Patrol Recovery point ?

[the evil twin]

if that loop at the back of the car is not rated for recovery what is it there for

It is a recovery point and was addressed as such by Nissan in the past. The animated debate that arises on Forums does so because Nissan have not rated it. The second reason is that many people think "recovery" means a Snatch Strap Recovery

Very, very few manufacturers will supply a rating to a point and certainly Nissan, Toyota, Ford and Iveco (whom I am familiar with to small extent) are ones who pretty much do not. AFAIK they will, at best, sometimes indicate if a point is only suitable for transport tiedown

You can have attachement points and equipment that are perfectly adequate for one type of recovery and unsuitable for another.

You can have recovery points that are approved by organisations or after market manufacturers as well. An example is the approved attachement points and procedures used by Emergency Organisations on their vehicles.

Another example is after market recovery plates such as Benno7 posted. I have them on my vehicle as do many, many others. Sure they are "rated" by the manuf but there is no Aussie or Industry Standard like there is for Shackles and other rigging so what does the rating mean if there is no standard?.

What about the bolts, the point of attachement to the chassis/vehicle and the procedure that will be employed... is it Ok for the tremendous forces of a Snatch recovery... do the users understand sling angle loads and/or mechanical advantages in the rigging... have people assessed the apparent weight of the mired vehicle due to stiction or other factors.

Have I ever or will I ever use "that loop" or the front Tow Hook to assist in manageable loading recovery techniques such as winching or vehicle stabilising, Yes. Have I ever or will I ever use it as a snatch strap attachement point which is an almost unmanageable technique for limiting recovery stresses, Hell No.

Snatch Straps are the most god awful dangerous things we have in our 4X's and also the least understood with no Aust Standard (other than a product Standard) which is were the problem lies.