Bumpers: why do the recovery tabs usually stick out the front?

[grahamfitter]

:sombrero: OK, then why don't PEOPLE take off their trailer HITCH, when not in use ????

:costumed-smiley-007:smiley_drive::safari-rig::safari-rig: JIMBO

If I had one I would, firstly because I would bang my shins on it and secondly to prevent somebody else from saving my shins for me!

Cheers,
Graham

 

[R_Lefebvre]

:sombrero: OK, then why don't PEOPLE take off their trailer HITCH, when not in use ????

:costumed-smiley-007:smiley_drive::safari-rig::safari-rig: JIMBO

Because it protects my rear bumper when you hit me. You hit ME from behind, it's YOUR problem to deal with. We've had many cars saved by the trailer hitch.

 

[Antichrist]

I saw this one in a magazine a while back and saved it to design into my own bumper.

http://www.friar-engineering.com/Images/bumper_w_rack.jpg

~Matt

I was thinking that exact solution while reading the thread. Only I'd have the pins install from the top. It would suck to have one lost, or be hung up in such a way you can't drop the pin out the bottom to connect your recovery strap.

 

[Colorado David]

Some of the land rover off road companies sell bolt-on recovery points that are pretty beefy.

The name of the one where Ho Chung works escapes me, but they had them last time I checked.

I'm not sure about the weld on versions.

Expedition Exchange. Bolt-on bow-shackle points are here; https://www.expeditionexchange.com/smb/

 

[ntsqd]

Thanks for the input, all!



His front bumper with fully self-contained winch is impressive, too!

Is there any reason the shackle mounts couldn't be replaced with flush-mount receivers? A receiver is quick to deploy and remove and could be left in situ on the trail if needed.

I suppose my ideal bumper would have three of them: two where the shackle mounts would be and one in the middle for towing or attaching a portable winch which could be used both ends of the vehicle and left at home between trips.

Cheers,
Graham

I built that bumper to hold a winch, but the M8 has never left the garage floor. I'm thinking to put it on a cradle instead. I'll build a closer profile bumper with a socket receiver and sell off that bumper.

On MISF's front bumper he has just such a receiver, though being a tube bumper it's not flush mounted. It is his doubling anchor and tow point.

The problem with receiver sockets is that they need a minimum depth of about 8" behind the face of the bumper as well as access to the backside to install the hitch pin.

What I'd like to find is a U.S. source for something more like the system that Soenke is using on their FJ45:

If it can support enough tongue weight it may be stout enough to support a winch or to be a tow point.

 

[BigAl]

:sombrero: OK, then why don't PEOPLE take off their trailer HITCH, when not in use ????

:costumed-smiley-007:smiley_drive::safari-rig::safari-rig: JIMBO

Weird coincidence... my friend was just pulled over for having her hitch ball on with no trailor. $180 dollar fine in PA:Wow1: I guess it's for all the pedestrians that get run over by vehicles in reverse. Or maybe some legislator banged his shin on one Mine stays on the truck for years at a time, I had no idea it was illegal.

 

[valkyrie]

Also on my ARB bull bar there are no recovery point technically. The two tabs are not really supposed to be recovery points but a place to hook the winch cable to when you double the line. You are supposed to reuse your factory tow hooks, which bolt onto the sides of the lower brace that wraps the front of the frame. They don't stick out, but do act like ramps and tend to get very beat up.

I beg to disagree. They are not intended for any type of recovery or winching use at all. Doubling should use ata minimum you factory hooks, which definitley should be upgraded for such operations.

They are merely jacking points for which ARB kindly supplies (at extra cost) a high-lift adapter.