Aluminum Hawse Fairlead Polished W/ No Logo Smittybilt – 2809

Factor 55 introduces a new Aluminum Hawse Offset Fairlead. These 1.5 inch fairleads are CNC machined from 1.5 inch thick USA 6000 series aluminum bar. The industry standard fairlead thickness is .75 inches thick.
The thicker aluminum bar results in a larger outer fillet radius for the synthetic rope to slide against. This results in less stress on the rope fibers during high angular pulls, increasing the life of your synthetic rope. The Offset fairleads are the industry’s first Hawse Offset fairlead compatible with larger 1/2 inch diameter rope tube thimbles.

The rope slot height opening is taller to allow the larger 1/2 inch tube thimbles to pass through. There is also a machined outer corner chamfer to reduce rope stress for those than plan on using the winch as a front suspension suck down device. These fairleads come in a durable MIL-A-8625F TYPE III gun metal gray hard anodized finish with a laser engraved logo.
What is the best surface finish for Hawse aluminum fairleads? Without a doubt it is a Type III hard anodized coating. Not cosmetic Type II anodized finishes, not powder coated, and not raw or polished aluminum.

Why? Because a hard coating can resist the abrasion damage from a dirty/gritty synthetic winch rope rubbing across it. Especially during extreme side pulls where rope fiber stresses are extremely high. A Mil-A-8625 Type III hard anodized finish leaves a .002 inch thick Al2O3 ceramic coating that is in the top 5 hardest materials known to mankind (See chart under Corundum/Sapphire). Not too far away from diamond hardness actually. Another valuable material property from hard anodized coatings are the low coefficients of friction. Low friction = lower rope heat.

Only drawback? Hard anodizing is not offered in typical bright and fancy anodized colors. All Factor 55 fairleads only come in Mil-A-8625 hard gray finishes. Not fancy, but it is the proper finish to extend the life of your synthetic rope.
Features:
Size:1.5 inch
Overall Dimension: 11.75 x 3.25 inch
Offset Opening: .80 inch
Thickness: 1.5 inch
For synthetic winch rope only.

At Factor 55 we have been using a version of our custom ultra short flat straps for years to assist in a variety of useful vehicle recovery applications. These short straps are not constructed like typical recovery/snatch straps. The Shorty Straps are not designed to store energy from stretch. They are designed to serve as a versatile short soft link to attach to vehicles and are constructed of an ultra low stretch (low energy storage) polyester, not high stretch nylon like typical snatch straps.

The applications vary from easily attaching to vehicles that are not equipped with recovery points, to using your winch and Shorty Strap to field repair/straighten bent steering components like tie rods and drag links. The inherit flat shape of the straps prevent the straps from rolling and twisting when attached to tubular shapes like bumper stingers, steering components, and nerf bars. We prefer flat straps over round ropes for this reason.

Even polyester webbing materials retain a small element of material stretch and since the total energy stored is a function of the percent of stretch and the overall length of the strap, we have designed the strap to be as short as possible but still retain the necessary webbing overlap and stitch count necessary for the rated loads.

The overall length of the Shorty Straps is 3 feet, and this is reduced to only 1.5 feet long when used in the common basket configuration. Low stretch/energy storage equates to less recoil energy during a possible component failure.
Features:

• Length: 3 Foot
• Width: 2 inch
• Material: Polyester Webbing
• Design Type: Flat

These straps are manufactured in the USA to Factor 55 specifications by the Certified Sling Corporation, the parent company to the well known Bubba Rope Company.