A random question

[banshee]

What is the load rating of the tie down rings in the front corner of the bed? I mean 1/2 ton truck are they going to hold 500lbs each?

[sloride]

I would guess that no one will know definitively the answer to that, unless there's some factory documentation providing load ratings that someone can produce......  I had a engineer buddy over grilling burgers yesterday, had I thought about it, I would have asked him his opinion.  But he'd ask questions I couldn't answer like the ring's construction, wall thickness, material yield.......  If one was to guess, you'd be safe at 300lbs axially, that is pulling straight from the corner in line with the ring.  Radially that number will decrease.  In other words, its safe to pull corner to corner, but pulling the same force from the tailgate would produce some type of failure, either the ring would bend or the wall would distort....

[ParadiseMJ]

The suspension has a load rating of a half ton...not the tie downs.  The tie downs are not rated like that, necessarily.  But then you're not going to hang 500 lbs off one of your tie down rings, nor will you be towing 500 lbs with the tie down rings (you're not planning on that are you?) and they are not suitable as a recovery point either (someone could get hurt).  The rings are there to hold something in a static position, like a tarp or some camping gear.  For tying, strapping or chaining down something like a quad or a motorcycle, especially if it's not hanging off the end of the truck, they should be sufficient.  I have used them to rachet strap a refrigerator, a boat, and a motorcycle (not all at the same time) and have never had an inkling that it was not sufficient.

 

An example: one 16 penny VCS nail has a shear rating of 600 lbs...but you can pull it out of a 2x4 with minimal effort (viz arm strength, about 25 ft lbs.).