recovery point weight requirements

[strider3700]

My truck doesn't have any nice recovery points on it so I had been thinking about adding some tow hooks to the front and rear. The issue is I have a f350 crew cab long box. I haven't weighed it lately but for some reason I have roughly 8-9000 lbs in my head. Anyways for winches everyone recommends 1.5 times the weight. I can find hooks rated to 10,000 lbs all day long but apparently larger then that will require some hunting and ordering them in.

In my mind I don't want the hook to be the weak point. Am I right about that?
do I just need look a little longer to find stronger hooks or am I going to get better strength from a shackle type setup?

suggestions?

 

[rezdiver]

I would suggest shackle type weldon hard points instead of hooks.

where on the island are you? if you need any custom stuff done, there is a guy in Fanny Bay that does great work and is fair on his prices.

 

[strider3700]

I'm in nanaimo these days.

These would weld directly to the frame? I've got stock bumpers so that is out.

 

[JPK]

I checked Ford specs and while I'm not sure which year the specs were for, the maximum weight for a crew cab long bed was the 4x4 diesel version at 7,014lbs.

We have a fleet of F350's and F450's and each truck comes from the factory with a set of tow hooks on the front, bolted to the frame, as do GM/Chevy trucks. Maybe grab a set of the Ford hooks from a junkyard?

We have towed very heavily laden trucks from mud and deep snow, 13,000lbs+ for the F350's and 15,000lbs+ for the F450's and the hooks have never yielded.

JPK

 

[rezdiver]

i was assuming you had aftermarket bumpers. maybe a weldon is not the best option. JPK's option sounds good.

 

[strider3700]

thanks for the suggestions all. I did a dump run and got a slip telling me the truck (5.8, CrewCab, longbox, fiberglass canopy) weighs 6482 lbs pretty much empty with me. How much gear I have with me really depends a lot on the trip but at least 10,000 lb hooks aren't right at their limit on flat ground.

I'll keep an eye out for some factory hooks though.