Date: Wed, 25 May 2011 10:52:16 -0700
Reply-To: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Place to mount shackles?
In-Reply-To: <BANLkTi=-JqskWkxumkAH5WuJoBRdjUgCuQ@mail.gmail.com>
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The single loop on the front of my Westy is sheet metal and looks puny.
The two rear loops are considerably sturdier, appearing to be made out
of something like 5/8'' steel rod stock, bent in a U, then bent again to
swing up where each is welded to a bumper mount.
-- RJS
On Wed, 2011-05-25 at 09:27 -0700, Roland wrote:
> I'm with David on this one, the rear "tow hooks" are not very sturdy. They
> sure look more like tie downs, same with the front "tow hook", just a piece
> of flimsy sheet metal to my eye.
>
> My Syncro came with one rear loop already bent upwards. Then last year we
> had a recovery job, and the driver of the recovery vehicle attached a strap
> to the other rear hook and promptly bent the other "tow hook" upwards. Now
> I have a rear fiberglass bumper that is also misaligned, the rear part is
> upwards and the 2 forward prongs on each side are pointing downwards. It
> looks dumb, and the license plate access doesn't open as far anymore. Oh
> well... one more interesting thing to fix.
>
> Longer story: son gets his 4Runner stuck in a creek, all 4 wheels buried.
> Son-in-law borrows Syncro to go get him out (I'm busy with work). Syncro
> gets stuck in creek, as darkness approaches. Lemmings. I tell son he has
> to spend the night there to protect vehicles. Next day we get nephew with
> his F-150, with 2-3 year offroad experience in Flagstaff and other places,
> plenty of straps, winch, etc. What bent the "tow hook" was the nephew
> used a jerking technique, with a bit of slack in the strap he quickly pulled
> his F-150 backwards to "jerk" the Syncro out -- I had never heard of this
> before, he didn't tell me, and it was too late to stop his attempted
> technique. It didn't work anyway. Then we got his winch out and, with some
> digging, got both of the vehicles out. And I had rear drum brakes full of
> creek sand, bent up bumper and tow hooks, and out some $ because nephew is
> broke college student. There is a fine line between fun and adventure.
>
> So, no, I won't trust those rear "tow hooks" again, and when I get a rear
> hitch, it definitely is not the gowesty version that bolts to these 2 hooks.
>
> We need to get Rocket a Syncro!
>
> Roland
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 6:10 PM, David Beierl <dbeierl@attglobal.net> wrote:
>
> > At 07:56 PM 5/24/2011, Dave Mcneely wrote:
> >
> >> Mr. Squirrel, my '91 camper has tow loops on the front, as well.
> >>
> >
> > Does yours have two? I've only ever seen one on the front, on the right
> > side.
> >
> > Just to be picky, neither the one(s) in the front nor the back are
> > "tow loops." They are "holdfast points" by means of which the
> > vehicles are lashed down to the deck during their ocean passage from
> > builder to point of sale, and they're meant to take a strain pointed
> > maybe 30-45 degrees downward. What you do with them afterwards is
> > entirely up to you.
> >
> > In particular I'd be inclined to be very cautious about applying side
> > loads, especially to the forward one. I don't have any hard data on
> > this, just a feeling.
> >
> > Yours,
> > David
> >
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