I have seen videos of this and heard about it too. I would never hook to the axle, but I would do the axle before the spring hanger. A slowpulling loader is quite different from a truck yanking a vehicle out, even if it is a big heavy diesel. Either way, frame is my first choice, then a steel bumper. I know my ranger had been snatched out by the bumper a couple of time with no ill affects. A hook on the frame is just too easy to do to NOT do it.
Front tow hooks?
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I have seen videos of this and heard about it too. I would never hook to the axle, but I would do the axle before the spring hanger. A slowpulling loader is quite different from a truck yanking a vehicle out, even if it is a big heavy diesel. Either way, frame is my first choice, then a steel bumper. I know my ranger had been snatched out by the bumper a couple of time with no ill affects. A hook on the frame is just too easy to do to NOT do it.
MIDNIGHT RIDER
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The best hook point on either end of a truck is the CENTER of a properly installed STOUT bumper, thus equalizing the force put against each side of the frame.
The best way to warp a truck permanently out of align is to pull hard or jerk ******* one side of the frame.
If frame-mounted hooks are all that are available, it is best to make an equalizer between them with either a stout chain or short looped strap and connect the pulling chain/strap to the mid-point of that.
The best way to warp a truck permanently out of align is to pull hard or jerk ******* one side of the frame.
If frame-mounted hooks are all that are available, it is best to make an equalizer between them with either a stout chain or short looped strap and connect the pulling chain/strap to the mid-point of that.
MIDNIGHT RIDER
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I don't know why this silly machine does that; sometimes, it will post what I am typing before I am done, sometimes right in the middle of a word. 
Another very important point :
Whatever you hook to, be it a tow-hook, clevis, or whatever, it needs be strong itself and firmly fastened to a permanent part of the vehicle that CANNOT tear or break apart.
Recently, at a local mud play-ground, we had a young father immediately killed when someone dropped a strap over a two-inch trailer-ball with the other end of the strap connected to the rear of his truck.
When he lunged against the strap to pull out the stuck vehicle, the trailer-ball came loose and was sling-shot into the back of his head.
His wife and small kids were all in there with him and could just as easily have been anyone of them, or anyone else within a few hundred yards.
Having reason to be looking at the undersides of many different vehicles every day, I have seen plenty of hex-shaped holes torn through truck frames where tow-hooks had been mounted with no big long wide THICK steel backings to spread the force.
Frames are thin; the newer the vehicle, the thinner they are.
They will tear like tissue once started.
Whatever you use for hooks or however you attach them, keep it
STOUT. 
Another very important point :
Whatever you hook to, be it a tow-hook, clevis, or whatever, it needs be strong itself and firmly fastened to a permanent part of the vehicle that CANNOT tear or break apart.
Recently, at a local mud play-ground, we had a young father immediately killed when someone dropped a strap over a two-inch trailer-ball with the other end of the strap connected to the rear of his truck.
When he lunged against the strap to pull out the stuck vehicle, the trailer-ball came loose and was sling-shot into the back of his head.
His wife and small kids were all in there with him and could just as easily have been anyone of them, or anyone else within a few hundred yards.
Having reason to be looking at the undersides of many different vehicles every day, I have seen plenty of hex-shaped holes torn through truck frames where tow-hooks had been mounted with no big long wide THICK steel backings to spread the force.
Frames are thin; the newer the vehicle, the thinner they are.
They will tear like tissue once started.
Whatever you use for hooks or however you attach them, keep it
STOUT. 
flareside_thun
Reviving The General Tao
Midnight, that also brings me to another point. Sort of off topic but hey....... NO FRIGGIN CHAINS!!!! I may get flamed for that but how many here have seen a loggin chain rip through a crewcab Longbed Ford before?
tech51
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Chains are ok if it's rigged right.
MIDNIGHT RIDER
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For a dead pull, I prefer a chain.
For yanking and jerking, I prefer a strap.
They both have their places.
I have seen many a strap cut when improperly connected.
For yanking and jerking, I prefer a strap.
They both have their places.
I have seen many a strap cut when improperly connected.
flareside_thun
Reviving The General Tao
Ignorance is death, I can agree about the dead pull thing. All too often people misuse these items and they don't thing that a tragedy can happen to them....anyways, sorry to highjack the thread.
flareside_thun
Reviving The General Tao
9 times outta 10, you don't really need to snatch on a vehicle if you've got the right rope......the bungee effect does all the work for ya.
Thanks for the help guy's
Oooh I hate chains period and avoid them whenever I can but that's just my .02. I've been into rock crawling/exploring and 4wheeling my whole life so I've had a pretty good taste of what works and what doesn't in the way of tow hooks. I'm trying to keep my Ford as clean as possible but I might say to hell with it and just build a custom bumper/bull bar similar to what I have on my Toyota. I have my sights on a big ol' Warn winch anyway
I'm just surprised that most of these trucks didn't come with hooks 
My friend has a fleet model 99 PSD and it has some big ol' honkin tow hooks up front that really make me jealous and they came stock!
Oooh I hate chains period and avoid them whenever I can but that's just my .02. I've been into rock crawling/exploring and 4wheeling my whole life so I've had a pretty good taste of what works and what doesn't in the way of tow hooks. I'm trying to keep my Ford as clean as possible but I might say to hell with it and just build a custom bumper/bull bar similar to what I have on my Toyota. I have my sights on a big ol' Warn winch anyway
I'm just surprised that most of these trucks didn't come with hooks My friend has a fleet model 99 PSD and it has some big ol' honkin tow hooks up front that really make me jealous and they came stock!
flareside_thun
Reviving The General Tao
That is the downfall of these chuggin monsters.....no pull points on the front...and it drives me crazy...
82F100SWB
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I have seen bracketry built to put S/D towhooks on our trucks, they use a nice flat mount with a 3 bolt pattern, it wouldn't be hard to add a crossmember behind the bumper and stick them out through on a 92-97 with the Diesel bumper.
Whatever you do, tying the front framerails together is a good idea, and stay away from those crappy 10,000lb parts store tow hooks, they don't hold a decent strap or clevis well, and I have bent them straight before.
There are front receivers available for the 92+ trucks, but not for 91 and older. for a street truck that isn't going to see the kind of abuse I put my recovery points through, that is probably the best bet, with one of these nice tow loops:
http://www.etrailer.com/Ball-Mounts/Tow Ready/TR63045.html
I do not like using hooks, or chains, and am of the firm belief that tow straps should be used with clevises. Each of my trucks has a good 3"x20' RECOVERY strap; not a tow strap, with sewn end loops, no chain or hooks, and 2 each 3/4" clevises. My wheeling truck I double the strap count and I have no less than 8 clevises on or in the truck.
On my big truck, my front tow points( like these http://www.atozfabrication.com/store/Weld-on-Flat-Face-Clevis-Mounts.html ) are part of my winch bumper, and are welded to the 1/2" plate that makes up the winch mount, which is what all the main bracketry for the bumper is built off of. Holding the bumper to the frame is 3/8 plate that runs back past the core support mounts, and uses the boltholes for them, and is welded to my spring mount crossmember(shackle reversal) and bolted to the frame in 8 locations per side with 1/2" Cat bolts besides the core support mount bolts. I made sandwich plates for the inside of the frame out of 1/4 also. This is effectively part of my front suspension also, hence the overkill on attachment.
On the rear, I have 3/4 plate cut that serves as my d-ring mount and the bumper mount. It runs about 8" inside the frame rails and is bolted with 5 bolts per side. The "bumper" is a chunk of c-channel that fit over the ends of the frame rails that is cut to the same width as the frame. All it's there for is to tie the frame rails together and hold the license plate. I would of used something lighter, but I had the steel laying around.
Total overkill, but, I have torn a standard class IV receiver hitch apart before.
Whatever you do, tying the front framerails together is a good idea, and stay away from those crappy 10,000lb parts store tow hooks, they don't hold a decent strap or clevis well, and I have bent them straight before.
There are front receivers available for the 92+ trucks, but not for 91 and older. for a street truck that isn't going to see the kind of abuse I put my recovery points through, that is probably the best bet, with one of these nice tow loops:
http://www.etrailer.com/Ball-Mounts/Tow Ready/TR63045.html
I do not like using hooks, or chains, and am of the firm belief that tow straps should be used with clevises. Each of my trucks has a good 3"x20' RECOVERY strap; not a tow strap, with sewn end loops, no chain or hooks, and 2 each 3/4" clevises. My wheeling truck I double the strap count and I have no less than 8 clevises on or in the truck.
On my big truck, my front tow points( like these http://www.atozfabrication.com/store/Weld-on-Flat-Face-Clevis-Mounts.html ) are part of my winch bumper, and are welded to the 1/2" plate that makes up the winch mount, which is what all the main bracketry for the bumper is built off of. Holding the bumper to the frame is 3/8 plate that runs back past the core support mounts, and uses the boltholes for them, and is welded to my spring mount crossmember(shackle reversal) and bolted to the frame in 8 locations per side with 1/2" Cat bolts besides the core support mount bolts. I made sandwich plates for the inside of the frame out of 1/4 also. This is effectively part of my front suspension also, hence the overkill on attachment.
On the rear, I have 3/4 plate cut that serves as my d-ring mount and the bumper mount. It runs about 8" inside the frame rails and is bolted with 5 bolts per side. The "bumper" is a chunk of c-channel that fit over the ends of the frame rails that is cut to the same width as the frame. All it's there for is to tie the frame rails together and hold the license plate. I would of used something lighter, but I had the steel laying around.
Total overkill, but, I have torn a standard class IV receiver hitch apart before.
Well I'm back to this project once again
If you look at the two blue circles in the pic these are 1/2" bolts that bolt the bumper to the bracket. Would it be a bad idea to install longer grade 8 bolts and physically bolt a plate to the front of the bumper using those two bolts? The yellow circles show where two 1/2" bolts bolt the brackets to the frame. The bracket looks to be 3/8" thick.
If you look at the two blue circles in the pic these are 1/2" bolts that bolt the bumper to the bracket. Would it be a bad idea to install longer grade 8 bolts and physically bolt a plate to the front of the bumper using those two bolts? The yellow circles show where two 1/2" bolts bolt the brackets to the frame. The bracket looks to be 3/8" thick.
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Jake_IN
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I solved the problem of no tow hooks and a wimpy bumper together.
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