A place to mount tow hook on GU

If I may butt in without offending anyone... and this is a general observation not directed at any specific poster

Don't be confusing the terms "snatch" "tow" and "recovery". Reading thru the posts the term recovery obviously means different things to different people

Not every recovery is a snatch, indeed that should be the last resort. The factory Recovery Points (the loop at the rear and the hook/s on the front) are IMHO and most importantly the manufacturer, approved points for Towing and Cable Recovery. When Nissan mention recovery they are referring to "tow" and the manuals do not make mention of or approve the Snatch Method of recovery from these points which is why people choose to fit recovery plates etc.

I and a lot of others in my Club have used the factory approved points on many occasions but never EVER for a Snatch (that I have seen anyway). Not saying that is right, not saying that is wrong, just saying the Manuf says they can be used for towing and recovery

Bottom line still remains "if you are unhappy then don't"

exactly, if stuck, one has to make sure that the unsticker is happy with the attachment point. And the stuck has to be happy that they are not going to wear the unsticker's attachment point.

Most people seem happy with the pin in the hitch receiver or the various bars and hooks that fit in it, so the front points are the focus. There are different views about the factory hooks, so regardless of my personal view on the factory hook, I am taking the opportunity while fitting a second point, to also provide an alternative that everyone seems happy with. :-)

I have a personal view about those 45000 kg hooks used with other gear fail rated to 8 tonnes or greater eg the usually recommended snatch strap. The wording on the hook packaging and the hook looks like a fail rating rather than a safe working load, and the ones I have seen certainly do not say it is a SWL. To a degree this is borne out by the testing done in Kiwiland that I linked in the Recovery Point thread. I suspect most if not all are cast as cheaply as possible who knows where. Yet plenty of people use them. There is provision to bolt them to recovery plates - yours Ross, and mine.

As for snatching as a last resort, I have only ever used them in sand, with or without a bit of sand excavating as the circumstances seem to dictate. It might be a last resort for me in the sense of first asking 'Is it in 4wd?' 'Are your hubs locked?' (often the answer is oops or how do I check?) 'Are you happy with your tyre pressure?' 'Now we have sorted that, how about we move a bit of sand and give it a push (with people power)' and then 'OK, where is your strap and where do you think it should be attached?' (to which the answer is sometimes a variation of 'I have been meaning to get one of those....')

Very informative discussion indeed.

Can anybody tell me, what would be the strength difference between the Nissan factory stock thick curved metal hook vs the steel plate with holes to attach the shakle on the front end of My Y61 pickup. Although I do carry a snatch strap (as final back-up), luckily have never had to use it. Most recoveries that I have done or have been pulled out of are not complete bog downs luckily. Mostly have been using a heavy duty tow straps on the curved hook to pull out with occasional moderate tugs. So for future reference, it may be better to know which one is stronger or designed for more load. Also do have a factory rear pintle hook as well, no rating witten on it. Anyone has any ideas what would be rough safe weight limits for these?

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Originally Posted by nnn

Very informative discussion indeed.

Can anybody tell me, what would be the strength difference between the Nissan factory stock thick curved metal hook vs the steel plate with holes to attach the shakle on the front end of My Y61 pickup. Although I do carry a snatch strap (as final back-up), luckily have never had to use it. Most recoveries that I have done or have been pulled out of are not complete bog downs luckily. Mostly have been using a heavy duty tow straps on the curved hook to pull out with occasional moderate tugs. So for future reference, it may be better to know which one is stronger or designed for more load. Also do have a factory rear pintle hook as well, no rating witten on it. Anyone has any ideas what would be rough safe weight limits for these?

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have a look at the Kiwi link under the recovery point thread, and keep in mind that the test rig was probably applying a steady load

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Originally Posted by Cuppa

Hi Ross. I've got an ARB catalogue in front of me, but no recovery plates like those in it. Any chance you can ask questions of your supplier for me next time you have contact?

Cuppa

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I'll get back to ya on the weekend. I kept my old 'hook' and the instructions for the new set up. It's in my shed 'somewhere'. lol

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Originally Posted by Silver

have a look at the Kiwi link under the recovery point thread, and keep in mind that the test rig was probably applying a steady load

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Thnx, looked up and I presume you were talking about following link....

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/viewto...051e0d27cc4221

unfortunately the link does not seem to work for me at the moment! Tried earlier and just now again without success!

Outers website has been up and down more than NAB lately

The site has gone down hill in regards to stability a lot over the past 8 years of my membership. Also alot of the good old members have left and I don't know any of the new (past few years) members.

If this is a breach of a rule unknown to me, I apologise in advance, however here is the info from the outerlimits site, from 2004, the Outer Limits member wrote:

.... I carried out several hook tests on a test rig.
The bighorn hook with 10mm bolts snaps the bolts around 5 tonne
Drilled out to 12 mm, 8.8 bolts still fail but 10.9s hold till the hook breaks @ 8.18 tonnes.
The Black Rat Black hook snapped around 5 Tonne
The Black Rat Chrome hook straightened around 5 Tonne
The Supa Cheap Ridge Rider Black hook snapped around 8 Tonne
The Bush Ranger Black hook straightened around 5 Tonne
3/4 shank towball snapped around 8 Tonne
Pintle Hook/Nato Coupling stripped the 10mm mounting bolts ie Patrol, around 12 Tonne
Pintle Hook with 12mm 8.8 bolts stalled the test rig around 20 Tonne
The Snatchmaster hooks from Cookes straighten around 9.8 Tonne, this opens a new can of worms as the M12x1.75 bolts broke first.

Standard Toyota L/C hooks straighten @ 4.6 tonnes,
Hilux hooks however, by design, push the rope further away from the mounting plane of the bolts, causing the rear bolt to stretch and snap , then shearing the front bolt, 8.8 bolts failing @ 4.5 tonnes.

The Cookes hooks consistently have the highest rating straightening at arround 8 to 9 Tonnes but the bolts they supply are sometimes only 4.6 instead of 8.8 and both of these can let go before the hook straightens.
A Cookes hook with 1/2" grade 8 bolts is my answer.

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Originally Posted by nnn

Very informative discussion indeed.

Can anybody tell me, what would be the strength difference between the Nissan factory stock thick curved metal hook vs the steel plate with holes to attach the shakle on the front end of My Y61 pickup. Although I do carry a snatch strap (as final back-up), luckily have never had to use it. Most recoveries that I have done or have been pulled out of are not complete bog downs luckily. Mostly have been using a heavy duty tow straps on the curved hook to pull out with occasional moderate tugs. So for future reference, it may be better to know which one is stronger or designed for more load. Also do have a factory rear pintle hook as well, no rating witten on it. Anyone has any ideas what would be rough safe weight limits for these?

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the factory loop is not a pintle hook. A search on line should show a pic or two - or have a look at the back of all army vehicles and at least some Telstra off roaders. I don't think the ones that include a towball are strictly a pintle hook.

They used to come on some g60s in the good old bad old days - or maybe someone fitted one to the one I saw years ago :-)