Aftermarket Recovery Points any better than the factory 'Tow Hooks'

[LCOceans]

I hate to add more questions to this but what about CNC machined billet 7075 Aluminum? These are what mine are made of.. Of course they describe this material to be very strong - "each recovery point has a load capacity of 11,000 lbs in the direction of the pull".
I have no idea how this material compares. I had seen several manufacturers using billet aluminum for the higher end upper control arms and other modifications requiring strength and durability, so I assumed it was a good material for recovery points.
Sxth Element OffRoad is product name.

 

[GR8Santini]

The rear Tacoma TRD recovery points are made by ARB.
Front ones don’t show up as TRD on their box, just a Toyota accessory pn#. They do say ‘Forged’ on their bottom & ‘Toyota’ on the front edge.

 

[ultane]

The rear Tacoma TRD recovery points are made by ARB.
Front ones don’t show up as TRD on their box, just a Toyota accessory pn#. They do say ‘Forged’ on their bottom & ‘Toyota’ on the front edge.

View attachment 63186

Mine are on their way.

 

[Area 51]

The rear Tacoma TRD recovery points are made by ARB.
Front ones don’t show up as TRD on their box, just a Toyota accessory pn#. They do say ‘Forged’ on their bottom & ‘Toyota’ on the front edge.

View attachment 63186

I just picked mine up at the delar, over night, discounted, the best dealer in the world.
These are a bargain being forged and ARB.

 

[Area 51]

Something to keep in mind above all else.
These are red and look really cool vs the stock super drab ones.
The rear is a real rube goldberg.

 

[GR8Santini]

I’m doing a different style, but the TRD are 25% off @

https://toyota.oempartsonline.com/oem-parts/toyota-front-tow-hooks-pt97435250

 

[GR8Santini]

Like the longer length - twice as long as the TRD - to stick out further away from facia..

Don’t like that they can’t spell ‘Product’ in China…

 

[TEQJ250]

Like the longer length - twice as long as the TRD - to stick out further away from facia..

Don’t like that they can’t spell ‘Product’ in China…

View attachment 63303

If the spelling bothers you, don't

The Toyota TRD recovery points are 25% off right now through Toyota online.

Thanks! I just ordered mine w/ free shipping =)

 

[EOD Guy]

Like the longer length - twice as long as the TRD - to stick out further away from facia..

Don’t like that they can’t spell ‘Product’ in China…

View attachment 63303

They didn't make a mistake......

Product = normal length
Pruduct = extended length.

 

[GR8Santini]

- Now that’s funny!

 

[GR8Santini]

Installed my $79 ‘PRUDUCT’, aka F150 XL Front Recovery Points.
I’m pretty stoked, as they are heavy steel, much larger than my prior ones, & are beasts. They stick out well away from the front facia body work. They only come in red so I did a couple coats of black fixed that concern. Just me, but I don’t want to flash them, I just want them to work & have less chance of tearing up the bottom facia making being in a bad situation even worse if your rig gets stuck.

I already had some recovery points that were clones of the Toyota TRD recovery hook / points, & was looking for a longer product. Found this version on both eBay & Amazon & run from $79 to $200.

The key to these is that they are listed for late model F150s & Tacomas. The mounting bolt pattern helps get the length (over 10”) out there under the vehicle, as the LC uses the 1st two mounting holes. The factory mounting bolts pass through them & have plenty of thread still going into the crossmember. Hopefully the pics will do them justice. For my fellow OCD compadres, some of the pics are from the first coat of paint, but they got solid 3 coats of my best high heat black rattle finish.

 

[allemt]

Front Recovery Points Tacoma (2024+) & 4Runner (2025+) & Land Cruiser (2024+)

Product Description Add strength, safety, and confidence to your off-road recoveries with these front recovery points. Engineered for Tacoma, Land Cruiser and 4Runner platforms, they provide reliable attachment locations for straps and shackles, ensuring secure pulls in demanding conditions...

yotaxpedition.com

 

[basicxj]

I hate to add more questions to this but what about CNC machined billet 7075 Aluminum? These are what mine are made of.. Of course they describe this material to be very strong - "each recovery point has a load capacity of 11,000 lbs in the direction of the pull".
I have no idea how this material compares. I had seen several manufacturers using billet aluminum for the higher end upper control arms and other modifications requiring strength and durability, so I assumed it was a good material for recovery points.
Sxth Element OffRoad is product name.

7075 aluminium alloy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

7075 is used in aircraft manufacturing. Whether that is an ideal alloy for recovery points is worthy of discussion. The manufacturer chose it for some reason.

If I was the manufacturer (and I used to work at a plant that dealt with a variety of alloys many years ago), I would have leaned towards 6061 alloy machined from billet stock for something like a recovery point.

6061 aluminium alloy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Whatever alloy you choose, a good amount of its properties will come from how it is heat treated or "aged" and whether it was quenched properly during the process. Mess the heat treatment on an alloy up and the final properties can sometimes be unexpected.

 

[ultane]

Mine are on their way.

It took me a minute to get down to Marietta, Ga to visit my daughter and pick up my front tow points from the dealer that I had them shipped to. Now installed, and torqued to 65ftlbs… Now I just need to touch up the bolts with red paint. That’s going to have to wait until we get back from our trip to Kentucky. I hope I never have to use them, but they sure look better than the factory tie down points that I had painted red a while back.

 

[DubDub]

Late entry in this conversation because I finally came around to potentially wanting to address this part of my LC.

Lots of interesting conversations IRT metalurgy and construction going on. I especially loved the ChatGPT spam. I bookmarked the kinetic recovery post since I've never really given that much thought and want to think through that potentiality (I'm a retired Sailor, and snapback is a thing that still causes me to lose sleep some nights).

What I don't see discussed much is fulcrum and lever principles (see Archimede's law of the lever). The length of the lever is a force multiplier, and, in the case of off-axis recovery, not in a good way. When you can't loosen a bolt you grab a longer wrench. The longer the lever, the less force required to apply the same amount of rotational torque. Those longer, more convenient hooks are increasing the lever arm distance => increasing rotational torque at the fulcrum for the same input force applied. That fulcrum, in this application, is the connecting bolts. Given the choice between damaging some front plastics or doubling the torque on my recovery point mounting locations, I'm tearing up plastic all day long.

I'll stick with forged ARB or TRD points (I agree forged is the superior choice for this application), at or near the same length of the OEM tow hooks. I'll also probably research a stainless or coated stainless alternative bolts if the alternative is zinc plated anything.

 

[GR8Santini]

I hear ya Dub, but my consideration is if you reinforce w/ higher grade bolts you’re taking a better chance to seriously damage the lower radiator core support in a hard pull. That’s a creating a much bigger problem. I want those bolts to shear exactly where Toyota designed them. I hope to never use the recovery points, but I only want to do a direct straight line pull vs. high offset angle.

 

[DubDub]

I hear ya Dub, but my consideration is if you reinforce w/ higher grade bolts you’re taking a better chance to seriously damage the lower radiator core support in a hard pull. That’s a creating a much bigger problem. I want those bolts to shear exactly where Toyota designed them. I hope to never use the recovery points, but I only want to do a direct straight line pull vs. high offset angle.

I mean, I respect your consideration here buddy, I really do. I’d contend that at least 12 of my 130ish credit hours were somehow related to this principle, and that you are assuming that that longer hook of yours is applying the same sheering forces to the OE bolts that the OE hook was.

I am telling you right now, based on the size of the hook you have shared, you are probably close to doubling the rotational torque at the fulcrum (bolts). I’m talking up, down, left, right… anything but straight, on-axis pulling. Even the ARB forged hooks have a disclosed degree limitation because of this problem.

I’m going with stainless for corrosion resistance, seizing and galling considerations. If I’m putting a forged hook on I’m already altering physics at the mount, so OE hardware limitations being best would simply be an assumption, one that I personally disagree with.