body guys, please help!!!

hey all, over the weekend, i got stuck pretty bad on the side of a mountain and needed to get pulled out. we found some really kind people up there that helped get us out, but being in the precarious position that we were in, my tow hooks bent at the frame where they are bolted to. a small piece of my bumber has been crumpled by this, but i think if i can bend the frame back to where it was, i can pop that part of the bumper back out, and repaint it. my main concern is that i am going on another trip this weekend and may need my trusty tow hooks to get me out of another jam, what is the best way i can go about straightening out my tow hooks!? there are pictures below that i hope will help. anyone bend there hooks this way before? what is the best way i can get these straight before i go on my next trip. any suggestions or advice would be awesome. thanks guys.

here's a look at it from farther out.

i would really like to get these fixed by this weekend for my next trip. even if i could bend these back, would the frame of where the hooks are bolted to be weaker? can i still use them for pulling if i can get it straight? thanks again guys.

p.s. if it helps, i can take more pictures and post them if it will give anyone a better idea of whats going on here.

 

[Blee1099]

Curious on how they are bolted to the frame.. Honestly better pics at different angles could help alot

 

[LONO100]

im in line paying my water bill as we speak, as soon as i get home, more pics are on the way. thanks for looking!

 

[LONO100]

ok, here are more pictures of how the tow hook is bolted to the truck. there is a tongue that is on the end of the frame of the truck with two bolt holes. i used grade 8 bolts to connect the tow hooks. i hope these pictures help. i really need to get these hooks straightened out because i will be going out on another trip off road and will most likely be needing them. thanks again!

in this pic you can see the tongue that the tow hook is bolted to

two bolts are holding it

this is how much the hooks stick out form the bumper

hope these pics help, any advice would be awesome.

 

[Blee1099]

Would need to look at another Sport Trac to compare but does it seem like the tow loop bracket has slid against the frame rail or has the actual loop bent?

 

[vroomzoomboom]

the only one thing that comes to mind that might work is get a bottle jack, and a pipe and place it between your frame rails, and start jacking it. am i wrong, or is it that they both have bent inwards?

 

[Blee1099]

Do it the red neck style.. come along attached to tree, attach other end to tow loop, ratchet down on the come along till the tow loop moves back to its position.

 

[LONO100]

yeah, they have both bent inward, the passenger side is the side that is bent into the fiberglass part of my bumper. the frame stamps, not the tow hooks are what bent. the tow hooks are still in good shape. how could you elaborate a little more on how i would use a bottle jack and a pipe to bend the tow hook stamps back in place?

 

[LONO100]

here are a few more pictures. hope it helps.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

this is going to sound so wrong, but its the only way i can think of at the moment to describe it (and unfortunately, i am not joking either). ever remember "the Thighmaster"? you know, that exercise thing suzanne somers used to promote? well, think of the jack an pipe as the thighmaster, and the frame as legs. you place the bottle jack and pipe between the frame (or the mounting points for the tow hooks, which ever is bent). when you start pumping the jack, it should (if its strong enough) spread the frame rails back into place to the point of where it was originally.

btw, the reason why i say, you will need a pipe as well, is that the bottle jack will not be long enough to reach one side of the frame to the other. you will want to put the pipe between one frame rail AND THE BASE OF THE JACK. not the part of the jack that extends.

 

[Blee1099]

Honestly looking at the tow loop.. It looks like it just shifted.. Wonders if you can loosen the bolts out and move it a quarter inch to the left for the passenger side and right for the drivers side

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Honestly looking at the tow loop.. It looks like it just shifted.. Wonders if you can loosen the bolts out and move it a quarter inch to the left for the passenger side and right for the drivers side

if you look at the bracket that the hook is on, it is pulled away from the frame.....eh

 

[LONO100]

so the bottle jack in theory would be "on its side in between the two rails and then the pipe on the plate of the bottle jack pushing the other frame rail where the tow hook stamp is, then start pumping the jack to spread them apart?

when i open the hood, in front of the radiator if you look straight down, you can see the tow hook stamp directly bending upward. would it be feasable to get a nice thick pipe, place it on top of the tow hook stamp, get a giant sladge hammer, and try to pound it back down level with the ground like it was originally? or would the energy from the sledge hammer onto the pipe, onto the frame rail start knocking things loose within the engine? rebel told me about getting welder to heat the piece back up and then bend it back into shape. i am going to look for someone to do this, but i think it might cost me more than i am willing to spend.

what about putting my tow strap back on, and getting my buddy in his f150 to back up with the tow strap hooked onto his truck. would this be feasable or just stupid?

 

[Scott B.]

You don't really want to "pound" or "yank" things back into place. Nice. slow, even pressure (from a bottle jack, for instance) should do the least amount of damage/fatiguing to the metal.

That being said, the mounts are now weaker than they were. You might want to consider strengthening the mounts (frame rails) with additional metal.

 

[drdoom]

I'm not sure a bottle jack will work on it's side. If not, you could use a PortaPower.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I'm not sure a bottle jack will work on it's side. If not, you could use a PortaPower.

some will and some wont. the only reason why i didnt say portapower is most people dont have them, and more then likely will have a bottle jack. some trucks even come with them for tire jacks.