sirbob wrote:
Not to stir the pot, but there is no point in bolting such a heavy duty recovery point to 3mm steel plate... Under any sort of extreme load the bolts will simply tear through the plate, meaning the recovery hook is essentially no better than the standard OEM loops shown in the photos above.
The Suzuki owners manual recommends using the front hoops for frontwards recovery, and from what i have seen on our, these are welded directly to the chassis with a reasonable amount of weld. GV's are fairly light in any regard, hence it's not as though your snatching 3 ton worth of Patrol!!!
While I do agree on the 3mm plate comment, I also disagree on the comment that these tow hooks are not useful in the applications as pictured.
The pictures, and the car is mine, and while it may be a bit difficult to see on the photo's, the hooks are bolted to the bullbar mounts. If they are strong enough to hold the bar and a 9500lb winch pulling someone out of a sticky situation, then they are also strong enough for the hooks. Divide the stress to two hooks, and you have a winner.
Bear in mind that to tear these out of the place they are fitted, you would need to tear a large holes in essentially 6mm steel. That would be a lot more than to tear a piece out of the frame of the chassis. These points are also reinforced with braces extending 200mm in on both sides of the chassis rails and one brace going all the way back to the first cross member.
A lot easier to get to as well, compared to the SINGLE tow point in one side..