Where can I buy a front tow hook like this?
 

I was at Mid-Ohio this weekend and met a fellow SC owner whose brother fabricated a front tow hook for him from aluminum. It attached to the front bumper just behind the bumper trim. He mentioned that he had to trim the back of the bumper trim to make it fit properly.

Unfortunately, his brother only made one and is not in the businesses of making them so he was not interested in making more. Has anyone seen a similar tow hook for the front of the 74-89 accordion bumper cars?

Many thanks.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1115251733.jpg

Not exactly the same but I saw similar on www.dartauto.com home page.

smartracing has some too.

Doug

TRE (TREcup on this bbs) has the same thing.

Looks simple, but how does it mount?

John

He said that it mounts to the two bolts that secure the bumper to the bumper shock. As such, I think it is "L" shaped behind the bumper rubber cover. I've not sure if he has ever been towed with it or not, so I can't speak to the strength of this setup. I really liked the look of it since it kept the stock appearance of the car, which is also important to me.

I looked at the other hooks mentioned above, but all seemed to require some fabrication to mount. As I don't possess the tools or skills to weld or fabricate, I was looking for a easy installation for the stock location and am willing to pay the necessary price. This seemed to fit the bill.

I was just looking at the RENNLINE website and saw these hooks:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1115258090.jpg

I may be able to mount the 5" hook to the front bumper by drilling holes in the bumper behind the rubber bumper trim strip. The tow hook could then extend out from the bottom side of the bumper trim strip.

The question is, "Will this mounting withstand the stress of a tow out of a gravel trap?"

Any thoughts?

Or perhaps I should buy the longer tow hook and mount it elsewhere in the front so that the tow hook protrudes from between the bumper and the front valance? What is behind the bumper that I could mount it to?

have you thought about the loop of used seat belt approach? - very light and easy to mount

I don't follow this. Could you explain further?

Anyone have any comments on the strength of using the bumper to pull the car out of a gravel trap?

I wouldn't tow a car by the bumper. One good offcenter pull and your bumper alignment will be tweaked. I'd want to find a better place to pull from.

Noel, first advice is to avoid gravel and sand traps and don't plan on entering them:) If you do need to be pulled, grab a few rear tow hooks and get pulled out backwards. Easy to ad. I always thought the front ones a bit dangerous for street driving.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1115313635.jpg

here's one on the back of a mate's car (left hand side and the tow triangle) - basically you cut a length of old seat belt or harness material, loop it over, cut a hole and then bolt it to the car (e.g. to a bumper mount) with some big washers.

very light, doesn't protrude, can't hurt knees/pedestrians etc, cheap and easy to use

i wouldn't like to try and connect a tow line to the one in 89911's pic with a hot engine - it looks more like a trailer tie down

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1115333991.jpg

I made the trailer tie downs shown in 89911's picture to hold the straps when towing. I got her in the mud last year at Nelson Ledges and would have needed a shovel to attach the strap to them. I think the bumper mount is ok if it's centered and well secured.

JOhn

Well, no one really plans to enter the sand traps...do they? :) Maybe just by installing a tow hook on my car, I'm asking for trouble. :) It would just be nice that once I'm in there that my car won't sustain any more damage from the tow out.

I really like this idea. I could even attach it to the frame and thread it through the bumper. I"m now regretting throwing away my old safety belts from that car. :( I guess since the shoulder straps from my six-point harnesses are so long, I could use the excess. GREAT PLAN!!! I could even use one of the bolt in ends from the harnesses to mount to the frame.

Having just added fiberglass IROC front and RS rear units to my '83 SC--no more bumpers, they just mock them in fiberglass, of course--I have nothing to which to mount what aftermarket towhooks I've seen. The bumper rams are gone, the bumper mounting points are of course gone with them. I fabricated my own front towhook by welding plate steel and a bent steel rod for the actual hook and plan to bolt it to the pan somewhere up front, wt the hook protruding through the fiberglass.

Haven't done the actual drilling and bolting yet, so if there's a better way to accomplish what I'm doing, lemme know.

Stephan

Just a thought. It is a good idea to keep your 911 tow hook mounted lower than the tow vehicle's hook up height. However that can be determined??
It might make it easier to get a car loose that is stuck in gravel or mud.

I have used the suspension tie downs pictured for securing my 911 to the trailer. Not sure I'd want to have my car pulled by them. Would there be an increased chance of loosing your alignment?

I like the "soft" approach to this. But, I don't know if the various sanctioning bodies feel the same way. One would have to make sure the "pull" was in line with the attachment or otherwise bend or break something. Hard mounted metal ones are going to help there.

AFA undercar hooks, there is no safety worker going to lie in the dirt (or whatever) and try to hook up to something he can't see. It's dangerous out on the track and the tow hooks have to be easy to see if the car is covered with dirt, fire foam, dry extinguisher powder or whatever.

I have been towed off the track and have first hand experience with an appreciative safety crew for providing an easy to see, easy to use hook like the ones shown above by Rennline. Anything less is a disservice to all.

Some of the IT and Spec Miata guys are using climbing runners, like these:

http://store.karstsports.com/bldiseruny18.html

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000& productId=47898221&parent_category_rn=4500701&vcat =REI_SEARCH

Tom

Never being stuck (or off track) after 6 years of DE's I suppose my simple suggestion may not work for those that get "bogged down to their axles" in gravel. But most here have everyday drivers that would rather not (I would think) have a protruding bayonnet on their road cars. Rennline advertises them as tie down/tow hooks so go figure.

I just looked in the PCA club racing rulebook. For what it's worth, under the "Safety" section, paragraph 23 states:

"All cars must have a tow hook, strap, or other suitable device in both the front and rear."

Since the word "Strap" is mentioned, I assume the safety belt towing strap proposal would be acceptable. As long as any of the towing devises are appropriately marked with the familiar tow hook decal, it will enable the track workers to easily identify the strap. In my case, I will mount the tow decals to magnetic material so that they can be more easily installed and removed.

Another reason I like the strap idea is that it can be tucked in behind the bumper when I'm not at the track. :)

The SCCA requires a 2" minimum opening. The under car hooks are not big enough.

Noel,
I ordered a few of the climbing runners rated at 5,000lbs to mess with. Hopefully I can find a spot to mount that is very discrete. I'll keep you posted.

John

John,

I look forward to reading your report and seeing the photos. :)

Noel

Noel,
I received the nylon runners today. They are a sewn loop that's about 9" in diameter. With a decent mount spot it could be a nice solution. However, I don't see an easy mounting spot but I'll try to find something.

John

Sounds good.

For the front, I was thinking that bolting it to the place where the bumpershock meets the body would work. Then you could thread the strap through the space between the bumper and the front valance. It seems like it would be a straight shot.

Or what about just slipping it over the bumper. You would have to disconnect the bumper to slip it around, but this may work too.

I look forward to hearing about your results.

I just saw this new Weltmeister Product that looks like it would work for the rear. The list price is about $80. I don't know if it is in the Pelican Parts catalog yet. What do you guys think?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1115917073.jpg

I just saw this piece myself in the new Performance Products catalog, doesn't look too bad for the money...

I have one made by GW Motosports for sale. PM me

As a climber I can tell you that climbing-spec webbing (also referred to as "military-spec") is plenty strong to pull a car. Spectra (a stronger form of webbing) is even beefier, yet lighter. Make sure to get bar-tacked loops of it rather than pieces of it that you would have to knot (the knot is a weak point). The biggest drawbacks here are that nylon webbing does not do well with heat or friction, with spectra having a lower meting point than normal webbing.

Hi everyone,

I got a place to computer laser cut a towhook for early 911 front bar. If anyone interested in getting one let me know they are made from 4mm thick high strength steel and to do a run of 5-10 would cost about US$30 each.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1123654927.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1123654940.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1123654951.jpg

The Performance Products rear towhook/jackpad is an ideal solution for the rear. But, as in my "case", it may require you to lengthen the mounting studs on the engine case. This is not a complicated process but time consuming since the engine needs to be supported to remove the muffler, rear engine tin, engine cross-brace and engine mount plate. Once you do that, you then double nut the stud, extract it, replace the studs with longer ones and then reverse the process.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1123669534.jpg

The front towloop was a bit simplier. Using aluminum stock and longer bolts, I mounted it on the front suspension where the tiedpwns were also mounted
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1123669657.jpg

what's it look like?

Hey Dave,

It's long gone now.... Noel might be able to post pics.

Cheers, Juan

Here is a photo of the one that Juan mentioned:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1124449897.jpg

oh wow... nice looking piece

I saw one yesterday for the rear that was a lot like the ones above. But the key difference was that the hookup point was actually a large U bracket that had been welded onto a plate. The U bracket was long enough to extend past the muffler so there was no interference. This could be made pretty simply for less than $20.

Cool tow hook
 

I'd be in for one of these at $30ish if you do a run.

PM Noel he may have one.

Yes I still have a few left. $35ea +shipping which is what I paid. One note though, new holes must be drilled as the manufacturing company that made them folded the hooks in the wrong direction making the existing predrilled holes unusable. I've already drilled a couple with a hand drill and it is quite easy.