Front tow hooks/brush guard

jetson · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2005 11:26 pm

Guys,

I'm picking up a brush guard for the kj this week and will be losing my tow hooks. I'm wondering if anyone has figured out how to combine a brush guard and tow hooks/points or if there is another solution (such as a front hitch) that will work with a brush guard. I thought about, once I can get a good look at the guard, drilling into the low point on the guard and mounting shackles, but I'm not sure if that would degrade the strength of the guard or not.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Nick

FreedomKJ · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 12:11 am

While brush guards do look good, if you haven't already paid for it then I'd recommend against getting one. In an accident they'll cause more damage to your vehicle then you'd get without one (same thing while offroading) and as you're already aware you lose your tow hooks. Never try to pull or be pulled using the guard itself as they are not designed to handle the stress and will break, possibly injuring you or others.

To answer your question though, a few people have managed to attach tow hooks to a brushguard, but for the reasons mentioned above I wouldn't suggest it.

Oh, and nice looking Jeep, good choice of colors.

Liberator84 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:11 am

FreedomKJ wrote:

While brush guards do look good, if you haven't already paid for it then I'd recommend against getting one. In an accident they'll cause more damage to your vehicle then you'd get without one (same thing while offroading) and as you're already aware you lose your tow hooks. Never try to pull or be pulled using the guard itself as they are not designed to handle the stress and will break, possibly injuring you or others.

To answer your question though, a few people have managed to attach tow hooks to a brushguard, but for the reasons mentioned above I wouldn't suggest it.

Oh, and nice looking Jeep, good choice of colors.

That just made me make up my mind. LOL. Thanks!!

~JUD

jetson · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:24 am

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like I'll have to do some more thinking on it...

AtlanticLiberty · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 11:55 am

I've seen (and been thinking about) people mounting these:

http://www.warthoginc.com/catalog_i2098739.html

to their guards. They mount really low on the guards mounting point so that any towing that absolutely has to be done from the front is nearest to the frame mount. Still, though, I'd tow from a receiver hitch shackle unless I had no other option.

jetson · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 12:07 pm

Atlantic,

Do you have a front hitch mounted as well as a brush guard?

Nick

AtlanticLiberty · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 2:43 pm

No... to my knowledge, they both use the same holes. So unless you're really good with welding and fabrication, you either have to pick a guard, mopar hooks, or a hidden hitch.

I went with the guard and I may try those warthog hooks out. I dunno yet.

the1jferg · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 2:52 pm

I don't understand this Lose your tow hook thing!!!!

Chunk the M bolts and add regular bolts!!

http://www.thefergusons.us/kj/kj.htm

jetson · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 3:08 pm

I haven't looked at the oem hooks yet. Are they bolted with M bolts? Sorry if it sounds newbie, but I'm learning...

the1jferg wrote:

I don't understand this Lose your tow hook thing!!!!

Chunk the M bolts and add regular bolts!!

http://www.thefergusons.us/kj/kj.htm

AtlanticLiberty · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 4:09 pm

the1jferg wrote:

I don't understand this Lose your tow hook thing!!!!

Chunk the M bolts and add regular bolts!!

http://www.thefergusons.us/kj/kj.htm

I still don't think that works. It's more than mounting, Mopar hooks extend out at the same location that your guard does. Unless you buy a hook like I mentioned before (above) you can't physically put them in that same location. (without major modification)

The ones you have on your KJ are 1) not OEM and 2) unable to fit correctly if you put the brush guard cover back on right?

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

the1jferg · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 5:29 pm

I'm learning too. Just trying to understand.

Is it the Factory brush gaurd like the one I have? See link in above post.

My hooks are OEM cheverolet. Yes it would fit with the plastic stuff back on if your talking the same gaurd. It looks better without.

If the Factory hooks won't mount, then the $5 after market hooks with the
1 1/2" hole spacing will, using regular bolts.

You know they even make sports car tow hooks that are thin and come in diff angles.

I see no reason the front hitch won't work with the Gaurd either.

Make sure you use Grade 5 or higher bolts as not to degrade strength.

You can mount a gas tank skid with the hitch too, right?

jetson · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 5:46 pm

I think that Atlantic and I have the same guard, which can be seen in this post: http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/vie ... php?t=2801, but no it's not the OEM guard.

I can't really tell from the pics on your site how it mounts up, but it looks like it would allow for front hooks. However, the guard I've got seems to take up most of the room in the little wells. Ultimately I was hoping to install a front hitch with the guard, perhaps using longer bolts, but I wanted to see if anyone else had done that yet and whether it would degrade the strength of the hitch (or if it was even possible in the mounting points).

speleorelic · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 6:38 pm

I have a smitybilt brush guard and OEM tow hooks. The brush guard mounts to the same location as the tow hooks. The tow hooks are bolted to a small bracket which bolts to the frame. In order to use both I had to modify the bracket by slotting a hole, then used a spacer to make up a material thickness so that everything would still bolt up. My tow hooks are now just outside the brush guard on each side, with about 3/8 inch clearance for a tow strap. I'll try a close up

Hope this helps

george

jetson · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 6:43 pm

thanks for the close up george. That might work for my situation.

I'm going to have a look at the oem hooks tonight and when I pick up the guard later this week, I'll see what I can do. If I find a solution, I'll take a bunch of pictures and post them to this thread for anyone else's future reference.

Nick

AtlanticLiberty · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:34 pm

jetson wrote:

thanks for the close up george. That might work for my situation.

I'm going to have a look at the oem hooks tonight and when I pick up the guard later this week, I'll see what I can do. If I find a solution, I'll take a bunch of pictures and post them to this thread for anyone else's future reference.

Nick

A world of wisdom to you- I had to do a tiny bit of grinding on the brackets to get the holes to line up. So be prepared just in case. But boy is that thing solid!

the1jferg · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:43 pm

I got it

jetson · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 9:51 pm

Thanks for the input Atlantic. I'll keep that in mind.

Just checked the tow hooks, and, low and behold, there aren't any. Not sure why I thought they were there... Guess I'll be buying a set.

Front tow hooks/brush guard

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