Eyebolt WLL and Angular Loading: Why the number on the tag isn’t the number you can lift

The figure stamped on a collared eyebolt made to AS 2317.1:2018 is its transverse WLL – the side-pull rating, and the lowest one the standard permits. It is marked in tonnes, without the letters "WLL", with arrows showing the direction of pull. The higher axial and paired-configuration ratings aren't on the eyebolt at all – they come from Table 4.3 of the standard. Plan a lift off the wrong number and the eyebolt can be stamped, in date and apparently within its rating – and still deform.

This article explains what the marking means, how AS 2317.1:2018 actually rates axial, transverse and angled lifts, and when the job needs a swivel hoist ring instead of a standard eyebolt.

On a plain eyebolt, the entire load runs through the thread engagement. Any angle introduces a bending moment at the thread root – a geometry the thread was never designed for. Plain eyebolts are vertical-only. If the sling isn't running straight up the shank, it's the wrong component.

On a collared eyebolt, the shoulder seats against the parent material and carries the side load by bearing, instead of resolving it through thread bending. That's what allows angular loading – within the limits set out below.

Both require full thread engagement – at least the nominal thread diameter, increasing to 1.75 × the diameter in cast iron and 3 × in aluminium (clause 4.4.5). A collared eyebolt with inadequate thread depth is effectively unrated regardless of collar geometry.

At an angle, the sling tension splits into two components: one in line with the shank (axial), and one across it (lateral). The axial WLL covers the first only. The lateral component drives a bending moment across the eye-to-shank transition – and as the angle opens, that moment climbs, to the point of yield or fracture, even while the total load sits under the axial figure quoted in a catalogue or lift plan.

The tell is a bent or twisted shank with the eye pulled toward the line of load. That's a textbook angular-loading failure. If you've seen it on a returned piece of plant, that's what caused it.

What's stamped on the eyebolt

Under AS 2317.1:2018, a collared eyebolt is marked with its transverse WLL in tonnes – a bare number, without the letters "WLL" – with arrows showing the side-pull direction (clause 2.5.3(d)). A compliant M24 is stamped 0.62 with arrows. Its axial WLL is 2.5 t – four times the stamp.

AS 2317.1:2018 – Lifting points, Part 1: Collared eyebolts and collared eyenuts – Grade 4 – separates three loading conditions worth keeping distinct:

1. Single eyebolt, axial

Full axial WLL – four times the stamped transverse figure. This is the baseline every other figure is derived from.

2. Transverse (trunnion) loading

A collared eyebolt can be side-loaded in the plane of the eye, but at a heavily reduced WLL. A single eyebolt loaded transversely is rated at 0.25 × axial WLL, the figure stamped on it. A pair loaded transversely under a lifting beam is rated at 0.5 × axial WLL. This is a rated condition, not a free pass.

3. Lateral loading (out of the plane of the eye)

Not permitted. The standard allows only a 5° tolerance off the plane of the eye. Beyond that, the load is outside the rating entirely.

For a two-leg sling on a pair of eyebolts, the standard rates the configuration by included angle, applied against the single-eyebolt axial WLL.

Table A – Two-leg sling on a pair of collared eyebolts (AS 2317.1:2018)

A 3,000 kg load lifted on two M24 collared eyebolts with a two-leg sling, legs at roughly 30° from vertical – an included angle of about 60°. Each eyebolt is stamped 0.62 t (transverse); axial WLL is 2.5 t. Can it proceed?

Step 1 – Configuration WLL at 60° included

Step 2 – Compare to the load

Options:

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The included angle depends on eyebolt spacing and hook height. The further apart the points and the higher the hook, the closer to vertical the legs run. On complex lifts, calculate and confirm the angle in the lift plan before the lift – don't eyeball it on the day. For repeat lifts on the same plant, some sites mark a minimum compliant hook height on the lift study, so the dogman can confirm before the hook takes load. Where the geometry can't give a compliant angle, that's the swivel-hoist-ring case.

A swivel hoist ring's shank bolts into the load; the ring rotates 360° and pivots (typically 0–90° from vertical, manufacturer-dependent). Because it self-aligns to the line of pull, the shank stays essentially axial regardless of sling angle, and the manufacturer's WLL applies across the range – no included-angle reduction.

Specify a swivel hoist ring when:

Swivel hoist rings cost more per unit, but they remove an entire class of calculation error and take the angular-loading failure mode off the risk register. On complex plant lifts, that's usually the right trade-off.

Eyebolts are checked at three points. The before-use check is a visual one; periodic inspections must be carried out by a competent person.

Table C – Guide to periodic inspection intervals (AS 2317.1:2018, Table 4.2)

Remove from service on any of the following:

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Standards current as at October 2026. AS 2317.1:2018 Lifting points, Part 1: Collared eyebolts and collared eyenuts – Grade 4; no Part 2 published at the time of writing.