Front tow hooks?

[82F100SWB]

This is alot more stuck than any of you guys are probably going to get, but, this quite clearly shows why I hate pulling off of a reciever hitch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t0rBOQt6Ao

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This was after they tried winching it and were doing nothing but dragging 2 jeeps and a F150 towards the stuck jeep...

We ended up spending the next 45 minutes with my truck anchored to a tree with my winch and using his winch to slowly, very slowly pull the jeep out.

Always keep in mind that the forces involved, even in an easy no jerk pull can be extreme, and if you are questioning it being strong enough at all, make it stronger so that someone doesn't end up eating whatever that cable, chain or strap is attached to.

To me pulling off of those bumper brackets on a brick nose, while doable, and will probably work if you're only a little bit stuck, is not desirable, they are definitely not designed to have force applied to them in that manner. Pulling from that mount will put considerable bending forces on that bracket, as well as the bumper and the front of the frame. I have seen the front of the frame pretzeled on these trucks quite badly from just that type of loading. The leaf spring 4x4's are stronger than the 2wd's at the front of the frame, but, I still don't like that idea.
What I would do is build a piece of c or plate that bolted onto the frame at the holes the stock bumper bracket do, possibly running back and using the core support mount holes as well, as well as the 80-86 location in the front of the frame, attach the tow points to that, and then hang the bumper off of that new crossmember.

That way you have bolts in tension(front of the frame,) as well as shear, and it is going to be considerably stronger than just having it attached with bolts in shear alone. Also, the added crossmember will help spread the load, and stiffen up the front end of the truck's frame.

 

[pennsylvaniabo]

No offense but that hitch looks rusty, plus if it tore up a hitch, there is no way a standard hook would have survived, or even the single bolt ons listed on the first page.

 

[Rot Box]

Here's what I ended up with. Works out pretty good I used grade 8 hardware with a fishplate behind the frame. I'm sure there are stronger options out there, but this seems to be every bit as strong as factory GM and Dodge mounts on trucks of the same year...

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[gdhillon]

So what you did is take the bumper of then in place of the stock bolts installed longer grade eight bolts and you put the hook at the end and then tightened on with a washer with the bumper mount on the insideof the hook.....is that correct?

 

[LCAM-01XA]

So what you did is take the bumper of then in place of the stock bolts installed longer grade eight bolts and you put the hook at the end and then tightened on with a washer with the bumper mount on the insideof the hook.....is that correct?

Aye, looks like the bumper mounting brackets are sandwiched between the hooks and the frame rails. He also added those narrow plates on the inner side of the frame rails to spread the load from the bolts, which is an excellent idea as even grade-8 washers can be easily deformed in such situations (unless double- or triple-stacked, but plates are still way better).

By the way, if someone is to do this on a 2wd truck w/ C-chanel frame rails, a piece of thick-wall angle iron can easily be used to tie the frame rails together for load distribution purposes, you can even use the holes for the sway bar mounts if no sway bar is present on the truck. Or you may even be able to use the swaybar mounting plate off a halfton 4x4 truck and it could also double as a skid plate for your radiator and core support - take your own measurements on that last one tho, I only saw it in a junkyard but I already had the angle iron treatment done so I didn't feel the urge to fight a bunch of rusty bolts just to confirm possible fitment.

 

[boxathey]

I made a recessed hitch receiver up front using some box tubing and attached it to the frame. ive used it a couple times now it works great. It was pretty simple to make. Ill try to get a picture up within the next day or two

 

[boxathey]

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i used 2 1/2' box tubing with 1/4" wall, welded some 3/8 thick flat stock on the ends and bolted to the frame. i also welded gussets on the front side, (facing the bumper) for more rigidity incase i was really yanking on it. I didnt want it to bend on me. It was a little dark out when i took the picture i can try again if you guys cant see this one real well.

 

[idi traveler]

I'm looking forward to seeing them. The link doesn't work.

 

[Rot Box]

So what you did is take the bumper of then in place of the stock bolts installed longer grade eight bolts and you put the hook at the end and then tightened on with a washer with the bumper mount on the insideof the hook.....is that correct?

Aye, looks like the bumper mounting brackets are sandwiched between the hooks and the frame rails. He also added those narrow plates on the inner side of the frame rails to spread the load from the bolts, which is an excellent idea as even grade-8 washers can be easily deformed in such situations (unless double- or triple-stacked, but plates are still way better).

That's correct All in all it worked out really nice and I've tugged on them pretty hard without any problems. I think the hooks came from a 70's-80's GM.

 

[gdhillon]

this seems simple enough to do

hmm maybe ill rob them from my dads chev haha

Edit: where would one get this fish plate?

 

[boxathey]

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i had some scrap metal lying around so i threw this together. I decided to bolt it to the frame in case I ever needed to take it off. I welded a big tow hook off an international cab over. onto a 7" piece of box tubing. I use that to hook my chain up to front or the rear. its funny I even used the front of the truck to move a trailer my buddy had wedged between two trees and he couldnt get to it so i threw my 2" ball up front and pulled it out. It looked funny seeing a trailer hooked up to the front of my truck. But it worked....lol

 

[gdhillon]

Rot box, did you custom make that fish plate? And how did you do it? What length grade 8 bolts did you get or is it just a standard size?

What I was thinking of doing was exactly what you did, then wrapping a chain tightly across both hooks (couple times) and to make sure the chains wrapped tightly use a load binder....and when I get stuck attach a strap to the middle of the chain, to prevent the frame from being twisted, is that a good idea?

And is the fish plate a necessity?