Date:         Wed, 25 May 2011 09:27:52 -0700
Reply-To:     Roland <syncronicity1@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Roland <syncronicity1@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Place to mount shackles?
In-Reply-To:  <4ddc56f7.42abe60a.28d3.ffffaed1@mx.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

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
>