Clevis Pin Grip Size

[Nick J]

This may be a dumb question, and I guarantee it won’t be as interesting as the great clevis controversy of ’23 (https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/the-clevis-pin-controversy.20861/). Diameter is obvious, but I can’t seem to find anything about the grip of a clevis pin. I ordered new toggles with the chain plate u-bolts from Garhauer. They are a little too wide for 7/8 but not wide enough for a 1” grip pin and I can’t seem to find 15/16 outside of RigRite. When I asked Garhauer, they said, “I don’t think the longer ones would hurt anything”. Seems like a reasonable answer, but is there a standard out there? All the pins I’ve seen on Jaw style turnbuckles come with pins that set the cotter pin right on the face of the jaw. Not too tight and not too loose. I found the same problem with the below deck port side lower tie rod chain plates. Has anyone else run into this problem?

 

[bgary]

Just my opinion.... yeah, it would be tidier to have the working length of the pin match the width of the toggle, but I suspect the forces communicated between of the toggle and the clevis pin will be the same whether the clevis pin is the perfect length, or extends 3 feet beyond the side of the toggle. The toggle will never "know" there's more pin out there.

 

[Kenneth K]

Has anyone else run into this problem?

Yes, that exact problem. When I ordered new rigging from W. Marine, the 7/16" shackles had pins that were about 1/4" too long. I agree that a "too long" pin are not necessarily a problem by themselves, but where my cap & intermediated chainplates sit side-by-side on the deck, the pins interfere with each other if too long.


I did a nation-wide search online (including McMaster Carr) for clevis pins and never found anything but the most common, expected sizes. Ultimately, I bought some longer pins, cut them shorter with a Dremel EZ406 cutting wheel and drilled new holes on a drill press. After cutting, if you sand the cut edge down with a belt sander, then polish on a polishing wheel, you can get it close to a mirror finish.

Like Bruce said, I don't think it makes any difference straight-wise, but too long a pin might also produce a snagging hazard if the cotter pin sticks out too far from the fitting.

 

[Kenneth K]

I meant..

strength wise, not straight-wise

 

[Nick J]

Thanks for the quick response.

Ken, you tackled my next question. Unfortunately, I think the Garhauer toggles are too thick to allow me to put the cotter pins facing inside. I think Head to head is my only option which will make it difficult to take it apart and expose our feet to snagging the cotter pin.

 

[Loren Beach]

If only... all four holes would line up in the same plane. One pin. (sigh)

 

[Kenneth K]

I think Head to head is my only option which will make it difficult to take it apart and expose our feet to snagging the cotter pin.

Yeah, you're spacing looks tighter than mine. Maybe it's the larger shackles.

If you do try to cut and drill your own pins, you can also save some length by drilling a smaller cotter pin hole (like 3/32 vs 1/8) and minimizing the amount of clevis pin length that extends beyond the cotter pin. Many of the pins I bought seemed to have oversized cotter pin holes, which adds to the length.

I've also sanded down clevis pin heads so they appear more like the pin you show on the right versus the one on the left.