Type of Tow Straps

It seems Mother Nature is not to happy with us as of lately ... These winter months keep getting worse and worse. ---->Snow and Ice Storms. I have never carried any type of Tow Straps in my Trucks... & There has been Many times I could have used one to help others. I have never been stuck myself but there is always that first time...

I was curious for those of you who have too use Tow Straps often! What type you use and what rating.

Do you use ones with the hooks on the end or Loops?

I am going to invest in 2--->One for my Son at college to keep in his F150 5.4L 4x4 as well as myself.

Here was a couple of my ideas! Also might carry 1 extra Clevis.

Yes. I would carry them with me.


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I carry a 30ft 4in loop end rated to 30,000. And I also have 2 2in ratchet straps with hooks rated to 10,000. The thing I hate about the loop end is its hard to find a good spot to hook onto another vehicle unless they have tow hooks. The hook ends are nice because there is usually a notch or something in the frame you can hook it to. If you have a hitch there is not much of a point to buy the reciver bar with the shackel on the end, as the straps will slide right over the hitch ball.

I bought this strap! It was $22 and free shipping when I bought it though. I went with this one based on price and all the great reviews.
I haven't used it as of yet though.

SETEX 6.4 said:

I bought this strap! It was $22 and free shipping when I bought it though. I went with this one based on price and all the great reviews.
I haven't used it as of yet though.

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Same one I have and I have used mine to pull out trees.

14hemiexpress said:

Same one I have and I have used mine to pull out trees.

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Great.
I'm made a good choice then.

Nice....I've been thinking about getting something like this...just in case.

SETEX 6.4 said:

I bought this strap! It was $22 and free shipping when I bought it though. I went with this one based on price and all the great reviews.
I haven't used it as of yet though.

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I think Walmart sells that same one. I've been thinking about buying it.

About 5 yrs ago when I had my Mazda3, I got stuck in a snowstorm. Within about 5 minutes of getting stuck a guy in a truck showed up and pulled me right out and off he went. I always wanted to be able to pay that forward.

i have the same setup as the pictures. the strap i have i found on sale for only $20 and it's load rating is 7500lbs with a 25k lbs break strength. not sure why it has such a large gap but it should be enough for the occasional pull

14hemiexpress said:

If you have a hitch there is not much of a point to buy the reciver bar with the shackel on the end, as the straps will slide right over the hitch ball.

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i like to use it simply because it's more secure. if you put it over the ball there's always the chance it can slip. the shackle is also good to have for chains

Andy578 said:

i have the same setup as the pictures. the strap i have i found on sale for only $20 and it's load rating is 7500lbs with a 25k lbs break strength. not sure why it has such a large gap but it should be enough for the occasional pull




i like to use it simply because it's more secure. if you put it over the ball there's always the chance it can slip. the shackle is also good to have for chains

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Mine is 30k break and 10 work load I paid $35 at honedepot. They rate them like that to keep you safe. Just imagine something hanging above you that weighs 10,000lbs now if it starts to bounce it can put more force than 10,000lbs on that strap. That's why they call it the work load. In just a stright dead pull it can handle 30,000 before it breaks.

It's true that it's possible for it to slip off the hitch but to date I haven't had it happen yet. The schakle would be more secure that's true. And would be easier for chain but I have used chain around my hitch also and never had one slip either. I won't argue the fact it's not more secure because it is.

Anybody know what the rating is on the shaft for the ball. Would hate to see that thing come flying at me.

shipmasta said:

Anybody know what the rating is on the shaft for the ball. Would hate to see that thing come flying at me.

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It should say right on the ball what it's rated for. I believe my 2 5/16 is rated to 10,000, that would be 10,000 trailer weight.

I take my hitch off, put the loop end of strap in the 2-1/2" receiver square hole then I put the hitch pin back in.
So it can't come loose and it pulls on the hitch on.

shipmasta said:

Anybody know what the rating is on the shaft for the ball. Would hate to see that thing come flying at me.

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Seen it happen. The receiver shackles are very cheap. Do not just put the strap on the ball.

jwheeler said:

Seen it happen. The receiver shackles are very cheap. Do not just put the strap on the ball.

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Was it a 1 7/8 ball rated at 2000lbs? I have never seen a hitch ball break just saying that would be Impresive to see as long as it's not coming right at you or anyone else, I never like to see anyone in danger, anytime I have every pulled anything I make everyone stand far enough back not to be cought by any back lash. Only thing I have ever broke pulling anything was the hook on a 2in strap split it right in two.

Ok guys, when ever anyone questions the way I do something I make it a point to research why what I'm doing is wrong. What I found is that people that break the shank on the ball are useing snatch straps or getting the running start to "yank" someone out. I have never been in that situation personally I don't care for that style of pulling someone put as it puts a lot of stress on everything and I could see in those situations were it could shear the shank off the ball.

14hemiexpress said:

Was it a 1 7/8 ball rated at 2000lbs? I have never seen a hitch ball break just saying that would be Impresive to see as long as it's not coming right at you or anyone else, I never like to see anyone in danger, anytime I have every pulled anything I make everyone stand far enough back not to be cought by any back lash. Only thing I have ever broke pulling anything was the hook on a 2in strap split it right in two.

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i've bent them but never had 1 break. i've seen broken ones before but in every case they were old and rusty so don't really count

yep i always make people stand back too. last thing i want is to try and help someone out the ditch only for them to get hurt and possibly sue me

Having everyone stand back is a great idea, but isn't there usually someone in the vehicle that is stuck? This potentially will put them directly inline with the snap back zone. A trailer hitch ball or a shackle will not be stopped by a windshield or window.

As someone said before the best way in my opinion is to remove the hitch and put the eye of the strap through the hitch pin. If the pin fails, its unlikely to snap back with the strap. It is still a good idea to have everyone stand back, because you could still be injured by the strap during snap back.

Something else to consider is the difference between tow straps and recovery straps. I keep two 30' recovery and one tow strap in the event someone needs a tow for a significant distance.

I will +10000 on recovery safety, had my tailgate caved in when letting my buddy attach my 6" strap to his vehicle and strap came loose from his vehicle popped back and hit my tailgate when I was yanking on him.

Also seen a buddy have the back window of his truck knocked out by chain when it broke while yanking someone out.

Both instances were the dreaded 2:00am phone call saying " I am stuck can you come pull me out?" They never call until the are buried to the frame in mud.

FYI Recovery strap is a giant rubber band which is made for yanking to a certain extent
Tow strap has -0- elasticity so not good for yanking.

Chains or straps with the metal hooks are NEVER a good idea for yanking, they can both be projectiles if they come loose. When I am winching with the jeep I always put a movers blanker on top of the cable in the event the winch line breaks the blanket acts as a damper.

Not a know it all by any means just been 4 wheeling for almost 40 years and want to make sure all my forum buddies get home safe.

Thanks Fellas for your thoughts and Ideas and Advice!!!