So my new front bumper is on back order, and some of my buddies invited me to go wheeling with them on the 20th of November. While the trials we are going on won't be to difficult I still want to be sure I have a winch/tow point in the front, in case of emergency. So in the picture there are two tubes that stick out through the bumper, I was told by the previous owner that the first owners use to tow it behind an rv. Has anyone seen this on other XJ's? Was it an option from the factory or after market? And is it strong enough to handle the strain and weight of the jeep if it had to be winch out?

That's not factory AFAIK, and there's no way to say if it's strong enough without seeing how it's attached.

As for towing, well, that's a LOT less load than recovery from a mud hole will put on it. You can't compare the two.

My guess is it's not going to be strong enough, or even close, but again, without seeing how it's attached and what it's made of, it's just guessing.

On top of Marks post, you'd want to make sure the area of metal they attach to is solid. You could have the strongest recovery point but if it's bolted to weak metal, it will still fail.

Real recovery hooks are attached to the bumper supports and are made out of stout metal

Makes for great entertainment on YouTube, though!


Bebop, just to illustrate my earlier point, I once towed a vehicle from Colorado Springs to southern California with a rented bumper hitch. It clamped onto the bumper of the towed vehicle. I made it the whole way.

A recovery attempt on that bumper would have ripped it off very quickly. It was a 69 Datsun, and the bumper was far less stout than a Cherokee bumper.

Update: thanks for all the replies got home and check where it was connected and yup where it connects to not strong enough to winch. It just bolts on the front of the bumper.

I also found these guys. But they don't look like the emergency hooks that are shown in the factory service manual.

I would hesitate to tow with those, much less try to use them for recovery!

Ideally you want both front and back, but you might consider rear hooks or a 2" trailer hitch first. Typically if I need a yank, it's more than likely to pull me back out of a mess than further in.

^^ I have to admit that's probably a true statement the vast majority of the time. lol

So you know these are the peices that make up the tow hooks in that picture of them on the XJ.