OK, I am in the process of mounting my winch and shackles to my Bulldog bumper. Maybe I'm worrying about nothing, but does anyone secure their shackles somehow to make sure the pin doesn't vibrate loose? Or to keep someone (with a pliers in their back pocket) from liberating them?

Maybe I need something real important to worry about, eh?

 

Your question is a week too late....lost one of mine last week to theft or just fell off. Hope it didn't take out a windshield

 

Yikes! Glad I wasn't driving behind you...

The pin has a small hole going through the flat section used to tighten. I know guy that was an Air Force mechanic many years ago and he used to spend hours threading and spinning wires through all the bolts.

Could that be what the hole is for? Might work...

 

Leave the shackles off until you need them? In spite of what the winch companies say, clipping your cable to a shackle isn't a good idea. Run into something and you've ruined your cable. Tight in the fairlead especially with one of those Daystar things keeps your cable in a much safer spot. Just snug it in, don't crank it in over tight.

 

I usually leave mine in my recovery bag until I go wheeling, then I slip them on and snug them with my hands so they are easy to take off if needed.

 

leave it to Toad to use the words shank and ballcock in the same sentence.

 

Yeah, I had to go do a web search on that and you shoulda seen the search results!!!

 

I run a zip tie through the shackle and the hole in the pin. It won't fall off on its own, but I guess it could walk away if someone wanted to cut it.

 

I have always used zip ties or wire ran through the eye on the pin and back through the shackle.

 

OK, thanks for the input guys!