Be sure to measure the distance between the two holes on the tow hooks you're looking at, and the distance between the two mounting holes on the Jeep's frame. There are tow hooks out there with different measurements between the two holes.
Edit: I'm talking about the threaded holes in the front of the Jeep where the factory tow hooks are mounted.
Why? Hooks are just fine. In fact I can think of one very popular front bumper vendor here who uses them on their aftermarket product.
And in the rear if it's not a point where there is a clean line (e.g. the bumper) then soft loop of a strap through a hook works better than trying to get a shackle on it IMO.
I have no hooks in the rear, just a single 2" hitch Shackle dead center and have been wondering if I should think about something different or additional on the rear, but not sure? Something like Knuckelhead did?
It's very hard to beat a rear tow hook installed as shown in post #5 above. Installing one on both sides is even better.
Use Grade 8 bolts and make sure you do NOT drill the bolt hole through both sides of the frame. The washers and nuts go inside the frame through a pre-existing access slot on the bottom. Passing the tow hook mounting bolts through both sides of the frame would start collapsing the frame sides inward which will cause the bolts to loosen which will cause you have to repeatedly tighten them in a never-ending cycle.
I've snapped a factory hook off a front frame horn before on a recovery (hook style, not question mark style), but it broke off of his rig at the bolts themselves, not his tow hook. And it was a non-linear pull because everything about how he got stuck and where and recovery options were down to his stupidity ("emergency" call at night to please come rescue him). Winch snapped the hook right off the frame. Thank god it was Viking synthetic line that just dropped to the ground instead of steel rope sending the whole chunk of steel whipping right back at high speed.
So make sure you use the right grade of bolt and remember that it's less about the bolt holding it in place in the hole and more about the pressure it creates on the mounting surface when you torque it down hard like it's supposed to be. Higher grade, higher torque, higher strength.
Home much torque should be used for the front Hook/Bumper mount? My bumper instructions which used the factory Hook block etc... just said "Tighten", but I want to find out if there is a torque spec number on that?
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