shackle mounts can be used with steel cable or synthetic rope and come with integrated rubber pads to allow safe winch line storage as well as protecting the fairlead surface with no metal to metal connection. If you would like to discuss anything further please check our FAQ on our website, www.factor55.com, or email us at sales@factor55.com, or call us M-F 8-5pm MST at 208-639-1674, and we would be happy to discuss this and also send you examples of the problems that can occur when simply using a shackle at the end of your winch line.

Factor 55 I am using synthetic line with shackle only for years and nothing get damage. If my shackle cable get few years I just replace it because Nissan patrol have his weight and that have impact on that cable over years. And my winch has always cover on while not use so I am not worried about exposed rope to elements like UV. The major thing is that I have one mounting point between cable and strap while you are using 3 mounting point for this same work. Only good thing is that you took time and answered to my wee comment and that bonus this days.... Enjoy your sale while I use my shackle lol

abazdarhon every comment is important. Sounds like you have a good idea that works for you, but synthetic winch line should always be tight on the drum and not loose. If loose the line can fall between the layers and cause the winch to pull out instead of in and complicate a winching scenario. Our products act as a positive stop for the end of your winch line protecting the rope behind the fairlead surface. You either have your winch line pulled tight to a shackle on your front bumper or the shackle pulled up tightly to the fairlead surface which either leaves the line exposed to damage, cover or not as rocks, ledges, tree branches etc can grab the line, or have the shackle pulled to the fairlead surface which you should avoid because of damaging the fairlead. As far as connections go, these products are tested and rated much higher than conventional attachment points. They are engineered connections. Engineered connections are designed to work in conjunction with other rigging and are well within all safe working load limits. We have over 80,000 parts in the field from Military applications to recreational wheelers without a single failure. For those that are looking for single point connections, we offer an entire line of splice on shackle mounts as well that are much less expensive. Sounds like you have a system that has worked well for you but most do not and we simply provide much safer options for all those looking to be safer on the trail. Again you can contact us at sales@factor55.com for examples or copies of our certified destructive test data or give us a call anytime at 208-639-1674 M-F 8-5pm MST. Thank you for your comments.