Thread: Rear recovery hook

Originally Posted by 101 Ron

As stated before what do you guys think of using a pintle hook for snatch recoveries.

Great as long as it's well attached. They are far stronger than any of the commonly available recovery hooks.
Of course they'd be death if they ever got loose.

Originally Posted by steveG

Hey Frank - I can understand why you wouldn't want to drill a second hole in the same plane as the original, but if the second hole was in a different plane ie further forward, would there be a strength reduction over the original?
Not sure whether its possible to do anyway as there may not be enough room in the receiver to push the extra length through.
Those solid inserts are pretty heavy - I'd prefer to drill another hole if practical and safe rather than carry two inserts.

Steve

Steve, see what Dougal said in his post below yours, if you had to buy the 17mm drill bit or pay someone to do it for you it would probably cost as much as a new one, as far as strength goes if you drilled further forward, I would imagine it would be stronger, esp. if it was a solid bar, Regards Frank.

To make it a bit clearer for Dougal, it may be an idea to grab a couple of measurements or put a reference scale in the picture (a steel rule).

Thanks Ron,
Have one like the upper one in your pic and can locate in Defender rear x member above H/R towbar.Gives the flexibility of being able to tow a military trailer and have a sturdy recovery point available at all times.Must be attached properly with the correct bolts etc will have to check all that out
Cheers,
Mary

I think pintle hooks are a grey area and that why I put the question forward.
I use that haymanresse pintle hook all the time , including snatch recoveries.
I use pintle hooks for all my towing now as they are easier to line up when dropping the trailer on than the civie type offerings.
In a snatch recoveries the forces are not controlled and if some tries hard enough you will end up breaking any anchor point.
Shovel work and if a winch is handy then use that as you know exactly the strain on all parts of the equiptment used.
In the old days when we towed each other out of bogs etc using chains we didnt seem to have as many anchor point issuses.

Another interesting point is the pintle on the front of the 101 Landrover.
I have used this for light snatching.
The pintle will pull out of the front of the 101 or badly bend the front X member as the hook is strong but the chassis at this point is thin sheet metal and weak.
the front pintle was only designed to move trailers around depots etc.
The rear pintle is very strong.
So it pays extremely well the know the vehicle and it anchor points well.
I seem to remember in the old days we put chains around the diff making sure brake lines were not crushed there was never much problem.
Few people do this today.

Originally Posted by Tank

I was going to buy one of these tow hithces (that slide into tow bar) but it was a hollow tube with the recovery eye welded on, I prefer the solid billet one's, you can buy them with the recovery hole either vertical or horizontal.

All this discussion has made me look at mine - I bought it a few years ago and haven't ever needed to use it. It's 5mm thick square section with what looks like 40x25mm bar welded in to a depth of about 40mm, which then has the hole for the shackle pin - I guess that's similar to most of the commercial ones (as pictured early on in the thread). Given all that's gone before, it seems this might not be the best, even for occasional recoveries?

So, now feeling completely at a loss, if I was to replace it what's best, a solid version or is there something else that's better? It seems to me most other options have been eliminated?

maybe the question hasn't been answered yet

Andy