Is this the place for tow hooks

[James Morse]

I don't know what this crossmember is called. It protects the steering. It's pretty thick and it's welded to the frame. Can I safely put tow hooks there or am I way better off to attach them more by the bumper mounts where the straps would be pulling more directly on the frame?
Just looks like the 2 holes are spaced about right and you could fit a hefty eye bolt in there. Question is whether it would just pull the thing off etc. Why would they have these holes unless they meant you to hook to them. If I can do this it saves me a ton of work and money (for fog light valence etc which I don't have and don't really care if I have it except about the tow hooks issue). I could tow hooks in in ten minutes.
Discovered these holes when chasing the rad leak which you see dripping off the crossmember.

 

[Blmpkn]

The strap would have to be hooked pretty low on your recovery vehicle for it to not be pulling up on your bumper once all the slack is out.

I'd mount them however the factory did it.

 

[James Morse]

Yes I agree. I wouldn't feel really good about going rogue on that.
Well actually I don't know how factory did tow hooks because that wasn't an option and I don't see any 97 that have tow hooks in the brochure and there is no mention of it.
Contrary to later where it's talked about plenty. Like skid plates, mine has them, but there's no option for them and no mention of them. Later on you had to get a specific model to get them and you will see skid plates as a line item and in the writeups.
Yeah in another thread they were describing how to do it right. It's just going to take some money thrown at it - valence, fogs, switch, bezel,... and there's still the question is my truck wired for them because I don't see it but logically it should be there and without it, it's not impossible but becomes something different as to the problems. In the 99 I can see wiring for fogs hanging down with an empty connector. I see no such thing in the 97 but it stands to reason it would have been in the standard wiring harness so I don't know wtf is going on there unless I'm just not seeing it.

 

[ericbphoto]

I don’t quite understand why you think you have to do fog lights and valence if you install tow hooks. Those are completely separate issues. I would not install tow hooks to that crossmember. It would be better to have them installed at the frame. What kind of eye bolt were you considering? It would need to be a forged eyebolt as used in heavy lifting and rigging, preferably rated for 2-3 times the vehicle weight or more. A regular eye bolt like you buy at a common hardware store is nowhere near sufficient.

Your truck probably does have the fog light wiring. Most of them do. The light harnesses are usually behind the headlights. I’m not sure where the switch harness is on your model year. Balance is not necessary to have fog lights. It’s just a “pretty” piece.

 

[James Morse]

If I followed the TRS instructions it would be a regular tow hook held in by bolts attached to the frame. Which to me would be exactly correct.
The deal is if I attach to the frame there is no where for the strap to come out unless it's to the side of the license plate and that's not where they went in later years and it's too high.
The fog light valence is made differently so besides the obvious holes, it has a slot and that's where the tow hooks go. Then you can get to the frame. I could be wrong about that but I'm pretty sure that's the deal.
Look at the XL next to the STX in this brochure. You can see on the STX, you could put tow hooks, at least, there's an open area, and on the XL (type of valence I have) there's no slot there.

 

[ericbphoto]

I was envisioning the normal placement of the hooks on the bottom of the frame.

 

[Josh B]

I have a heavy eye-bolt in the piece you asked about, have certainly used it and it did well. The hole in your appears to be higher than the one in mine. The front skirt may have took a bit of bending but was fully in tack when we got there. As was stated, the one I used was a complete eye, not just bent around a bit. I got several of them at a flea market or yard sale a long time ago. I have the other two on a homemade trailer for heavy tie downs.

Yours looks more stamped where mine looks more molded, not sure if it's just the age or rust makes it look that way though

 

[James Morse]

That's interesting... so (josh b) you're saying you did use that lower piece. That's certainly easier.
If they are on the bottom of the frame I assume that means on the beams that run the length of the truck and the bumpers attach to. ?
Two different places.
Yeah josh the way you are talking about there's no bending the eye just goes thru the hole. You did mention it deformed skirt/spoiler, yeah, but sounds like no harm done. The metal bracket/crossmember itself wasn't bent though?

 

[Josh B]

That's interesting... so (josh b) you're saying you did use that lower piece. That's certainly easier.
If they are on the bottom of the frame I assume that means on the beams that run the length of the truck and the bumpers attach to. ?
Two different places.
Yeah josh the way you are talking about there's no bending the eye just goes thru the hole. You did mention it deformed skirt/spoiler, yeah, but sounds like no harm done. The metal bracket/crossmember itself wasn't bent though?

I'm saying it should be a solid poured eye-bolt, not a bent rod. That cross-member is welded as well as one can be, and I have every confidence in those welds holding, your mileage may vary and will need its own inspection in considering its strength. I know they're only 6 years apart, but not a day goes by they're not looking for ways to save a buck in their construction. Your cross-member might also have different construction, or maybe just that it has paint on it
Also I used every thread on it till it ran out of space, at least two nuts on it, I'm not sure how many, with a lock washer in between.

In my case if that truck was backwards down a 25 ft gully I would not hesitate to shackle a chain or cable to that eye-bolt, although I'd rather not add any trees into that equation

 

[sgtsandman]

Yeah, you want something with a load rating on it and has a solid eye. Like this.

 

[Josh B]

Ahhh, yeah, the place mine is mounted is just about even with the lowest part on the front bumper, which is plastic, The metal bumper has a plastic piece made onto the bumper, below and behind that is a wind skirt sticking down another couple of inches, and is fairly flexible and that is the one that the tow rope pushes up a bit. We towed it about 8 miles around 3 years ago with no damage, most of which was on country roads

 

[superj]

what is that piece its screwed into? its a weird shape, like its a guard for the steering stuff behind it

 

[Shran]

Oh lord... NO. Do not put tow hooks or any recovery gear on that. It is a skid plate for the steering linkage/pitman arm/steering box and nothing else. F series trucks came with those starting sometime in the 80's, I bent several of them just pulling junker trucks around on flat ground with a tow strap. They are not meant to be pulled on AT ALL.

 

[ericbphoto]

what is that piece its screwed into? its a weird shape, like its a guard for the steering stuff behind it

It's just a crossmember shaped funny to protect steering stuff. Mine is only riveted on.

 

[Josh B]

I really don't see the problem Shran, although I don't wish to dispute it, there's really nothing in there but the sway bar, and it floats.
The eyebolt is only 3 inches from the left frame rail, so the left will have little bearing, the steering linkage is connected to other places. There is a full cross member barely a foot away, directly over the front differential ,which also holds the motor mounts.
It won't worry me to continue using it as a tow hook.
I will however, refrain from flying it out of a canyon, or using it as a stump puller

The 93 is also welded all around, you can see one beside the bolt holding the swaybar mount