Whacky 987/981 Tow hook revelation

[masraum]

Someone from the local PCA region advertised a US Millworks 981 front license plate mount for sale for a good price. I don't have a plate mount, and figured since it was available, I'd pick one up. I haven't had an issue from running no front plate in the past 2.5 years, but I assume eventually, I may. I was out running errands and didn't have time to do a thorough check, but figured "Hey, Surely Porsche wouldn't change the tow hook details from 987s to 981s."

Hahahah.

Is it just me, or does it seem odd that Porsche used right hand threads on the 987 and then switched to left hand threads on the 981 for the tow hooks?

I understand why certain items would be left hand, bike parts associated with the cranks, axle parts, etc... stuff that has to stand up to near constant rotation and change of speed of rotation. But the tow hook? It just sits there.

Oh well, fortunately, you can order the parts separate, so I've ordered just the part that screws into the tow hook receiver.

I must say, the plate frame is a pretty impressive bit of kit. everything is very nicely made on a CNC, and they include 4 different screws to hold the license plate on. They even have a recess around the edge of the plate backer so that modern stamped plates will fit flush.

Unfortunately, I got the standard kit



Not the light weight kit



Yes, you can pay an extra $20 to have a kit that weights 15oz instead of 20oz.

[jrj3rd]

VW uses left hand thread tow hooks......

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jrj3rd

VW uses left hand thread tow hooks......

Hahahah, nice. So what you're saying is that my 987 is all Porsche, but the 981 series is practically just a jetta?

[David]

I pulled my tow hook last night while removing all my wheels for new shoes (yeah!!!) and low and behold, left hand threads! The only reason I can see for this is another attempt to idiot proof something since folks have probably tried to thread a regular lifting eye bolt into the hole.

[masraum]

That seems like a good possibility. I can't see Porsche doing anything for no reason or just to change.

[masraum]

So, I found on the US Millworks website that the "bolt" (part that screws into the car) is different from kit to kit to kit, not only due to possibly different threads, but also different lengths. They design each bolt to fit as closely as possible to be flush with the car. They also design the "bolt" to break if the car gets run into or runs into something so the car is less likely to be damaged. So I was able to order the correct bolt from them for my car. THe rest of the kit is all standard.

This is the difference between the 987 and 981 bolts. The 981 bolt is the long one. The threads on the 981 bolt are 18mm and 16mm long (and left hand). The threads on the 987 are 20mm and 18mm long (and right hand). The unthreaded shaft of the bolts are 4cm vs 10cm.