Tow Hook

[bigmack]

I know this has been discussed before, but has anyone come up with a real good solution for mounting a tow hook to the front and back of their car? I would really like to get something like this put on the car.
Thanks!
-Mack

[mkoch1]

for the front I had one made





mark

[pb3]

The factory sell front and rear tow hook kits.

Having said that I made my own out of 6006 alloy 10mm thick sheet (very hard and difficult to work with, but strong!) You just need two 10mm dia. bolts through the rear one on to the bottom chassis rail and three 8mm dia bolt on the front to fix to the 3 chassis tubes sandwiched by the alloy panelling. Removing part of the rad grill and cutting the fibreglass is fun but necessary to clear the hook part.

If anybody has found an alternative way I would love to see it, but I ended up doing mine two days before a track day and could find no other way.

[steve_d]

The build manual for GTR/CanAm includes pictures of both front and rear tow rings.
The factory could send you these if you do not have them. These are also a factory option.

Steve

[chuntington101]

mark that looks STRONG! you could tow a truck with it! lol

[gdr]

Not so strong perhaps, but here is my solution - a 10mm stainless towing eye which fits through front grp screwing into a pair of captive nuts welded inside a 1" square tube which is in turn welded to side of front chassis frame. Need to remove the towing eye to open front clip. I keep it in cockpit and install before going on track.



ps - can anyone tell me why I can preview my pic ok, but can't view when I open the thread up again - if only posting photos was as easy as builing the car!!

>> Edited by gdr on Wednesday 8th February 19:17

[mkoch1]

not sure why your pictures don't show up. They may not allow hot linking to pictures. I hosted it on my site.



mark

[steve_d]

When I try to click the link it says I am forbidden access.
I don't see anything wrong with the way you are posting it so I assume it is a problem with where it is hosted.

Steve

[gdr]

Thanks Mark. Must be a Webshots thing. I will try and find another host.

[steve_d]

gdr said:

Thanks Mark. Must be a Webshots thing. I will try and find another host.

http://imageshack.us/

Steve

[donkeasy]

chuntington101 said:

mark that looks STRONG! you could tow a truck with it! lol

Think you could tow all ultima's in the world, even if you put them on trucks.

[pb3]

Blimey George, have you ever forgotten about it and tried to open the front clip? Although it is definitely a light weight solution to the norm. I remember seeing something similar in Demon Tweaks, the small print said "not suitable for towing", damn boy racers!

[luckyp]

Calling Alan M. Step up to the plate and lets see a picture of your towing eye work of art!!

Pete

[Alan 2]

luckyp said:

Calling Alan M. Step up to the plate and lets see a picture of your towing eye work of art!! Pete

Peter. Will take a picture and post it here if I can fathom out how to do it. Give me a day or so. Alan M.

[gdr]

pb3 said:

Blimey George, have you ever forgotten about it and tried to open the front clip?

Not so far! When I do I'm hoping the creaking of strained GRP will stop me before the front gets shredded.

pb3 said:

Although it is definitely a light weight solution to the norm. I remember seeing something similar in Demon Tweaks, the small print said "not suitable for towing", damn boy racers!

er, well, it did come from the dreaded DT's, and I must admit it looks as if it should carry the above small print. I reckon just about OK to tow on hard surface though, ie to recover from breakdown but may not survive a pull out of the gravel. At least if it fails, will just strip thread and pop out rather than ripping entire front frame off.

[pb3]

Yes I know what you mean, but my worst fear would be it failing when being pulled onto a recovery vehicle

[mkoch1]

pb3 said:

Yes I know what you mean, but my worst fear would be it failing when being pulled onto a recovery vehicle

See you all make fun of my over built tow hook, but if my car ever falls of a cliff pulling up won't be a problem.

mark

[bigmack]

I thought it was pretty sweet Mark. I think I saw a similar one on a big Mack truck this morning... hee...hee...

[bigmack]

All kidding aside, this all looks good but I'm not convinced of the strength of that radiator box section for towing. Its probably fine but I may go for a more conservative approach and tie that front tow hook into the larger diameter tubing of the steering box section.

[steve_d]

On most cars the radiator floor section will be double skinned which adds considerable strength.

Steve