After adding a pair of 15,000lb D-rings to my bumper, I discovered that they rattled something fierce on the trail.

They don't make any noise on the road, just on the trail. Because of my skidplate location, strapping them around the bumper was out and velcro doesn't work well once it gets muddy anyway. I didn't want to tape them or wrap a piece of hose around them, I liked their look as they are. I came up with an idea that seems to hold them fine: magnets! I had a couple of those cheapo flashing light body jewelry things from the dollar store laying around with dead batteries. They have really strong little magnets that hold them onto clothes, lips, whatever. I stuck one of these little magnets behind the rounded part of each D-ring and the rattling has stopped! The magnets are about the size of a button cell battery and hold very strongly, yet allow full use of the D-rings without getting in the way. And if I hit a bump hard enough to knock them loose, they stick again once they swing back down.

Sorry if this is something stupid or silly sounding, but after running around the woods with twin cow-bells clanging up front for a few weeks now, silence is GOLDEN! LOL!

Nice fix

Didn't you have round lights over your winch before? What happened to those?

I DID have round lights over the winch, see my avitar! LOL!  I changed to these because of a couple reasons: I had these laying around, I wasn't happy with the beam spread of the round ones and I had a good strong place to mount these rectangular ones so they wouldn't jiggle. These are Bosch profi 210 driving lights with 100 watt H3 bulbs. The beam pattern is rectangular with the height of the bright spot the same as the round lights, but the width is more than twice that of the round lights. This gives me much more light up front and I think I'm finally happy with the visibility at night on the trails... You wouldn't happen to be interested in my round lights, would you? I don't really need them anymore...lol... They are 6" KC copies with 100 watt bulbs, hard plastic covers and I painted the housings black with rustoleum because they were starting to rust...

Not a bad idea
I have a couple of those myself,
and I need to quiet them down,
they clang as I go thru weeds
and brush



Thanks for the great idea

Wild

every one i know just puts a zip tie around where it hits and that stoped it.  but i like the magnet idea better anyway!

stu

You could also use clear silicon in the cavity. It'll fill inbetween the cavity and loop and keep the rattles minimal. You don't have to fill the entire cavity. However, it does take some labor to move the loop during drying time.

Ohh, Sure, Rub it in That I DON'T HAVE A WINCH


Wild

1bigtracker: I thought about using zip ties, but didn't like the idea of having to break them every time I wanted to use the rings, having to carry spares to replace them after use, etc... The magnets are much simpler and work great.

jagular7: sounds messy and not very esthetically pleasing, if you know what I mean. The magnets are virtually invisible while in use and instantly removable, and can be stored right on the bumper while I use the rings.

safarikick: I thought about routing my winch cable through them like that as well, but didn't want a kink or bend in my cable and like the rings to stay nice and flat against the bumper when not in use.

Wild, you're welcome for the tip!;D As for not having a winch, look into the one I have. it's a Milemarker E3000 and I got it from Rough Country/Heckthorn for $181 + $10 shipping. Then I added a quad roller fairlead from Ebay for $15. Even single-line pull, off center by about 45 degrees it was strong enough to drag my Tracker up/over a large boulder and tree stump without even getting warm!

Someday I'm doing to change my
front bumper and I will get a winch
mounted behind it, I should post a
pic of the "Mack Truck" bumper I saw
that was built in the UK ...  I like it



Those turkeys never E-mailed me back
when I asked about their Rock Sliders,
I might have to copy and build those
stateside  

Wild

man, that would be a perfect winch bumper... looks killer