Front recovery hooks for 4WD / Plastic Bumper Cap

[kennyrkun]

I'm a little late to this thread but it appears the 2016 MY has the hook, and the threaded hole in the metal bumper, but no hole in the plastic bumper, making it impossible to use the recovery hook without removing the bumper.

edit: this is not correct.

 

[Steve8316]

...it appears the 2016 MY has...no hole in the plastic bumper...

Mine does, but mine still has the cop bumper/grill. Sounds like yours has been swapped (which I'm looking to do).

 

[kennyrkun]

Mine does, but mine still has the cop bumper/grill. Sounds like yours has been swapped (which I'm looking to do).

View attachment 466291

Interesting. I've looked up a bunch of photos of the 2016 Explorer and none of them had the hook hole, yet I looked up a bunch of 2016s for sale near me and they all have the hook hole. What would my bumper have been swapped with, an aftermarket bumper that's identical minus the hole?

edit: I have an XLT, not a cop trim.

 

[peterk9]

Interesting. I've looked up a bunch of photos of the 2016 Explorer and none of them had the hook hole, yet I looked up a bunch of 2016s for sale near me and they all have the hook hole. What would my bumper have been swapped with, an aftermarket bumper that's identical minus the hole?

edit: I have an XLT, not a cop trim.

I'm guessing you are not the original owner. If so. see if you can get a history report to see if the vehicle had any front end damage that may account for a different bumper.
There was a post years ago where a member had the front fascia replaced and the replacement didn't have the cutout for the lower air deflector.

Peter

 

[Steve8316]

What would my bumper have been swapped with, an aftermarket bumper that's identical minus the hole?
edit: I have an XLT, not a cop trim.

If the bumper with threaded hole is original, the skin could have been swapped from an Ex. not equipped. Or maybe the skin is the original or an identical replacement, and it's the bumper that got swapped from an equipped Ex or PIU. You'd probably have to do some dismantling to see paint colors & witness marks to be sure, but it's sort of pointless. Either change the bumper skin to give you access, or don't.

 

[peterk9]

I don't know how ofter these recovery hooks are actually used but I believe Ford may have done away with them on later models. There are members here who have the plastic cover for the 'hook', but when removed, found that there is no drilled hole to receive the hook. My last Explorer was a 2017 Platinum.

Peter

 

[kennyrkun]

If the bumper with threaded hole is original, the skin could have been swapped from an Ex. not equipped. Or maybe the skin is the original or an identical replacement, and it's the bumper that got swapped from an equipped Ex or PIU. You'd probably have to do some dismantling to see paint colors & witness marks to be sure, but it's sort of pointless. Either change the bumper skin to give you access, or don't.

Yeah, it doesn't really change anything but it annoys me greatly. I have pictures of the bumper when it was off while I was installing a pushbar, and it's got some stickers and such in places but they're too far gone to read. It's possible it was replaced, but I haven't seen any signs that it's ever been off before. The car has no recorded history of accidents.

I don't know how ofter these recovery hooks are actually used but I believe Ford may have done away with them on later models. There are members here who have the plastic cover for the 'hook', but when removed, found that there is no drilled hole to receive the hook. My last Explorer was a 2017 Platinum.

Peter

I doubt they are used often, but I like to have my options available Doubly considering that the car included the hook, but gave me nowhere to put it!