{"id":12577,"date":"2026-09-05T13:59:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T13:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.raxpower.com\/?p=12577"},"modified":"2026-09-20T15:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T15:07:02","slug":"guia-de-sistemas-de-agarre-para-cables-en-extremo-ciego","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raxpower.com\/es\/blog\/dead-end-guy-grip-systems-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead End Guy Grip Systems: Una gu\u00eda completa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Picture a distribution pole at the edge of a new subdivision: conductors pull one way, and a slender galvanized strand anchored<\/a> into the soil pulls the other. That strand has to be terminated at both ends, and the fitting that grabs it is the dead end guy grip. Done wrong, the termination lets the pole creep out of line; done right, it holds for decades without a bolt to re-torque. This guide maps the whole dead end guy grip system, from hardware families to strand grades. It also marks the boundaries where a grip should hand the job back to a bolted clamp.<\/p>\n

RaxPower builds both sides of this naming problem. Dead end grips for conductors and guy grips for strand<\/a> sit in one formed-wire family on the line card. The order desk regularly receives a single inquiry that names the two parts interchangeably. The mix-up is harmless on paper and expensive in the field, because strand does not forgive a part sized for a conductor. Separating the families is therefore the first specification decision, and the one this guide treats in most depth.<\/p>\n

Where the Grip Sits in a Guy Assembly<\/h2>\n

Every guyed pole is a frame that trades bending for tension. The pole top wants to rotate under an unbalanced conductor pull, and the guy assembly converts that pull into a diagonal tension path. Along that path sit five parts: an attachment eye on the pole, a guy strain<\/a> insulator in the run, the strand itself, a turnbuckle, and an anchor rod at grade.<\/p>\n

The dead end guy grip is the component that terminates the strand at either end of that run. At the pole end it loops into the attachment eye; at the anchor end it loops into the anchor rod hardware. Because the grip replaces any bolted termination on the strand, it removes the failure mode that matters most on a guy: a joint that loosens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Down
Down guy led away from a distribution pole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The grip’s job at the anchor end is the harder of the two. That end sees the full line tension plus whatever the weather adds, and nobody visits it after backfill. A fitting chosen for that point has to be boring in the best sense: installed once, expected to hold, and left without a maintenance route.<\/p>\n

A grip does not stretch the full length of the lead, so the assembly still needs its other parts. The strain insulator keeps the lower run de-energized near the ground, the turnbuckle<\/a> sets tension, and the anchor rod carries the load into the soil. When the assembly is built this way, each part does one job. The grip grips, the insulator isolates, the turnbuckle adjusts, and the anchor holds.<\/p>\n

Four Hardware Families That Terminate a Guy<\/h2>\n

North American catalogs describe four hardware families that can terminate a guy strand, and they differ in more than shape. PLP pioneered the helical formed wire design in the 1940s, and its GUY-GRIP anchors millions of utility poles, which makes the preformed family the reference point. Maclean Power’s Strandvise represents the automatic cam family, its wedge clamps cover small conductor, and bolted dead-end clamps cover conductor tension positions.<\/p>\n

The families also differ in how they think about load. A preformed grip spreads its hold along every wrap of rod, an automatic cam concentrates its bite at one jaw set, and a clamp concentrates it at the bolt line. That is why the families carry their ratings in different currencies: percent of strand RBS for formed wire, minimum holding percentages for automatics, and per-size pound listings for clamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Family<\/th>\nGripping principle<\/th>\nRated holding basis<\/th>\nReuse behavior<\/th>\nNatural home<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Preformed rod grip<\/td>\nHelical rods, formed to the strand diameter, tighten as strand tension rises<\/td>\n100% of the strand’s published RBS (PLP GUY-GRIP and Big-Grip)<\/td>\nSingle use; reinstalled up to twice within 90 days<\/td>\nGalvanized steel strand on distribution and transmission guys<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Automatic cam connector<\/td>\nSpring-loaded cam jaws bite harder as the load rises<\/td>\nMinimum 90% of RBS on approved strands (MPS Strandvise)<\/td>\nSeries selected by strand grade; RUS-approved designs listed<\/td>\nOverhead and down guy wires across strand grades<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wedge-type clamp<\/td>\nTapered wedge seats into a shell under cable pull<\/td>\nListed per conductor diameter and pound class<\/td>\nWedge and shell sized for small conductor spans<\/td>\nService and small conductor, not EHS guys<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bolted dead-end clamp<\/td>\nClamp plates and bolts torqued onto the cable<\/td>\nListed per clamp size and conductor<\/td>\nBolts allow disassembly and re-torque<\/td>\nPhase conductor at tension positions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The rows are not interchangeable. Two families grab strand, one grabs small conductor, and one grabs phase conductor at tension positions. Only the first is a dead end guy grip in the strict sense, so the rest of this guide treats that family as the subject.<\/p>\n

What Counts as a Dead End Guy Grip<\/h2>\n

A dead end guy grip is a set of helical rods, formed to match a specific strand diameter, that wraps around the strand and terminates it in a loop. The rods are made of the same material as the strand they grip, so the pair expands, weathers and carries load together. Pull the strand and the helix tightens; the harder the pull, the harder the grip.<\/p>\n

Catalog language is where buyers trip. PLP registers the names GUY-GRIP Dead-End and Big-Grip Dead-End for strand products, while its own distribution catalogs use plain dead end grip for conductor products. Maclean writes deadend grips for guy wires when it means strand. Calling a conductor grip a guy grip is the way you would hand a car key to a forklift driver: similar silhouette, wrong machine entirely.<\/p>\n

On the formed wire range<\/a> page, the two families sit in the same category, listed rows apart. That separation is deliberate: one terminates conductors, the other terminates strand. Any inquiry that says grip without naming the strand or the conductor is the first thing a supplier’s desk should question.<\/p>\n

Guy Strand Grades and Sizes That Drive Selection<\/h2>\n

Galvanized steel guy strand comes in a strength ladder that has barely changed in a century. Maclean’s guy grip tables list the rungs as common grade, Siemens-Martin, high strength and utility grade, with Extra High Strength at the top. Construction is mostly 7-wire strand, with 19-wire constructions appearing once the diameters grow. Those grade names have outlived several generations of hardware, which is why a modern catalog still sounds like an old utility standards book when it lists them.<\/p>\n

Size drives the part number more than grade does. The same catalog table that lists each strand size also lists its published rated breaking strength, and those two columns together select the grip. Grade matters for the load math rather than the part choice. Maclean lists its DE-S deadend grips for galvanized steel guy wires of all strength types, from utility grade through EHS. The strand’s grade and the grip’s material, in other words, are chosen from two different columns of the same page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Galvanized strand size<\/th>\nRated holding strength listed by PLP<\/th>\nShare of strand RBS<\/th>\nTypical fit<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
3\/8 in<\/td>\n15,400 lb<\/td>\n100%<\/td>\nDistribution single-pole guys<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7\/16 in<\/td>\n20,800 lb<\/td>\n100%<\/td>\nDistribution guys with longer leads<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1\/2 in<\/td>\n26,900 lb<\/td>\n100%<\/td>\nUpper end of the GUY-GRIP class<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9\/16 in<\/td>\n35,000 lb<\/td>\n100%<\/td>\nTransmission-class guys<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5\/8 in<\/td>\n42,400 lb<\/td>\n100%<\/td>\nTransmission-class guys<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Those values come from PLP’s Big-Grip Dead-End table, where rated holding strength is printed for each strand as a percent of the strand’s rated breaking strength. Note where the two PLP families hand over to each other. For strand of half an inch and smaller on guys shorter than ninety feet, PLP lists the GUY-GRIP as the alternate; larger strand belongs to Big-Grip.<\/p>\n

\"Helical
Helical formed wire guy grip with closed loop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reading Rated Holding Strength Without Overclaiming<\/h2>\n

Every grip catalog expresses capacity the same way: as a percentage of the strand’s rated breaking strength, abbreviated RBS. PLP’s formed-wire dead ends are rated at 100% of the strand’s published RBS, and Maclean’s Strandvise automatic connectors hold a minimum of 90% of RBS on approved strands. A lower percentage is not a weaker strand; it is a weaker promise printed next to the same strand.<\/p>\n

The working load of a guy sits far below either number. Design practice applies its own factors to expected loads before a strand size is chosen, so the strand’s rating, not the grip’s, caps the assembly. In our view, the cleanest specification names three numbers: strand size, grade, and the rated holding percent printed beside them. Anything else invites a substitution nobody documented.<\/p>\n

Consider the 3\/8 in EHS row as a worked example. The strand carries a published rating of 15,400 pounds, and the grip listed against it is rated at 100% of that figure. A distribution guy never works the strand near that ceiling, because lead length, pole class and loading district set a working load far below it. The grip’s rating, therefore, is not the number the pole feels; it is the margin the standards demand.<\/p>\n

Where Each Family Earns Its Keep<\/h2>\n

PLP ties its own two grip designs to different jobs. The GUY-GRIP is intended for single wood poles in distribution construction, while Big-Grip covers transmission, antenna and communications structures that pull through large strand. The handover between them is even documented, with GUY-GRIP listed as the alternate for strand of half an inch and smaller on guys shorter than ninety feet.<\/p>\n

The automatic family spreads across strand grades through series selection. MPS recommends its Universal series on Alumoweld and Extra High Strength galvanized strand, and its All Grades series on common, Siemens-Martin, high strength and utility grade strand. RUS approval explains why the family keeps appearing on utility standards for deadending overhead and down guys.<\/p>\n

Wedge clamps earn their keep below the guy world. MPS lists them for conductor diameters of 0.160 to 0.330 inches, including galvanized aircraft strand service spans, which places them in service-drop territory rather than EHS strand work. Bolted dead-end clamps, in turn, follow the phase conductor wherever a tension point appears.<\/p>\n

So the field rule writes itself. Distribution pole guys take preformed grips, transmission and antenna guys take large-strand grips or automatics per the governing standard, and small conductor takes wedges or bolted clamps. A route that mixes all three cable types will genuinely carry all three terminations.<\/p>\n

Matching Grip Material and Coating to the Strand<\/h2>\n

The same-material rule does the quiet work in this product family. Galvanized strand pairs with grips made of galvanized steel wire. PLP ships C-Coat galvanized steel as standard across the Big-Grip range, and Maclean lists its DE-S guy grips as steel wire with Class B galvanizing.<\/p>\n

Coating follows the strand’s coating, because the grip spends its life pressed against it. Aluminum-coated strand gets its own series, and Maclean’s Galfan-coated ranges show how far the coating menu extends. A coating mismatch is quiet chemistry: nothing fails on day one, and that is exactly what makes it expensive. The same logic runs through the formed-wire production floor, where steel strand takes galvanized steel rods and aluminum surfaces take aluminum-family wire. The pairing also simplifies spares: one strand size, one grip, one coating, one line on the truck sheet.<\/p>\n

Sizing the Grip to the Strand Diameter<\/h2>\n

Strand nominal sizes hide small physical variations, so catalogs size grips by diameter range rather than by name. Maclean’s DE-S table gives 1\/4 in EHS strand a window of 0.248 to 0.256 inches. The 3\/8 in part allows 0.37 to 0.378 inches, and the 7\/16 in part allows 0.433 to 0.441 inches.<\/p>\n

Applied length grows with strand size for a simple reason: a thicker strand needs more wrap contact to reach the same holding percent. Between those same catalog rows, applied length climbs from 25 inches to 38 inches. Measure the strand with a caliper before ordering, because a nominally identical strand from a different mill can sit near the edge of its window. A dead end guy grip chosen from the middle of its diameter range wraps tighter than one chosen from its edge.<\/p>\n

The window deserves respect on both sides. Below it, the rods close before they develop full pressure against the strand; above it, the last wraps never seat at all. Neither mistake announces itself during installation, which is why the caliper reading belongs on the work order next to the catalog number rather than in the crew’s memory.<\/p>\n

Installation Effort and Retensioning Across Families<\/h2>\n

Installation effort separates the families as sharply as strength does. A preformed dead end guy grip wraps on by hand in minutes<\/a>, with no press, no torch and no torque wrench. An automatic connector slides over the strand and lets a spring-loaded cam do the gripping. A bolted clamp, by contrast, earns its holding strength one calibrated turn at a time.<\/p>\n

Reuse is where the catalogs speak plainly. PLP intends its guy grips for single use but allows reinstallation twice within 90 days. That window covers a crew repositioning a pole attachment, not a contractor cycling spares off a shelf. By the time a crew has wrapped its second set of rods, the bolted-clamp alternative on the truck is still counting torque checks. Wedge hardware sits between the two extremes: faster than bolts, rougher on the cable than a wrap, and happiest where a small conductor already ends at the pole.<\/p>\n

Retensioning a guy belongs to the turnbuckle in everyday practice. The 90-day reapply rule is the documented exception, not a maintenance schedule.<\/p>\n

Where a Grip Cannot Replace a Dead End Clamp<\/h2>\n

There is a clean dividing line between grips and clamps, and it follows the cable. A dead end guy grip terminates strand; a dead end clamp terminates phase conductor at a tension position. The two jobs look similar from the ground and share nothing once the cable enters the fitting.<\/p>\n

Bolted dead-end clamps grip conductors with clamp plates and bolts, which is why they appear at every conductor tension point on a route and not on the guy. Wedge clamps sit at the smallest end of the conductor world, with Maclean’s tables covering diameters of 0.160 to 0.330 inches and galvanized aircraft strand service spans. When the cable is a conductor, specify from the tension clamp range<\/a>; when the cable is strand, specify the grip.<\/p>\n

\"Dead-end
Bolted dead-end fittings terminating conductors on a pole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One hybrid case deserves a note. Conductor-rated formed grips exist for distribution conductors, and they are their own product family with their own sizing rules. They are not guy hardware, and a label that says grip alone does not make them interchangeable.<\/p>\n

Adjustability follows the same dividing line. A turnbuckle splices tension changes into the assembly without touching the termination, which is why a grip and a turnbuckle coexist so comfortably on one lead. A bolted clamp absorbs its adjustments at the bolts and a wedge at its shell, but a formed grip asks to be left alone. Corners, crossings and line ends put clamps on conductors; the strand that braces those structures keeps the grip.<\/p>\n

Guy Assembly Hardware Around the Grip<\/h2>\n

A grip is one link in a chain of guy attachment hardware, and the chain carries load only as straight as its weakest link. The loop of the grip seats into a thimble eye at the pole, or into a clevis at the anchor. A strain insulator breaks the electrical path mid-run, and a turnbuckle finishes the tension.<\/p>\n

Below grade, the anchor rod carries the whole conversation into the soil, which is why anchor selection gets its own engineering review. Matching eye, thimble and clevis bores to the grip loop is unglamorous work that prevents the concentrated wear which shortens a guy’s life. The eyes, thimbles and turnbuckles come from the guy attachment range<\/a>, and anchor rod accessories<\/a> complete the load path below grade.<\/p>\n

Insulator placement deserves a sentence of its own. Setting the strain insulator in the lower portion of the run keeps the reachable length of guy de-energized, which matters anywhere the public passes close to the lead. The grip above it stays a mechanical part rather than an electrical one, and the attachment hardware at both ends stays a voltage-free job to inspect.<\/p>\n

The Paper Trail a Buyer Can Verify<\/h2>\n

A grip specification can be verified on paper before anyone opens a carton. The columns that matter are printed in every serious catalog, and they carry onto a quote without extra effort.<\/p>\n