It has heretofore been known to provide U-shaped pintle links formed of a singular strap. Conventionally, the strap has first been formed into a complete U-shaped member by stretching it around a die. Previous to forming it in the U-shaped member, pin openings were cut at the ends and adjacent the center. When stretching the strap into the U-shaped member, the portions of the link around the openings stretched and generally caused the openings to elongate. This created weak areas in the link around the openings. Also, when forming the strap into the U-shaped member, the corners of the link were stretched and this further caused a weak point in the link which often caused premature failures. Further, by so stretching the strap when forming the link into the U-shaped member, the grain of the strap became aligned generally lengthwise of the strap. This alignment of the grain in the strap also was a cause of early failure in the chain links.