For those of you that are curious as to whether the addition of a Rope Guard product will add any overall strength to a FlatLink E winch shackle mount, well we tested this and there is an approximate gain in strength of 2-3000 pounds.
At 42,000 pounds, the breaking strength of the FlatLink E is already overkill for winches up to 16K capacities, but for the curious, the breaking strength will approach 45,000 pounds when equipped with a riveted on Rope Guard. Compare this to a common steel hook average breaking strength in the 18-22K range and you can see that the FlatLink E is already extremely strong.
So why does the addition of the Rope Guard add strength?
The Rope Guard adds resistance to the legs of the FlatLink from splaying under extreme loading. The resistance is attributable to the added shear strength of the 4 machine posts and 4 drive rivets. Of course the real benefit of the Rope Guard is to protect the ends of synthetic winch ropes from damaging UV light and abrasion, but it’s comforting to know that the overall breaking strength also benefits from this addition. Check out the video of the destructive testing of a Rope Guard equipped FlatLink E.