Can someone recommend a good quality tow strap to carry for our TCsetup. The whole outfit weighs about 12,000 pounds.I see all kinds for sale on Amazon etc, some with hooks, some without.Do you need heavy duty shackles if you buy one with no hooks .Are some better quality than others, they all look about the same.

I think nylon strap with loops on the end + couple of shackles is the best. IMHO nylon is nylon no matter the country it is coming from. Got my 14,000 lb set pulled from sand 3 days ago and finding good spot to attach the strap is another issue. My F350 has very strong eyes at rear hitch, but that doesn't happen on each truck. Now I think carrying hitch ball under the camper might not be such a bad idea.

Where I worked before I retired the Iron Workers always used Nylon slings ( tow straps) they hardly ever used steel slings however if a lift required the steel slings they were used. Always use a shackle on the ends so that the slings doesn't get a crease or gets bent over. In time the end loop will start to fray from places where the sling gets bent or creased often. Also constant rubbing in one area will cause premature failure.If you see the treads on the sling starting to break, chuck it in the garbage and get a new one. I have nylons slings in my truck and in my Side X Side. I still have chains but mostly use the nylons slings now.Soup .

Crane operators have the best and when they get little bit of wear they are no longer used. Amazing how they are still good really for towing.

I tend to buy lifting slings for 4x4 recovery work. They have been tested and have a certificate of safety so they can be used for lifting, so you know they aren't just any imitation junk from China. They also have a high safety factor - i.e. if they are rated to 10,000 lbs for example, they are designed to fail under several times that load.Similarly you can buy tested and certified lifting shackles. I've seen cheap Chinese ones just break in half, which can mean the other half and the strap are propelled backwards with huge force.Of course, there is a difference between being towed on the road and someone towing you out of a ditch or a field where you are axle-deep in mud. The latter will need a lot more force. There is also the risk that whoever is pulling you wants to take a run-up, which puts huge forces on towing equipment and can lead to dangerous sudden failures. I know many 4-wheelers like kinetic energy recovery ropes - they act like elastic so the recovery vehicle can get some speed and snatch the bogged vehicle out, but in doing so they put immense forces on everything concerned and when something breaks can slingshot it with lethal force. So I personally stay clear of them.Steve.

Nylon slings and nylon tow or recovery straps are two entirely different things - apples and oranges.Slings do not have give in them or not enough to make them worth using, maybe just a little more than chains. On the other hand nylon recovery straps are woven differently to allow lots of stretch.Buy a 4" by 30' strap. Bill

Tow Strap | Good Sam Community

Bedlam
Moderator
Aug 08, 2017
I mentioned using other anchor points. If you you are snatching a vehicle, it will put serious shear on the towball shaft that is not typical of trailer towing. When that shaft fails, It becomes a projectile with a great amount of force behind it.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Aug 08, 2017
AnEv942 wrote:
Ive bitten my tongue for 2 days, waiting for the sages to step in and counter. A lot of good advice but seen two mentions of using a tow ball as an anchor point and no one said anything?

And what's wrong with that? (In general. Specifically some people could break an anvil, but what would be a better tow point than the trailer hitch on the back of a vehicle?)
AnEv942
Nomad
Aug 08, 2017
Ive bitten my tongue for 2 days, waiting for the sages to step in and counter. A lot of good advice but seen two mentions of using a tow ball as an anchor point and no one said anything?
discovery4us
Explorer
Aug 07, 2017
bubba rope makes a good product. Have also used Kinedyne straps with good results.
theoldwizard1
Explorer II
Aug 07, 2017
IMHO, stay away from hooks ! They put an enormous amount of pressure on a small spot. They will tear through metal.

Loops at each end and shackles are much safer.

HF "recovery" straps are not bad. These are NOT yank/snatch straps and I would not trust their "working load".
wcjeep
Explorer
Aug 07, 2017
For recovery I like something like Bigfoot Rope. For flat tow avoid anything with metal hooks. When airborne they carry extra kinetic energy for removing body parts.

I use Bigfoot Rope. You can also use soft shackles. High end rope is typically safer. It carries less energy.

Bigfoot Rope
Rubiranch
Explorer
Aug 07, 2017
Trackrig wrote:
.

Buy a 4" by 30' strap.

Bill
TJMarc
Explorer
Aug 06, 2017
I carry two different types depending on what recovery I intend/anticipate to do. I carry a ker rope (I have a masterpull and a bubba rope in different dia depending on vehicle) and std 3" recovery strap. The ker ropes are good for "snatch" type recovery in mud/sand and the strap is more used to drag people over an obstacle they are hung up on.
tad94564
Explorer
Aug 06, 2017
woodhog wrote:

I see all kinds for sale on Amazon etc, some with hooks, some without.

Never, ever use a tow strap with a hook.

Those are missiles waiting to happen (seen that, watched it go straight through the windshield, and out the back window..

Always use a D-shackle. Always.

Also make sure you've got the tow points ready. I've seen them also ripped straight out of the frame.
woodhog
Explorer
Aug 06, 2017
Trackrig wrote:
Nylon slings and nylon tow or recovery straps are two entirely different things - apples and oranges.

Slings do not have give in them or not enough to make them worth using, maybe just a little more than chains.

On the other hand nylon recovery straps are woven differently to allow lots of stretch.

Buy a 4" by 30' strap.

Bill

Thats the size I thought might work well, I have a 2"tow ball that I
keep on the back when the camper is on and the truck has its two
factory mounted tow hooks, well not really hooks , mounted on the front.

I hope I can be pulled from both ends...

Last year we had to pull it out of the mud with the rear tow ball attached to a fellows horizontal chain hoist, we were lucky he had some extra chains...
I wanted to be better prepared this season.