Winch thimble vs hook

[fatburg]

been looking at the Prolink55 safety thimble. What's the pro's and con's vs a traditional hook? go....

[RoKn]

I love my Factor 55 prolink, it looks great on my winch! :)

[fatburg]

I love my Factor 55 prolink, it looks great on my winch! :)

you mean the one laying on your dining room floor?

[Guest]

The thimble is stronger (weight and material being equal), due to the nature of its design, but requires a shackle as an attachment point.

Hooks don't need a shackle half of the time. Ie hook directly onto a tree strap loop, or onto the loops of a tow strap or another hook. Therefore a hook is probably faster and less things to dink with.

The debate over safety is arguable. ie put enough metal into a hook, it can match the strength of any thimble. Hooks are used industrially all the time in multiple applications but thimbles have less mass if there is a catastrophic failure.

Thimbles could be viewed as safer attachment point because its harder to get a shackle pin to come loose when compared to a hook, but more parts also means more things can potentially fail.

It could be said that a thimble is solution to nonexistent problem. Ie winches are designed to be used in static situations, design the parts to meet or exceed the design requirements and there shouldn't be a safety issue.

Both will do the job adequately. LOL pick your poison.

Wally

[spunebil]

I use a hook, its worked for Wheelers for decades.... so I don't fix it if it Aint Broke ! ;)