- Joined
- March 29, 2015
- Messages
- 566
- Reaction score
- 292
- City, State
- Orangevale, California
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2015 Ford Explorer Sport
So I'm one of those guys who likes the look of those red tow hooks folks have been rocking lately. I'm a function-over-form guy normally so I was apprehensive about a mod like this as it does nothing for performance and it's purely cosmetic. Figured the circles I travel in would laugh at me for "trying too hard" lol...
So, after some thought, I decided to say screw it, lets just go for it. Most feedback has been positive but I do get the occasional hater-ation. Oh well, if I'm not pissing somebody off, I'm doing it wrong, lol.
Final product:
Being the guy that I am, I decided to write this up so you lovely people can enjoy it yourself. There is NO high-end aftermarket tow hook for our platform, so I decided to do some experimenting. It's not a cheap mod. Even though I spent more due to my experimentation, all in, you're still gonna spend about $240 not including any shipping or tax.
So, it all started with the factory tow hook and getting dimensions...
The tow hook I was dead set on is a product by RaceSeng.
They make some decently high-end tuner parts. Their tow hook is a two-piece design so that the hook, which has a short is universal threaded end that is M18-1.5...
...and per whatever application you have, order the appropriate Tow Shaft, which is specific to each vehicle. Well, needless to say, they had no application for our platform. The threaded hole beneath the tow hook cover in the front bumper is M16-2.0. I reached out to them, but they did not seem interested in doing anything for this vehicle. So then I tried to do a TON of research to see if any vehicle they did have had a similar thread pattern and came up blank. It was tough because they don't list thread patterns, but only part numbers. Had to spend a lot of time on Google to research.
So, I decide to see what i could do anyway. I ordered the tow hook, the GoPro mount, and a shaft for a NIssan GTR, as their thread pattern is M24 something or other. That was enough meat on the shaft (bring the jokes, ppl!) for me to do some magic on the lathe...I was determined now! LOL.
So the Nissan GTR Shaft portion looks like this:
Here is the part machined down:
One issue is, the short M18 threaded part of the hook is too short to machine down and mount in the stock bumper hole, but when you add the tow shaft, it's now too long...I tried to machine it down shorter but would end up compromising the way the M18 threads into the tow shaft.
I thought this wold work, but when I installed it onto the bumper, it just looked ridiculous. It sat so far out away from the bumper. It needed to be an entire inch shorter to be anywhere near good looking. Sorry but I took no pic of that, was too bummed out my machine work didn't work out...
Anyway, I put the whole thing away for awhile and forgot about it. Well one day I was thinking about it again and something came to mind I had used on another application. A heim joint!! It would work, and probably better, but then I just had to find the right one, so I headed over to McMaster-Carr, they are the SHIZZLE when it comes to hardware. Especially obscure, hard-to-find stuff.
Well, I pretty much found what I was looking for. The threaded part of the heim joint is a little on the short side but would work well enough. I took some measurements of other parts to see what additional hardware I would need. Everything I buy when it comes to stuff like this is 316 stainless steel or at the least 18-8. Better for corrosion resistance. Below is a pic of the shopping cart:
Since the bolt that goes through the RaceSeng shaft body into the tow hook is an M10 and the hole in the heim joint is an M16, I had to get the spacer and prayed it would work...here are the parts you're gonna need:
Yes, that includes the beer! Here it is assembled:
The only thing that sucks is, I couldn't use the GoPro mount...but oh well..ya win some you lose some. When you mount it, use some blue locktite as a double protective measure in addition to the lock washer. Hell, you could even use red loctite, but good luck getting that off if you need to remove your bumper, LOL. Here are some mounted pics:
The joint itself is very very tight, so that is perfect! The hook does not swing around banging against the paint. It will absolutely stay whatever angle you put it. I've taken it up to pretty severe highway speeds and it is rock-solid. But it is loose enough to move around if needed. Caveat: I have no idea about actual towing. It's pretty tough but tow at your own risk. As I said, this was purely cosmetic, but I still wanted to have some quality product and not some cheapy Made In China part.
I actually like this setup better than the complete RaceSeng setup for a few reasons:
1) I love the look of stainless parts..they just have that...aircraft-grade look.
2) Since you can rotate it from side to side, you can "lay" it at the angle the bumper sits/flush, so it doesn't look like its hanging off weirdly.
Anyway, yeah I spent alot of money I didn't need to and for something that really will serve no purpose but to say "Hey everybody, look at me!!" LOL. But, I digress.
Either ya like it or don't...hit me up for any questions or follow my build on IG @ecoboost_xsport if ya feel the urge. Thanks!
So, after some thought, I decided to say screw it, lets just go for it. Most feedback has been positive but I do get the occasional hater-ation. Oh well, if I'm not pissing somebody off, I'm doing it wrong, lol.
Final product:
Being the guy that I am, I decided to write this up so you lovely people can enjoy it yourself. There is NO high-end aftermarket tow hook for our platform, so I decided to do some experimenting. It's not a cheap mod. Even though I spent more due to my experimentation, all in, you're still gonna spend about $240 not including any shipping or tax.
So, it all started with the factory tow hook and getting dimensions...
The tow hook I was dead set on is a product by RaceSeng.
They make some decently high-end tuner parts. Their tow hook is a two-piece design so that the hook, which has a short is universal threaded end that is M18-1.5...
...and per whatever application you have, order the appropriate Tow Shaft, which is specific to each vehicle. Well, needless to say, they had no application for our platform. The threaded hole beneath the tow hook cover in the front bumper is M16-2.0. I reached out to them, but they did not seem interested in doing anything for this vehicle. So then I tried to do a TON of research to see if any vehicle they did have had a similar thread pattern and came up blank. It was tough because they don't list thread patterns, but only part numbers. Had to spend a lot of time on Google to research.
So, I decide to see what i could do anyway. I ordered the tow hook, the GoPro mount, and a shaft for a NIssan GTR, as their thread pattern is M24 something or other. That was enough meat on the shaft (bring the jokes, ppl!) for me to do some magic on the lathe...I was determined now! LOL.
So the Nissan GTR Shaft portion looks like this:
Here is the part machined down:
One issue is, the short M18 threaded part of the hook is too short to machine down and mount in the stock bumper hole, but when you add the tow shaft, it's now too long...I tried to machine it down shorter but would end up compromising the way the M18 threads into the tow shaft.
I thought this wold work, but when I installed it onto the bumper, it just looked ridiculous. It sat so far out away from the bumper. It needed to be an entire inch shorter to be anywhere near good looking. Sorry but I took no pic of that, was too bummed out my machine work didn't work out...
Anyway, I put the whole thing away for awhile and forgot about it. Well one day I was thinking about it again and something came to mind I had used on another application. A heim joint!! It would work, and probably better, but then I just had to find the right one, so I headed over to McMaster-Carr, they are the SHIZZLE when it comes to hardware. Especially obscure, hard-to-find stuff.
Well, I pretty much found what I was looking for. The threaded part of the heim joint is a little on the short side but would work well enough. I took some measurements of other parts to see what additional hardware I would need. Everything I buy when it comes to stuff like this is 316 stainless steel or at the least 18-8. Better for corrosion resistance. Below is a pic of the shopping cart:
Since the bolt that goes through the RaceSeng shaft body into the tow hook is an M10 and the hole in the heim joint is an M16, I had to get the spacer and prayed it would work...here are the parts you're gonna need:
Yes, that includes the beer! Here it is assembled:
The only thing that sucks is, I couldn't use the GoPro mount...but oh well..ya win some you lose some. When you mount it, use some blue locktite as a double protective measure in addition to the lock washer. Hell, you could even use red loctite, but good luck getting that off if you need to remove your bumper, LOL. Here are some mounted pics:
The joint itself is very very tight, so that is perfect! The hook does not swing around banging against the paint. It will absolutely stay whatever angle you put it. I've taken it up to pretty severe highway speeds and it is rock-solid. But it is loose enough to move around if needed. Caveat: I have no idea about actual towing. It's pretty tough but tow at your own risk. As I said, this was purely cosmetic, but I still wanted to have some quality product and not some cheapy Made In China part.
I actually like this setup better than the complete RaceSeng setup for a few reasons:
1) I love the look of stainless parts..they just have that...aircraft-grade look.
2) Since you can rotate it from side to side, you can "lay" it at the angle the bumper sits/flush, so it doesn't look like its hanging off weirdly.
Anyway, yeah I spent alot of money I didn't need to and for something that really will serve no purpose but to say "Hey everybody, look at me!!" LOL. But, I digress.
Either ya like it or don't...hit me up for any questions or follow my build on IG @ecoboost_xsport if ya feel the urge. Thanks!
