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Tired of your winch hook clanging around on the front of your winch? Don’t like the look of your winch rope spooled out 18″ and hooked onto your recovery point? Maybe you want to install a flip-up license plate frame?
Whatever your motivation, look no farther than the Factor 55 Flatlink winch shackle mounts. Designed with ease of assembly and ease of use in mind, the Factor 55 winch shackle mounts take less than five minutes to install, looks great on the front of your fairlead and give you a more secure attachment point than just a hook alone. It’s what Factor 55 refers to as Closed System Winching.
For our installation we chose the Factor 55 Flatlink E (Expert) which features a large pear shaped shackle mounting hole that allows for attachment to either the pin or bow end of common D- shackles, as well as many common OEM recovery hooks. This makes the new FlatLink E more versatile than the standard FlatLink design. However, if used incorrectly it adds the possibility of a dangerous shackle side loading condition especially during momentary slack conditions. If you are more of a part-time recreational wheeler or don’t have a lot of winching experience, we recommend the standard Factor 55 Flatlink which can only accept the pin end of a D shackle and will not allow a D shackle side load pull. To top it all off, all Factor 55 Winch Line Shackle Mounts are engineered, tested and made in the U.S.A.
Where to get this Product:
Factor55 Flatlink E (Expert) Winch Shackle Mount
Benefits:
Folds up flat against your fairlead Allows the use of a flip-up license plate frame No exposed rope (or cable) when spooled in.
Ease of installation:
One wrench out of five
Tools Needed:
Small tip snap ring pliers; we used Snap-on pn# SRPC3800.
What comes in the box:
The HOW-TO:
Look at the side of the Flatlink, that little snap-ring needs to be removed and you need a pair of small tipped snap-ring pliers to get at it.
We used a pair of Snap-on SRPC3800 snap ring pliers to reach down in and remove the snap ring.
Slide the shear pin out of the shackle body.
Insert your rope or cable end into the shackle body.
Slide the shear pin back into position.
Reinstall the snap ring, making sure it is seated fully into the snap ring groove.
Use your winch controller to spool the line back in, holding the Flatlink as shown in the picture so it sits flat up against the fairlead. Lastly, give it just a blip or two on the controller to snug up the winch rope (or cable).
With the winch rope tight, the Flatlink sits flat up against the fairlead giving a tighter profile and a much cleaner look.
Things to watch out for:
We mentioned earlier about the possibility of dangerous side loading with the Flatlink E model, this is a very real possibility and you should make sure of your attaching points before applying any winching loads.
The Flatlink E is designed to accept the pin end or the bow end of a D-shackle and pull in a straight line.
A D shackle is only designed for applied tension inline with the pin and bow ends. If used in a side load application it will create a very dangerous situation.
If you just want to set it and forget it, check out the standard Factor 55 Flatlink which has a round hole and can only accept the pin side of a D shackle.