Equipment that one needs for offroading
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Question well answered :ymapplause:
quote brianj:quote DVG:Question:
I have read conflicting articles about whether or not the rear tow bar can or should be used to ‘hook’ up to. Logically, I think that a heavy duty towing-hitch is no better or no worse than a regular tow hook. What is DO’s opinion about this?Very good question, one that is easy to ignore and we’d need an SGS ISO 9000 surveyor to help accurately quantify that, as it happens…….:D
A towing hitch these days is a question of an accessory insert into a fitting which is through bolted to the chassis or sub frame. A tow hook is generally a component of vehicle manufacture welded as either a closed loop or hook. In each of these instances either sheer or tensional stress is in application.
Sheer stress is easier to quantify as a ‘sheer pin’ can be tested to destruction and manufactured to exact specifications.
To make this easier to understand, consider a shackle, Shackles are rated on sheer stress, i.e. when the pin of the shackle reaches maximum stress and ruptures. As in both cases the tow medium (rope strap or solid bar) are accessories to the attachment So we could say that a tow hitch pull and a tow hook pull have similar properties in at least one element of the composition of the forces applied to them. However we need to look a little more closely at the other bits of the ‘point of stress application’ i.e. where the maximum impact of stress is applied throughout the system of load transfer.It could be argued that a welded towhook is subject to sheer stress as they are frequently welded vertically to the chassis and bent to a more horizontal plane. The resulting stress depends entirely on the ‘lead’ of the force applied to the attachment. The towhitch which is through bolted to the chassis is subject to tensional stress i.e. pulling apart of the mass of the material in both it’s attachment to the chassis and the resistance of the chassis to this same stress i.e. the bolts pulling through the material of the chassis.
There is one more thing to consider in this discussion and that is the type of tow hook or tow hitch. Various vehicles are equipped as standard with a ‘U’ towing attachment front and rear. Toyota: Land Cruiser, Sequoia, FJC for example. Others vehicles are equipped with a tow hook, which is an extended ‘C’ with one side open, a weaker construction by nature.
To be clear in order to test which system was stronger one would have to test each of the components to destruction and then compare these stats to come up with the sliding scale of resistance.
There are practical considerations that perhaps have a greater relevance than the simple engineering; force versus resistance discussion. These are that: a hook/hitch is by definition open. This could cause the traction medium (rope strap) to become detached. Consider also that whilst a hitch is generally in a central position and only ever at the rear of a vehicle tow hooks(generic open or closed) are positioned on both sides of the vehicle front and rear. This latter point allows the load to be spread over both attachments if required.
In conclusion and limited to our ‘sandbug’ regular use of tow attachments ; whilst engineering would argue that structurally there is little difference in either system, practicality argues for the use of OEM tow attachments being superior to a central hitch and within that categorisation a closed loop superior to an open hook.
😀:thanks: for your opinion. Most of what we do can be undermined if some common sense doesn’t prevail over a broad spectrum of situations. I appreciate your time spent to provide feedback to my question.
Absolutely!!!
Thanks Brian.
Very well explained Brian :ymapplause: :ymapplause: :ymapplause:
quote musbah:This is for you Dada[media]http://youtu.be/vHEV5l0HWF4[/media]
Very nice one, Musbah 🙂 :ymapplause: :ymapplause: :ymapplause:
Just to bring this very useful information to top :ymsmug:
quote GKumar:Just to bring this very useful information to top :ymsmug:quote brianj:quote Robinson:Nice! Now I don’t feel alone with this task any more! We started this initiative time ago in DO’s and happy to see new support. Take a look at one of the posters delivered during last year’s drives, and hope we continue. Part of the required equipment for all DO’s include trash bags also!Rob Just giving some more air time to your essential, must be taken on board by all, comments 🙂
Part of the required equipment for all DO’s include trash bags also
:thanks: winchmanRubbish sacks have been consistently missing from all the lists re Equipment that one needs for offroading.
Put it on the shopping list, a roll of extra strong biodegradable garbage sacks costs very little. Maybe as we have a 30 car :drive: meet this Friday afternoon, Marshall’s should initiate a mini clean up over at the ‘saddle’ or on the ‘fall’. Thirty pairs of hands to help the environment 😀
60 Trash bags (empty 😀 ) loaded in my Rover.
Feel free to ask anytime 😡
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