Front tow hook weight limit?

[THLONE]

"All of it".

There's no stated load rating that I've seen, but let me say I've ripped on those pretty violently with 5/8" chain, and never pulled one off a single truck in ink "50' of chain hooked into one of them, back up to within 10' of the stuck vehicle and let her rip until you run out of chain" That's gotta be above and beyond what anyone else is going to be doing with the Ranger.[/QUOTE

I had a dead batt. I asked a guy if he would give me a push start. I told him that he needed to get up to 30 mph before my car would start. Oh no I looked in my mirror and here he comes at 30mph.

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[mark_anderson_us]

so, is the conclusion that they are adequate recovery points?

 

[Deleted member 1634]

so, is the conclusion that they are adequate recovery points?

As with anything, depends who you ask. But I, personally, would use them as recovery points.

 

[GTGallop]

If you watch "Matt's Off Road Recovery" on YouTube, he's constantly pulling SUVs like BMW's and Volvos (heavy SUVs) out of the sand, stuck up to the frame, and they don't even have a recovery hook. They have a little plastic belly button you have to pop off the bumper, then you screw in a factory supplied eye-bolt. He uses a kinetic snatch strap, gets a running start and pops that vehicle out of the sand.

If those tiny eye-bolts hold, your recovery points will hold. I'd bet you could hang the truck vertically from one of them.

If you are concerned, use a short recovery strap across both of them to pull on so the recovery force is Y'd out and distributed to both points at the same time. It's a little more work but makes getting you unstuck a little easier because you are pulling on both sides evenly - even when there is sole lateral difference between you and the the recovery vehicle.

 

[Don B.]

Maybe a real life test will give us an answer:
Bungee
I paddled the river the next day and the truck was still just hanging there.

 

[mark_anderson_us]

If you watch "Matt's Off Road Recovery" on YouTube, he's constantly pulling SUVs like BMW's and Volvos (heavy SUVs) out of the sand, stuck up to the frame, and they don't even have a recovery hook. They have a little plastic belly button you have to pop off the bumper, then you screw in a factory supplied eye-bolt. He uses a kinetic snatch strap, gets a running start and pops that vehicle out of the sand.

If those tiny eye-bolts hold, your recovery points will hold. I'd bet you could hang the truck vertically from one of them.

If you are concerned, use a short recovery strap across both of them to pull on so the recovery force is Y'd out and distributed to both points at the same time. It's a little more work but makes getting you unstuck a little easier because you are pulling on both sides evenly - even when there is sole lateral difference between you and the the recovery vehicle.

Thanks. Not planning on anything crazy and would plan to use a Y

 

[VAMike]

If you watch "Matt's Off Road Recovery" on YouTube, he's constantly pulling SUVs like BMW's and Volvos (heavy SUVs) out of the sand, stuck up to the frame, and they don't even have a recovery hook. They have a little plastic belly button you have to pop off the bumper, then you screw in a factory supplied eye-bolt. He uses a kinetic snatch strap, gets a running start and pops that vehicle out of the sand.

If those tiny eye-bolts hold, your recovery points will hold. I'd bet you could hang the truck vertically from one of them.

He's the first to say that he's generally not applying much force as the vehicles have just lost traction in sand--you could push them out if you wanted to work that hard. There's a big difference between that and yanking a vehicle out of deep clinging mud, for example. There's a reason people say "don't recover from a car's tow hook". All that said, the recovery hooks on the ranger aren't the same thing as the little tow loop on a civic and shouldn't be a problem for actual recoveries.

 

[mark_anderson_us]

Maybe a real life test will give us an answer:
Bungee
I paddled the river the next day and the truck was still just hanging there.

Cool video, never seen that

 

[Jrel209]

Anyone know what these are rated for? are they a reliable recovery point to pull/yank from a single one when stuck in deep snow/mud/sand?

 

[9zero1790]

i wouldnt pull from deep mud or snow on only one. they are fairly stout and do go to the frame etc. but it is safer to use both with a bridle to split the stress. i have done a two line pull using one with a winch and it went fine. but thats less than hard jerks to break mud suction or snow hold.

 

[AzScorpion]

Anyone know what these are rated for? are they a reliable recovery point to pull/yank from a single one when stuck in deep snow/mud/sand?

I merged it with an older thread so you can see the past posts which have good info.

 

[JesseS]

If you watch "Matt's Off Road Recovery" on YouTube, he's constantly pulling SUVs like BMW's and Volvos (heavy SUVs) out of the sand, stuck up to the frame, and they don't even have a recovery hook. They have a little plastic belly button you have to pop off the bumper, then you screw in a factory supplied eye-bolt. He uses a kinetic snatch strap, gets a running start and pops that vehicle out of the sand.

If those tiny eye-bolts hold, your recovery points will hold. I'd bet you could hang the truck vertically from one of them.

If you are concerned, use a short recovery strap across both of them to pull on so the recovery force is Y'd out and distributed to both points at the same time. It's a little more work but makes getting you unstuck a little easier because you are pulling on both sides evenly - even when there is sole lateral difference between you and the the recovery vehicle.

The issue I see with that is if the tow hooks are designed for a straight line pull the 'Y' would have to be long, as the shorter it is would apply more lateral force to the hooks that they may not be designed to handle.

 

[GTGallop]

^^ Excellent Point!

 

[Dereku]

I would honestly worry about frame damage long before the bolts or hooks sheared. Offroad recovery is supposed to be gentle, not a floor it until the chain gets tight. That is how people die and equipment gets destroyed. Under normal recovery scenarios I would expect the front hooks to be sufficient. I wouldn't pull a semi out with it but any normal vehicle should be fine.

 

[9zero1790]

after some use of the factory recovery points i will say they will hold. if you break these or the frame etc. they are mounted on then you likely knew better in the first place lol. i reused the ford parts vs. aftermarket for my winch setup as the ford parts were beefier. of course someone someplace will do something dumb and make me wrong - but - anything your ranger will do these will handle. if doing something sketchy use a bridle rig.
ten good limited sells excellent basic recovery gear. ask for terry say mark in texas sent you. they take care of customers and back up the product. they cooked up a bridle, snatch block and ring kit for me that is awesome for a fair price. selling on there page now. ive tested it. good to go.
https://www.tgl-global.com/

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