ANY Jeep, tow bar connection points

[DariusB]

I do not have a toad yet but in reading many comments here about base plates
and after market bumpers I have a rather obvious question I have not seen answered. Actually two,
1) Why can you not simply attach to the hooks/pull connections that come on the jeep from the factory(I know they don't ALL have them)
2) If the answer is that they are "hooks" and are open ended, why can't you just replace the "hooks" with an enclosed type o"ring" fitting and be good to go???

[Dsallach]

I’m not an engineer but, the simple answer is those tow hooks were not designed to take the stress of full time towing. They are there if you or someone else gets stuck. On the two jeeps I have set up for towing the tow hooks you mention were attached by two bolts to the bottom of the frame horns. A tow bar bracket hooks to the side and bottom of the rail adding strength. The towbar system also has some form of crossbar to keep the sideways pull on the frame horn from bending at the two attachment points.

[Dan McMartin]

The hooks are not designed for towing. Strength-wise, I'm sure they are fine (they're designed to pull or winch the vehicle) but they are incompatible with any tow bar I'm aware of. As you say, they are open-ended.

Can you tow with the shackle mounts (the tabs with the holes in them) on a bumper? Yes! If they attach to the frame or the bumper is stout enough to handle the stress, it is not only possible but many Jeeps are towed that way, including ours.

However, the stock bumper is not designed to do that. They are mostly thin metal and plastic. You might be able to install shackle mounts through the stock bumper and attach them to the frame, but you've have to cut into your bumper. Can you say ugly?

But many off road bumpers with the shackle mounts can be installed and used with the right adapters, though the adapters might be hard to source and may require some modification. We had to drill our adapters out to fit the bolts from our tow bar and we have to use sleeves in the shackle mounts because the shackle mounts are 1 inch in diameter and the pins are 3/4 inch. It was a lot of DIY.

If you're not interested in upgrading your front bumper, a base plate is probably easier and cheaper. You won't save money installing an after market bumper...promise Our bumper and the adapters were every bit of $450. My kid works at Summit Racing and I got his discount on top of the sale price!

[JohnBoyToo]

IMHO, Even more importantly on MY jeep, the hooks are on top the bumper and therefore in the wrong place to be towed long distances from ...


the connections should be in front of everything else and allowed to pivot both horizontally and vertically...

[hohenwald48]

When I had a 1999 TJ I removed the tow hooks, bolted the cross bar of this towbar to the same place and towed it probably 100K miles or more without any issues.

https://www.etrailer.com/Tow-Bars/Ro...BEgLKNPD_BwE#/

On my 2017 JKU I installed a Currie Tow Plate and it works fine except the attachment point is below the bumper. I'm probably going to get an aftermarket bumper after this trip to raise the attachment point by a few inches. Hopefully enough so I can do away with the drop receiver I'm using.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by DariusB

I do not have a toad yet but in reading many comments here about base plates
and after market bumpers I have a rather obvious question I have not seen answered. Actually two,
1) Why can you not simply attach to the hooks/pull connections that come on the jeep from the factory(I know they don't ALL have them)
2) If the answer is that they are "hooks" and are open ended, why can't you just replace the "hooks" with an enclosed type o"ring" fitting and be good to go???

DariusB,
You're gonna get all kinds of answers since there's only a few ZILLION of us that tow Jeeps, especially Wranglers. There are guys that are ok with base plates and there the guys (like me) that prefer aftermarket bumpers with tow and rescue points. And, there are folks also that basically reenforce the factory bumper and use it for towing, seen that done quite a bit.

But, procuring a decent aftermarket bumper that is equipped with rescue tabs that can also be used as tow bar connection points, is to me, the most efficient way to go. And as I've stated many, many times on here when talking about this kind of situation, don't get too focused on one particular brand of aftermarket front bumper. There's lots to choose from out there.

If a base plate is in your future, I cannot really advise on any particular one or, any aspect of them since in the 9 jeeps we've towed in the last 35+ years, we've not used one single base plate. You asked about using the "tow hooks" that are normally installed on most Jeep Wrangler front ends.

Well, as you already know, you can't use just a "hook". It must be a captive mechanism. Now, can you remove those hooks and install something that's been manufactured to fit there and work as tow bar connection points, well, yeah probably. You see, those hooks primarily only apply to the top side of the frame which, is not nearly as good as utilizing both top AND BOTTOM of the frame for a more secure and stronger connection.

And, as stated, you'd have some fairly high connection points so, your tow bar would have to be corrected so it was not at too acute of an angle. There's no real cheap way to accomplish all you want done. A base plate has its cost and installation cost and, so does an aftermarket bumper. Good luck.
Scott

[RVSSNAKE]

Originally Posted by Dan McMartin

The hooks are not designed for towing. Strength-wise, I'm sure they are fine (they're designed to pull or winch the vehicle) but they are incompatible with any tow bar I'm aware of. As you say, they are open-ended.

Can you tow with the shackle mounts (the tabs with the holes in them) on a bumper? Yes! If they attach to the frame or the bumper is stout enough to handle the stress, it is not only possible but many Jeeps are towed that way, including ours.

However, the stock bumper is not designed to do that. They are mostly thin metal and plastic. You might be able to install shackle mounts through the stock bumper and attach them to the frame, but you've have to cut into your bumper. Can you say ugly?

But many off road bumpers with the shackle mounts can be installed and used with the right adapters, though the adapters might be hard to source and may require some modification. We had to drill our adapters out to fit the bolts from our tow bar and we have to use sleeves in the shackle mounts because the shackle mounts are 1 inch in diameter and the pins are 3/4 inch. It was a lot of DIY.

If you're not interested in upgrading your front bumper, a base plate is probably easier and cheaper. You won't save money installing an after market bumper...promise Our bumper and the adapters were every bit of $450. My kid works at Summit Racing and I got his discount on top of the sale price!

Dan, I watch you and Jen's UT channel quite frequently. As you tow your jeep by the D-ring mounts, what do you use to hook your safety cables to?

[Dan McMartin]

Originally Posted by RVSSNAKE

Dan, I watch you and Jen's UT channel quite frequently. As you tow your jeep by the D-ring mounts, what do you use to hook your safety cables to?

We hook the safety cables to the bumper. Some might say it should be somewhere else but the bumper isn't going anywhere. Far more likely the tow bar fails or we forget to put the cotter pins in or something.

[Dfreiberger]

Take a look at Maximus-3 Tow adaptors for Jeep Wrangler. They allow you to keep the factory bumper on and not have to mount the ugly baseplates. They attach directly to your frame behind the bumper and protrude below the bumper and also allow for the safety cables to be connect to.Attachment 239699 Sorry for the pictures being cooked. I have no idea how to turn them nor do I know why they uploaded that way.