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Synthetic Rope Breakage
TBT to synthetic rope breakage. MYTH: Synthetic winch rope falls to the ground when it breaks. Well, the truth is, sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. This video was sent to us from our friend and GenRight Off Road Ambassador Jeff Perkins. In this particular case, the synthetic winch rope broke suddenly without warning and the recoil was significant. Sure, there is less energy stored when compared to a steel cable, but you still would not want get hit with this rope.
What is Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
At Factor 55, all of our designs are optimized with Cosmos FEA by a licensed professional engineer registered in the State of Idaho, and later, prototypes are destructively tested for validation.
Hook or Screw Pin Shackle - Which is better?
Smart off roaders have known for years that the most secure way to use your recovery winch is replace the hook with a common screw pin shackle. Unless you are competing, the added seconds required to use a shackle versus a hook during a vehicle recovery is not worth the safety risk associated with standard winch hooks.
How did FACTOR 55 get its name?

 

We had the opportunity to meet up with Will from  @Venture2Roam  at a recent event. He filmed this quick clip to give us the chance to share where the name FACTOR 55 comes from.

Similar to the name FACTOR 55, our USA Made Recovery Kits are named after mountain ranges and wheeling destinations here in Idaho! The Owyhee, Sawtooth, Borah, Hemingway, St Anthony, etc.

It’s not just USA Made, it’s Idaho Made.

FACTOR 55- Engineered, Tested, and Made in the USA

Destructive Testing | Real Proof, Real Results

Is your vehicle recovery rigging validated through destructive testing?

Does your rigging claim Working Load Limits (WLL) and Minimum Breaking Strengths (MBS) and provide proof?

Ours is. We do.

Here’s a teaser reel from our last round of destructive testing and proof load analysis. Stay tuned for a longer video as we share with you our entire testing process.

Empirical evidence. Real data.

FACTOR 55- Engineered, TESTED, and Made in the USA

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Many of you have inquired about our destructive testing session from last week. Our product development process includes the testing of several design prototypes and small design iterations before we release a product to the public. One of our test challenges is to devise a method to attach to our products so that we can pull a load that does not break the attachment hardware and allows us to gather the Factor 55 product data instead. We prefer to use USA Crosby shackles and in some cases, the ultra strong shackles made by Skookum (9 ton WLL on a ¾ shackle – 5X Safety). In other cases where our FEA results have predicted breaking strengths of less than 30,000 pounds, we can use soft shackles like the ones from Bubba Rope. The pic below shows the type of hardware we need to gather prior to the test session. So what did we test last week?

1) Material yield and breaking test of the Rev. B UltraHook XTV (Hook Opening)

2) Material yield and breaking test of the Rev. B Ultrahook XTV (Closed System Shackle Pin Mount)

3) Material yield and breaking test of the Rev. B ProLink Expert

4) (22”) 3/8 Dyneema long bury splice soft eye - taper against blunt end test (No lock stitching)

5) (22”) 3/8 Dyneema long bury splice soft eye - tapered at both ends (No lock stitching)

6) 3/8 Dyneema knot test – Simple overhand loop knot

7) 3/8 Dyneema knot test – Bowline

Note that proof load yield testing can be in increments as low as 3000 pounds, so an enormous amount of test data is generated from these pull tests. We simply want to disseminate and summarize the data in the most useful form for you guys. Look for this test data and videos in the coming weeks. Designed, Engineered and Made in the USA

Front End Friday | Sneak Peek inside WARN Industries


Which bumper and winch did we pick? FIND OUT!

We headed over to WARN Industries in Clackamas, Oregon for some hands-on training and to install WARN bumpers on our 2021 Diesel JT in the WARN Garage. What an amazing facility! 

Check out the video to see the winch and bumper combo we selected.

Stay tuned. Much more to come!

FACTOR 55- Engineered, Tested, and Made in the USA

LDP Destructive Test
You asked for it, and we listened. From the archives. Pear to Pear hole LDP destructive test clip.
The Importance of Material Properties
The importance of material properties. When it comes to lightweight alloys for vehicle recovery parts, it’s hard to beat Aluminum and Titanium. High strength, lightweight, ductility, corrosion resistance, and repeatable test performance are all of the qualities to look for.
Factor 55 Rope Retention Pulley | Arizona 4×4 Off-road Recovery | Heavy Truck Extraction
Some of you mentioned that you would like to see product test data from a source other than ourselves. We get it. You want to see unbiased field test data, the good and the bad.
FACTOR 55 TECH TENT Sponsor for King of the Hammers 2020
Just in the nick of time! Our friend Bryan Crofts of CBMotorsports will be debuting his new Campbell Ent. Custom Fabrication / Campbell Racing Ultra4 Racing car this year at King of the Hammers. The final assembly just completed.