Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hitch Pin or 5/8" Grade 8 Bolt.

May have to do some hard yankin' with the 4Runner. Going off-roading end of March. Weighs about 5500#'s. I have a receiver hitch-skid that doubles as a recovery point. Should I use a hitch pin or can I safely use a grade 8 bolt? I like the bolt so the skid plate is less likely to be stolen.

Let's seeeeeeeeee,.....



Yep!

It'll work.

You're gonna get into a lot of metallurgical advice so I'll throw mine in. Save the cost of a grade 8, the cheaper grade 5 will serve you better. There are reasons you don't want to use grade 8's as some times they act like a shear pin. Grade 5's are more malleable. YMMV>

This has been discussed here before but I don’t think I could find the thread.

It seems most feel that a grade 8 bolt is designed for its strength to be in tension and not in shear like a hitch pin is made for. The thoughts were a G8 would shear and the hitch pin being softer, for lack of a better term, would bend slightly therefore absorbing the shock better.

There is a YouTube channel called Matt’s Off-road Recovery where this guy jerks vehicles out with recovery ropes every day in a commercial recovery operation and he appears to use hitch pins.

Hitch pin is what you want. Stay away from bolts

Malleable?


Why wouldn't a grade mail a easy as a grade 5? Nevermind, the PO being they are who they are probably have their reasons.

as a farmer that's yanked heavy loads with big tractors since he was tall enough to push the clutch in. Stay away from bolts is exactly right. use a hitch pin that's what it's made for. don't ask me why or how because of how they're made that's just the way it is

You could go with a grade 12.9 5/8" SHCS. (socket head cap screw) such as is used in machine shop assemblies.

My gut feeling is, you'll spin the tires bald on a 4Runner before you shear a 5/8" grade 12.9 SHCS.

gunchamp;
Top of the morning from the snow bound south Okanagan, I hope you're having a better start to March than we are and you're well.

You are, in my experience sir, absolutely correct.

My experience has been farming, 40 plus years of 4x4ing in 4 western provinces and construction, all of which gave us lots and lots of opportunity to test out theories..... Too many actually.

Personally I carry extra hitch pins c/w retainer in the door pocket, then another spare on the front QD winch receiver along with the one holding the back extraction shackle in the rear receiver - putting money where mouth is as a belt and suspenders sort of geezer.

All the best.

Dwayne

Interesting question. As a structural engineer I figured it's something I should know, but didn't. Looked it up. Looks like most hitch pins are in the grade 5 spectrum. Grade 5 is a SAE grade (Society of Automotive Engineers) that is about 90,000-120,000psi in terms of strength. There is an equivalent ASTM grade 325 that is used in construction, e.g. buildings, bridges, etc. Same strength just different grading agency.

Grade 8 (SAE) or ASTM 354/490 is about 150,000psi. A decent increase.

A cheap lag bolt, or hardware store bolt (from China) is good for about 30,000-45,000psi to give you some reference.

Two caveats, bolt strength can vary slightly based on bolt diameter due to heat treating processes. Second, threads reduce a bolt's strength, so a 5/8" pin without threads, is stronger (more cross sectional area) than a 5/8" threaded bolt and good design practice requires no threads in the shear plane - i.e. where the bolt touches the steel of the hitch receiver.

That was going to be my thought as well, you ain't got enough vehicle to do any heavy yankin' .................

Hitch pin. Drill out for a lock if worries about theft

Im using a 1/2” grade 8 to hold the receiver onto the back of my Farm Only nissan pathfinder.

I’m skidding logs, dragging trees and snatching /jerking stumps with it. Been in there about 15 years 💀

As for other moron references, our Druncle Larry dropped a grade 8 - 7/16” into the kubota 6ft bush hog sheer slot because he is a knucklehead. It just about detonated the gear box when he a guy anchor. lol

5/8 is a big piece of meat in grade 8. I’d do it. But I got balls and dgaf

A hitch pin is made to handle over 20,000 lb. You'll tear your hitch off before it breaks. If you're worried about theft, get a locking pin.

Mountain10mm;
Top of the morning to you sir, I trust the first day of March in your section of Colorado is behaving and you're well.

Thanks for giving us the math and engineering answer, I appreciate it. One of the cool things about the 'Fire is the breadth of experience and knowledge we've got here.

As I've admitted numerous times I'm not certified in anything - well that's been kept current for sure - and as mentioned my answer was coming from a background of repeated machinery abuse.

It's interesting when you mentioned the threads as I can't recall ever seeing a bolt shear off anywhere other than in the threads. Makes sense though I suppose?

My layman's take on the shear pins is that they're likely made of soft and tough enough material to bend and not shear in most cases.

I know we've bent a few pins and bolts playing silly games and hoping not to win silly prizes, but there's been some instances where bolts sheared too, though for the life of me I can't recall exactly what happened to cause it or the size of the bolts. Sorry that detail is gone.

Thanks again though, its interesting to see the numbers.

Dwayne

I ordered up the stuff to make two of these setups.


Pin, shackle and shackle block all made in the USA.

Grade 5 common body fit hex bolt will tear your pickup/hitch to destruction.

They do have quality locking hitch pins at a reasonable cost. Won't say if any is actually better than the other, but Rhino is pretty good.

Link: Rhino Locking Hitch Pin


but, as far as the question, its a myth (or an old Wives Tale) about the bolts...

Link: Myth...


Phil

Hitch pin, I probably have at least 4 of various sizes rolling around in the pickup right now. If you’re worried about someone swiping it get one that locks.

Don’t over think it.

If you do decide on a bolt, grade 2, 5 or 8 will be fine. Just be sure it's long enough so that you're not pulling off the side of the threads. Threads are stress risers & in this application they would be the shear point..