Another Tow Hook Question.

[DocVijay]

I have a 99 SPort and have been trying to figure out where to mount the tow hooks. The bumper covers up the frame by about 3 inches. The 95-97 had a wider opening that made it easy to just bolt them to the frame. Can't do that on a 99. I know bigtigexplorer mounted his on the inside of the frame at a nangle, but someone mentioned that thismight put too much strain on the frame and break something. Anyone know a good spot to mount them without too much disfiguring of the bumper. It'll be a while before I replace it with something heftier, so I kinda need to keep it looking halfway decent.

 

[TarHeel085]

ive come up with a solution, a front hitch. itll set you back about $120 but its the only way.

 

[DocVijay]

I thought about that. I spent quite some time under my X today (easier now that it's lifted ) and couldn't really see a way without a lot of plastic cutting.

 

[Hokie]

I was wondering the same thing... I think SplashMan somehow got tow hooks on his, but I can't remember what year it was. I think it was a '99 or newer.... But I would love tow hooks on the front of my truck too

 

[jimbo74]

Jefe has towhooks on his 2000 XLT, however he has a bodylift, i dont know if that plays a factor or not here is a pic i stole from him

 

[Hokie]

How do you get a strap to those hooks? Through the airdam, or under the truck? And yeah, he's probably able to do this on his 2k X b/c of the body lift

 

[jimbo74]

to me, those pics look pre bodylift, but i could be wrong...shoot him a pm or an email, he is a cool guy, i am sure he would help you out.....

 

[DocVijay]

Those hooks look like they are behind the bumper. If he lifted his bumpers too when he did the BL, then I can see how they wold work, but like that, they are not accessible through the bumper. I'll ask him.

 

[Campo]

I bought some factory towhooks off of truckmagik that were on his sport trac, when it warms up I will start installing them on mine. So far what I'm planning to do is to extend the lower opening in the bumper, and use a heat gun and reshape the plastic to look like a factory opening. hopefully it works out right. when I get it done I'll post a write up and pics..

 

[DocVijay]

Originally posted by Campo
I bought some factory towhooks off of truckmagik that were on his sport trac, when it warms up I will start installing them on mine. So far what I'm planning to do is to extend the lower opening in the bumper, and use a heat gun and reshape the plastic to look like a factory opening. hopefully it works out right. when I get it done I'll post a write up and pics..

Good luck with that. It may be a bit tough, since the bumper (at least on mine) has about 2-3" of plastic on each side of the opening that would need to be cut away to access the frame. Please do post some pics if it works (or even if it doesn't ).

I may just go the front hitch route...

 

[DocVijay]

Been looking at the bumper and frame, and here's what I think. These are some pics of the bumper. The circled area is where the tow hook would poke through if you cut hte bumper. The protrusion on the bumper just makes it hard to do it so it would look nice. If the part that sticks out was lined up with the frame that would be great, and I'd cut some holes today, but... See for yourself.

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In the meantime, I have this for my back tow point. I think I should paint it black though. It's a Warn.

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[Jefe]

Wow, all this talk about my tow hooks and noone has gotten me in on it.

That pic IS pre-bodylift. The hooks were actually very accesible (but hidden) through the hole in the bumper.

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I used them quite a few times with no damage to the bumper.

Now that I have the 3" bodylift, they hang just below the bumper, although I had to cut slots in the bottom to get to them.

 

[jasonb]

my front hitch only cost me 89 shipped. the opening was right in the center of that opening. i had to lose the license plate bracket though leaving the holes there... so i made a quick little insert for the hitch that holds the license plate.. covers the hitch and the holes..
now that i have a BL on, the hitch is just below the bumper. worked out great.

 

[TarHeel085]

Jason, whered you get yours from?

 

[jasonb]

jeez.. i don't remember the name of the place.. i was thinking colorado 4x4 or something like that but that site wasn't what i remembered when i went there. i found it on a link from this board a while back. i think soupbone posted the original link. it was mail order though and i got free shipping. don't know if free shipping was standard or just good timing. i can't find the old email from them though.. sorry..

 

[jasonb]

with a little searching through posts.. i found that thread! and it was soupbone that posted the link!
and it wasn't colorado.. it was central4wd (hey i had the "C" right)

http://www.central4wd.com/store/itemdetail.asp?ID=916

btw.. the real one doesn't like the one in the pic.

 

[nkexplrr]

I have a '91 and I spent one whole day figuring out that problem. I used 3" box tubing and bolted the tow hooks to it. I then used really heavy u shaped brackets to bolt the bracket to the frame. THe brackets are mounted like this ^ over the frame and then bolted through the box tubing to secure it to the frame. I removed the factory airdam to give plenty of clearance. I don't know if this helps at all but it works for the 1st generation. At first I was worried about it slipping forward and ripping the bumper off, but i hooked it to a tree and gave it a firm bump and it didn't budge.

 

[DocVijay]

Could you post some pics of your setup. I may have room to do something similar. Thanks.

 

[nkexplrr]

I need to conjure up a digital camera first. I'm at college right now and the one I usually use isn't here. I'll work on getting the pics up ASAP

 

[nak4af]

I bought some F-250/350 (loop design) tow hooks off of a '99-ish model and grinded the front frame flat to where the towhooks would rest evenly under the frame. I bolted them using the supplied hardware (a thick plate with 2 holed tapped in it). After bolting these down, I held the valance up to it and marked it. I used one of those roto zip things for my dremel tool to cut it out. Bolted it up and fine tuned the cutouts. It looks total factory and it will pull anything out. My frame would tear before these babys will snap!

I plan on getting some pics of various mods and making a thread on it under my sig!

The tow hooks ran me a total of $10.00.