Tow Hooks...What are They For?

[DankjeeP]

This was dragging an F350 on 38s back into the mud...

Mud = no FUN. F mud lol

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[DankjeeP]

And since I'm still up at this ungodly hour (working 5 to 5 on the over with 2 hours of driving there and back, 600 feet of tower climbing with 8 hours of grinding and 2 hours of cleaning with some over the hub on the devils jungle gym, sun = scary)

To recap a recap, most vehicle's tow points are for the vehicle to be pulled out of a ditch or onto a flatbed etc. While this is called towing and recovery, it is not Recovery!¡!. These small welded eye loops and screw in eyes are strong yes but not winching across the Darien strong.

Jeep hooks, front or rear are rated for 10k of pull per which is nominally 2x GVWR which is typically plenty strong BUT this is in the Z axis only ( longitudinal axis or length of truck) and really only in the 0° horizontal plane. You get maximal strength pulling flat and in-line. Please consult the chicken entrails, billavista or winch and gesr manufacturers to infer/deduce/WAG how much the strength declines as you move away from 0°/0°.

If you use them in tandem doing a bridle pull ( length of rope/cable across the hooks with a eye ring) you can decrease the stress loading on the jeep provided the bridle is long enough. Somewhere in the bowels of the collection is a book on ship board crane and winching operations and in it they discussed fleet angle and sling pitch & length.

Some photos

Short story long is fleet should be between 2° and 4° for optimum loading of the drum and minimization of stresses in the winch mount. In our case this is a function of the distance between the fairlead and the drum. The next tidbit is what concerns us and that is the pitch angle of the bridle. If your leg length is too short, ie a small angle between load and line, the bridle will
transfer compressive lateral forced between the hooks. So longer legs with greater angles reduces lateral loading.

If you were really feeling it you could add your own additional recovery hard points to the frame, obviously how they are designed and constructed would play a roll in how well they perform. Placement and packaging would be the big hurdles, too massive and they become their own entanglement hazard when crawling.

I like it!
Some good info to digest, you even threw some great tech terms in there like WAG (wild ass guess). This is for sure not something to take lightly however.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

And since I'm still up at this ungodly hour (working 5 to 5 on the over with 2 hours of driving there and back, 600 feet of tower climbing with 8 hours of grinding and 2 hours of cleaning with some over the hub on the devils jungle gym, sun = scary)

To recap a recap, most vehicle's tow points are for the vehicle to be pulled out of a ditch or onto a flatbed etc. While this is called towing and recovery, it is not Recovery!¡!. These small welded eye loops and screw in eyes are strong yes but not winching across the Darien strong.

Jeep hooks, front or rear are rated for 10k of pull per which is nominally 2x GVWR which is typically plenty strong BUT this is in the Z axis only ( longitudinal axis or length of truck) and really only in the 0° horizontal plane. You get maximal strength pulling flat and in-line. Please consult the chicken entrails, billavista or winch and gesr manufacturers to infer/deduce/WAG how much the strength declines as you move away from 0°/0°.

If you use them in tandem doing a bridle pull ( length of rope/cable across the hooks with a eye ring) you can decrease the stress loading on the jeep provided the bridle is long enough. Somewhere in the bowels of the collection is a book on ship board crane and winching operations and in it they discussed fleet angle and sling pitch & length.

Some photos

Short story long is fleet should be between 2° and 4° for optimum loading of the drum and minimization of stresses in the winch mount. In our case this is a function of the distance between the fairlead and the drum. The next tidbit is what concerns us and that is the pitch angle of the bridle. If your leg length is too short, ie a small angle between load and line, the bridle will
transfer compressive lateral forced between the hooks. So longer legs with greater angles reduces lateral loading.

If you were really feeling it you could add your own additional recovery hard points to the frame, obviously how they are designed and constructed would play a roll in how well they perform. Placement and packaging would be the big hurdles, too massive and they become their own entanglement hazard when crawling.

This fella does a good job breaking it down:

 

[ShadowsPapa]

This fella does a good job breaking it down:

And proves it as well. Love his simplified whiteboard examples.

Interesting note unless I'm using the incorrect key words, I can't find bridle on Amazon. I see kinetic recovery ropes (not the right thing for sure) and I see straps of all sorts.

 

[Trailman]

And proves it as well. Love his simplified whiteboard examples.

Interesting note unless I'm using the incorrect key words, I can't find bridle on Amazon. I see kinetic recovery ropes (not the right thing for sure) and I see straps of all sorts.

This is as close as I can find:

https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Made-XD-...&sprefix=recovery+bridle+strap,aps,108&sr=8-6

 

[ShadowsPapa]

This is as close as I can find:

https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Made-XD-Recovery-Bridle/dp/B004W3P4DE/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1PRTZS2IHM34T&keywords=recovery+bridle+strap&qid=1642694328&sprefix=recovery+bridle+strap,aps,108&sr=8-6

Yeah, that's the closest I could find as well, but at 15' total length, that's only going to get 7' away from the vehicle leading to some heavy inward pull.
I agree 150% with everything in that video in the other post, it's just that after having pulled a guy out of a snowy/icy ditch a while back it's renewed my interest in getting something to split the load if I ever have to help myself out, or even another person with "tow hooks".
I ended up having to pull the other fellow out from one corner. It worked but wasn't my first choice.
I figured 30' total, 15' to each tow hook, keeping the angles as low as possible if I was understanding his video correctly.

 

[Alaskantinbender]

Saw this and it looks interesting but a bit spendy.
https://www.hkoffroad.com/products/...icon-bumpers?contact_posted=true#contact_form

 

[Gvsukids]

This is as close as I can find:

https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Made-XD-Recovery-Bridle/dp/B004W3P4DE/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1PRTZS2IHM34T&keywords=recovery+bridle+strap&qid=1642694328&sprefix=recovery+bridle+strap,aps,108&sr=8-6

Essentially a tree saver strap. Maybe using a 20 ft tow strap between the two hooks would be as useful.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Essentially a tree saver strap. Maybe using a 20 ft tow strap between the two hooks would be as useful.

I have 2 30' straps.
I could use one of those with a sleeve of some sort on it so it could slide. I didn't measure between the hooks on these but used his numbers from the video and figured I'd need 4.7-5.3 meters - 5 meters works out to 16 feet, roughly. So 16' doubled is 32' so I thought maybe a 30' rope or strap could serve, allowing enough distance from vehicle being pulled out to the point the rope was connected or hooked to the strap/rope. I was looking for a rope because you do want to be able to slide on the rope.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

And proves it as well. Love his simplified whiteboard examples.

Interesting note unless I'm using the incorrect key words, I can't find bridle on Amazon. I see kinetic recovery ropes (not the right thing for sure) and I see straps of all sorts.

Search under "nylon slings."
HF has a 3"x30' with a working load of 18k lbs IIRC.

Thinking about turning in my kinetic strap for another 3" static strap/ sling because of the thought of snatching someone out who doesn't have good situational awareness/ brake discipline, who then returns the favor by playing bumper cars with my diesel Rubi...

I've got 3 blocks and will be set up to do double, triple, quadruple line pulls if the occasion arises for myself or others to spare over-burdening the winch/ plate, etc.

The fella who made the bridle vid has a bunch other vids and really delves into the math of winching. Check him out. Very educational without all the teeny-bopper millennial fluff.

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

I have 2 30' straps.
I could use one of those with a sleeve of some sort on it so it could slide. I didn't measure between the hooks on these but used his numbers from the video and figured I'd need 4.7-5.3 meters - 5 meters works out to 16 feet, roughly. So 16' doubled is 32' so I thought maybe a 30' rope or strap could serve, allowing enough distance from vehicle being pulled out to the point the rope was connected or hooked to the strap/rope. I was looking for a rope because you do want to be able to slide on the rope.

On a similar note, I'm looking into the feasibility of reversing my rear tow hooks to better accommodate a bridle or generally optimizing recovery options.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

On a similar note, I'm looking into the feasibility of reversing my rear tow hooks to better accommodate a bridle or generally optimizing recovery options.

I want to get a second tow hook for the rear. Reversing them sounds like a good idea, especially with a bridle.

Search under "nylon slings."
HF has a 3"x30' with a working load of 18k lbs IIRC.

Will do.

I think I've seen his videos before - he looks familiar and his explanations seem familiar as well. I'm more of a visual learner anyway and his showing how to figure things quite simply with geometry........ hey, I think I know where else I've seen him now that I think of it.... there's a drag and lift video that I'm sure was his.

 

[hjdca]

Essentially a tree saver strap. Maybe using a 20 ft tow strap between the two hooks would be as useful.

I also try to reduce what I carry. I carry lots of soft shackles - you can do a lot with soft shackles --- and if you buy an abrasion resistant sleeve, you can use your tree saver strap as "Gvsukids" said above as a bridle. Something cheap like this ($10) should be enough to allow sliding. It takes up to a 3" wide strap.

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Mountain-Resistance-Band-Sleeve/dp/B06ZZNQ2BH?ref_=ast_sto_dp

 

[MPMB]

https://www.amazon.com/BILLET4X4-Sa...0&sprefix=kinetic%20rope%2010',aps,119&sr=8-5

https://www.masterpull.com/3-4-x-10-super-yanker-kinetic-recovery-bridle-19-000-lbs/

for those that want custom colors... and a 5m bridle: https://denverrope.com/recovery-tow-lines-tow-bridles/

 

[Trippin01]

Do what is safe. I've never used mine, I have shackles and a tow trap point on my hitch. The tow hooks from the factory are just barely safe and better than nothing.

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