Bolts today are typically Chinese junk. We have a huge list of counterfeit bolts that we cannot use. Not all are the same.
With that said, anyone who can shear a 5/8" bolt in a mild steel tube receiver should get some national recognition.
The reference to the man killed by the flying receiver failed to mention it was a drop hitch that broke at the weld....not the pin.
To put a receiver in perfect shear would require dead even tongue height. Most hitches are some level of drop and that acts much like the sliding side of a pony or bessey clamp.....you're not likely to break even a diamond hard or butter soft one.
Actually, if you see the pics the hitch didn't break at the weld- the drop tube broke in the middle of the tube - complete metal failure. The point is you need to know how to calculate the actual pulling stress- Matt did a quick calculation that the mud suction the Ram was stuck in was causing the 7000 lb truck to create approximately a 13000 lb pulling load. Without proper equipment this is beyond most equipment being discussed here. Whether a proper hitch pin would have handled this I couldn't guess, but it seems they use hitch pins to hold the proper stinger for connecting their pulling straps and kinetic ropes....
Here is one video among many that explains some of this...
Last edited by Sheister; 03/02/23.
Never underestimate your ability to overestimate your ability.
