Recovery hooks done.

[sprey]

Hey well i finaly got the hooks finished!
Ended up going to Wellington Tow bar Services aka the the place Geeves said to try. And ended up meeting some cool guys there who are on the Ore forum as well!.

I posted parts of my towbar hitch ages ago but this was b4 it got fitted and the rear chassis member reinforced.

Can finaly go on some trips and not have to worry about how id be recovered without having proper hooks

Heres some of the towbar hitch then the hooks.

[geeves]

back looks lovely
front - was the bar there before? It looks a little low and a little far forward but there is not a lot of other choices. Its better than the common trick of mounting the hook on the chassis a foot or more back from the front so you have to dig before you can be towed

[sprey]

Cheers Geeves
Back was a frickn pita to cut. we had to mount the hitch up higher on the chassis member than what i origionaly was planned. but of course its alot stronger and having the extra bottom bolts id say helps alot!

I had the hitch mounted first then once i got home it was all up to me to cut the bumper, i took my time with it as i know i cant exactly go round the corner and grab another one.

yea with the front your right it is quite lowish but due to me having airbags and all the plastic in the front was basicaly the best idea and strongest i could say,
and no the bar wasnt there before. thats all part of the hooks that the WTBS guys made up.
Origionaly was gonna mount the front hooks up, like the rear up but due to my bumper sticking forward a tad was a better idea to do them sideways.

the big bar that the hooks are on is attached to my origional hook mounting platform things.

the bar is only like maybe 3 or 4 cm wide. but the best part imo for it being like that is my front bumper isnt gonna scrape.

But yea can finaly go on some trips without having the i dont have hooks excuse now

[muzila]

Looks great. It just shows what can be done when the need arises!

[chrisfnq]

rear bar looks totally solid...you did a good job on the rear bumber cut out.

[sprey]

Thanks guys. Next step is too go out and have some fun

[wombat]

great work, the hooks look sweet.

its funny actually, i just came back from two 4WD places this morning (ARB in St Peters and TJM in Carlton) and both said that if i want any recovery points from the front than i need to put on a bull bar, and both also tried to sell me a rear bar as well. But i reckon there is a way to get two recovery points from the front and rear without fitting any bars, and you just have. Now, if only i can find a place in Sydney who is willing to fit some to my car???

[sprey]

great work, the hooks look sweet.

its funny actually, i just came back from two 4WD places this morning (ARB in St Peters and TJM in Carlton) and both said that if i want any recovery points from the front than i need to put on a bull bar, and both also tried to sell me a rear bar as well. But i reckon there is a way to get two recovery points from the front and rear without fitting any bars, and you just have. Now, if only i can find a place in Sydney who is willing to fit some to my car???

The front is just bolted to the origional isuzu hook mounts.

Id say if you went to an engineers etc showed they some some pics and give them a general idea that theyd be able to able fab up something strong and easy, then pop down to your 4x4 shop and see what they say about it etc

[geeves]

factory hooks only had 10mm bolts. You might want to check that these have been uprated to 12mm or a 3rd bolt used on each side. The guys at wn towbar know there stuff and I would be surprised if they let it out on 2 10mm bolts each side

[wombat]

from what i was told today, the hooks that you buy won't line up with both the bolt holes where the standard tow hook was attached. one guy went on to say that even if it did fit or you drilled a new hole, its the wrong place to mount a recovery point and would be dangerous. but to me where the original tow hook is looks strong enough to put a recovery hook. maybe i will buy one and drill if it doesn't line up. first though, i think i'll ring around a few more places to try to get a custom job, rather than a home job.

[sprey]

yea the rated hooks cant bolt into the stock isuzu location cause of the difference in the where the holes are
thats why i have the addition steel bar that the hooks are bolted to

Geeves i just went out and had a look. there 14mm bolts

[Demonic]

A friend said that the front of the Mu chassis is double skined. so there is pleny of "meat" there. dont know about the vehicross tho

[geeves]

same chassis
by 14mm is this the head of the bolt in which case its a 10 or is it the shank of the bolt which would have a 17mm head

[sprey]

same chassis
by 14mm is this the head of the bolt in which case its a 10 or is it the shank of the bolt which would have a 17mm head

Oh sorry. Yea the head of the bolt.

It seems strong as so yea i trust it. And the guys that done the work so yea.