99% of the time when you see a recovery hitch with a bow shackle installed, it is done horizontally, with the shackle hanging down. I honestly can't say why this is the case, I suspect it's simply because it looks 'neat', and limits a little rattle.
When putting your recovery hitch to work, though, this creates unnecessary stress and wear on both your shackle and recovery straps.
The problem with hitch shackles mounted horizontally
Virtually every recovery hitch using steel shackles comes with the shackle mounted by the pin, with no ability to connect it by the bow. This is problematic for both the shackle and the recovery rope, for a number of reasons.
Bow shackles are designed to be used in straight-line pulls, and while they can also be side-loaded, this is intended only when having equal load on both sides; not just from one side. From left to right below you can see:
- A straight-line pull load
- An equally distributed multi-side pull, and:
- An incorrectly side-loaded bow shackle.
Unfortunately, with horizontally mounted recovery hitch shackles the 3rd scenario is exactly what you'll get.
In virtually all off-road recoveries, winching, and especially snatch recoveries, you will never have a perfectly straight pull. Bends in tracks, hill angles, obstacles to avoid, vehicles shifting position, etc., all result in the two connected vehicles coming out of line. This causes two problems.
- Side loading of your shackle, as already shown in the above-right image.
- Abrasion of your snatch strap, recovery rope, or winch rope extension eyelet.
With the shackle installed horizontally, it is unable to pivot on the pin. Instead, the strap's eyelet has to slide around the shackle. At a glance, this might not seem like an issue, but when under several tonnes of force during recovery and a change of angle, it can quickly abrade the eyelet of your strap as it scrapes along the inside of the steel bow under pressure.
How a vertically mounted shackle solves this
With your recovery hitch rotated so the shackle is mounted vertically, the shackle itself can now rotate, instead of the strap sliding around the bow of the shackle.
This eliminates both the unnecessary wear on the strap eyelet, as well as the side-loading of the shackle. Regardless of the initial direction of the pull, or how vehicles shift angle during a recovery, the load on the shackle is always straight, and the eyelet of the strap remains stationary on the bow. See the video below.
Note: if the pull direction on the now vertical shackle was from an angle above or below, the issues of side-load and strap abrasion would return, but in the vast majority of recoveries there is little vertical movement, making this a mostly moot point.
Having your shackle vertical with the pin inserted from the top will also help prevent the pin from falling out the bottom if it wiggles loose. With horizontally mounted shackles, pins can come loose over time with vibration and walk themselves out of the shackle, causing it to come loose; this is not something you want to happen on the freeway and send a 4kg piece of steel into an oncoming vehicle.
That said, you should never rely on a tightened shackle to stay together indefinitely when mounted outside a vehicle. Once you're off-roading is done, run a wire twisty tie, cable tie, or other fastener through the shackle body and pin eyelet, to stop it falling out if it does rattle loose over time.
You may get a little extra rattle with your shackle mounted vertically, as it can now spin left to right and tap against your received hitch, but this can be easily solved with a few strips of double-sided tape, or rubber matting and adhesive spray.
Quality recovery gear is tough, your shackles and recovery rope aren't going to come apart from a few recoveries with a horizontal shackle, of course, but if you want to get the maximum life from your equipment, especially from soft gear like straps and rope, try mounting your recovery hitch shackle vertically.
# Off-road recovery hitch, hitch receiver recovery point, recovery hitch shackles, securing rear hitch shackle.
