Hello,

I have come up with a bolt on solution for tow hooks that would probally work out nicely for many rangers that don't want to get a new bumper but want some cheap and fancy tow hooks. Although I can't weld, so I gladly make the cad drawlings. Basically... we have 2 pieces of 3/8" steel 2 X 3.5" with 2 holes on either side, basically to clamp the bumper with 1/2 inch bolts, this keeps the tow hooks secure, then on one of the plates we weld a 1/2" thick 2.25 X 2" square with 45 degree cut on 2 of the corners, and with a 1/2 inch hole in it, this accepts a Locking C Clamp to secure a tow rope to, both these pieces are welded together, and that is an easy solution to a Tow Hook.

Pretty much I am looking to pay about $15 shipped for a pair of these, but I'll give you the plans, and you can produce as many as you like for anybody you like, and can make all the profit you want. There are no restrictions, and really this could fit on any steel bumper, front or rear for that matter.

Let me know if anyone wants to make a pair for me, and I will deffinately cover shipping, and I can cover steel, but these are tiny pieces of scrap, and probally a worthwile project to use that scrap. I will also send a C Clasp that I plan to use as well as send who ever makes it pictures of painted brackets, mounted brackets, and pictures of it on my truck

Thanks!

 

send me the cad drawing and i'll let you know if i can help you out

 

post up teh cad drawing, or send it to me. I may have the scrap lying around.

 

i just made a set tonight. i hope its what you want

 

pics

 

Hey Alon,

Wasen't trying to ignore you, I was sleeping so I could get up this morning , let me know what ya wana do, as I said I will pay for shipping, but I don't think its gonna be much. If you could post a pic of em, that way everybody can see em, once I get em I'll glady take a raw pic, painted pic, finished pic, and a mounted pic and post em on here for y'all

Thanks Again!
- Brian

 

So do they mount to the bumper? because if so, becareful using that as a mounting point i've seen many a bumpers get ripped off that way.

 

Yes they do, the bumper will deffinately rip off before the brackets will, I would suggest re-mounting your bumper if you plan on using them as more than just the standard pull, if your looking at 3000lbs, remount the bumper better.

 

Take a look at the pic below. I don't know about anything prior to 1998 but all of the newer trucks regardless of whether they came with tow hooks *should* have the solid piece of steel that goes between the frame rails. If you have this, your best bet is to get a set of OEM hooks and not bother driliing thru the bumper. If you don't have this or don't want the factory hooks, look behind the bumper for something you can drill thru to bolt the hooks. You DO NOT want to mount tow hooks to your bumper no matter how you remount the bumper. The bumper itself is very thin and is in no way strong enough to support recovery operations.

For recoveries, you want tow points that are mounted to the FRAME. I have (and will continue to) refuse to recover a vehicle that doesn't have safe tow points and anything mounted to the bumper is NOT safe. If the hooks you have made weigh 3lbs, then you will end up with a 3lb missile flying at you when it tears thru the bumper and the strap recoils. It has been well documented that these things are lethal and I will not wheel with anyone trying to use something like this as a recovery point. The last thing I need is to ruin an otherwise great day on the trail by having to rush someone to the hospital or call in a chopper because of unsafe practices.

To date, I have NEVER been in a group that has a significant injury and I believe that this is because of strict rules regarding safety. PLEASE do not mount hooks to your bumper.

 

understood, but they won't pull off unless the entire bumper rips off, if the entire bumper rips off, we have a bigger concern. Also with my 1994 there are 4 6000+ lbs bolts securing it to the frame, which is where I am mounting the tow hooks, which means they will just compress between the bumper, not actually fully relying on it.

 

Um.... As I said, I have and will continue to refuse to recover a vehicle that doesn't have safe tow points regardless of how many bolts are holding the bumper on. I will also refuse to be anywhere near such a recovery because it is not safe. Do everyone a favor and mount hooks to your frame the way they should be. If you don't believe me about it not being safe, go read the rules for any organized offroading event.

Regarding the hooks not coming off unless the bumper rips off, the edges of those plates when they have TONS of force applied to them will slice the bumper like a can opener. It's just not safe no matter how you try to rationalize it.

 

The brackets mount through the bumper directly into the frame, how can I mount it any better than that?

 

I'd like to see a pic of what you're talking about because it sounds like you're sandwiching the bumper between two steel plates. That doesn't leave any way to mount to the frame. At best, you could add the bumper brackets to the sandwich but they are still not strong enough nor are they designed for the type of load they'll see during a recovery.

The way to better mount the hooks would be to drill holes in the frame and mount the hooks to the frame with a steel backing plate on the inside of the frame to spread the load. While this is not perfect, it is much better than any mounting that involves the bumper. The bumper is designed to sustain an impact from the front and NOT to sustain a load trying to pull it from the frame.

 

my frame rails have 2 studs (per side) to mount the bumper, I am cutting them off, welding longer studs on, drilling thoes holes through the bumper, with a steel plate on the rear, and then the hooks on the front, there will be 2 studs rated at 6000lbs or greater securing the bolt on mounts.

 

And those studs go directly to the frame and not into a bracket bolted to the frame?? If so, that's an interesting way to mount a bumper.

 

correct, I already remounted it once, when I ripped it off the first time, its like a jeep bumper with straight through mounts i will be testing them anyways my uncle tests out this kind of stuff and after I have them mounted I am gonna put them under 6000lbs of strength, if they break or fail, they will be reworked

 

Almost forgot, you may want to consider a .75-1" hole in the plate becaue most shackles you'll find that are strong enough to use for a recovery have at least a 3/4" pin.

 

Oh, S*** I thought they were 1/2 inch, I didn't get out yet to get them... I just actually took my valance off and found a better spot to mount them so I don't need to damage my bumper minor modification, but the mounting point is probally 100% better off anyways

 

Pics of where I would like to mount some modified tow hooks, the rear bumper is mounted a bit better than the front and the brackets I had made will deffinately work fine back there. Here are pics of the front.


The 2 Holes at the bottom are where I would like to mount them, they go all the way through... and seem exreemly sturdy, I would like to design a bracket for that.


Same pic, just back a bit....


without valance, she looks hott now!!

Let me know what ya think, I was thinking a 2X6 piece of 1/2 inch steel with 1 3/4 inch hole in it and I can drill other other 2 holes to mount them, it would be a straight piece and be mounted from the side, making it stronger...

Let me know your thoughts!
- Brian

 

I definitely like that idea better than using the bumper. If you're going to get shackles, make sure they're rated high enough and drill the holes to work with your shackles. I have a couple 7/8" shackles that have a 1" pin and have a WLL of 6.5T which is more than my winch, but less than the winch rope.

 

Isn't that a bad idea? Wouldn't you want the rope to be the weak point and the 'breaker' in the system?!

 

There are several ways of thinking on this one. My thinking is that since the winch will stall before the breaking point of any link in the chain, it should never be an issue and therefore everything else should have a higher capacity than the winch which would in theory eliminate any breakage.

I feel that shackles and recovery points should always be the last thing to break and in my case, the winch stalling should ensure it.

 

Das-coo'.. I'll still be the guy standing way the heck over there!

 

No worries with the synthetic rope man!! I can tell you from experience that when that stuff breaks, it drops dead just like they say it does.

 

yeah that stuff does just drop, as long as your cable rating is less than your mount rating, the cable will fail before the bracket spins off