ericbphoto
Overlander in development
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If, and I still don't recommend it, but IF you're going to use an eyebolt on that crossmember or anywhere else for recovery, it needs to be forged and rated for 2-3 times the weight of your truck. That is a minimum rating. Eye bolts made of bent rod will not hold. Cast, if they even make cast eye bolts, should not be trusted. What you are looking for is often called a "lifting eye". See pictures below. This is safety gear we're talking about. When pulling a loaded vehicle that is stuck in mud or against rocks and often uphill, the forces needed to make the pull can easily exceed twice the vehicle weight.
The two gray ones that I'm pointing to in this picture have m12 threads - slightly under 1/2" and they are rated for only 340kg. That's only about 750lbs. Not even close to what you need for recovery. The holes you have in that crossmember aren't much bigger than 1/2". And the way the eye bolts would be positioned there, you would be using those threads in a tensile stress situation.
On the contrary, a proper forged tow hook mounted to the bottom of your frame with two or three 1/2" or 9/16" bolts for each hook would be putting the bolts in a shear situation under load and they are much stronger that way. In addition to the force necessary to shear the bolts, they are adding a lot of friction between the hook and frame due to the compressive force that the torqued bolts produce.
The two gray ones that I'm pointing to in this picture have m12 threads - slightly under 1/2" and they are rated for only 340kg. That's only about 750lbs. Not even close to what you need for recovery. The holes you have in that crossmember aren't much bigger than 1/2". And the way the eye bolts would be positioned there, you would be using those threads in a tensile stress situation.
On the contrary, a proper forged tow hook mounted to the bottom of your frame with two or three 1/2" or 9/16" bolts for each hook would be putting the bolts in a shear situation under load and they are much stronger that way. In addition to the force necessary to shear the bolts, they are adding a lot of friction between the hook and frame due to the compressive force that the torqued bolts produce.