I know of the c4x4 and various other hooks, but was wondering if anyone has slightly modified hooks from another vehicle and had success in mounting them on their XJ?

 

Remember these will need to be used to pull you out so don't skimp get quality mounts and do it right. The C4x4 ones add some extra bracing while sandwiching them to the frame rails.. plus you can buy shackle mounts for them which are IMHO safer then hooks..

 

I have the tow hooks from my old Toyletta Truck, on my XJ. You just need to fab. up some support brackets from angle iron so you have those tow hooks tied into the frame farther back than right at the ends of the framerails. I have seen many older XJs in the local junkyard that have the OEM tow hooks. They work just fine and you won't beat the price.

 

i wouldnt skimp out on the front hooks- its a pretty important recovery point. pony up the coin and get the better ones out there- the c4x4 ones

 

HI-Country shackles are better.

 

OH yeah and I forgot to add, I bought Tow hooks and brackets from Pull-a-part for 15 bucks for my other Jeep.

Can't beat a JY on Jeep parts that is for sure.

 

When I said cheap I didn't necessarily mean skimpy-quality.

I can't find the c4x4 hooks on their site to save my life.

What year XJ's came with tow hooks from the factory? I might be taking a trip to the JY soon.

If I could choose I would probably get D-rings and carry a small segment of chain with hooks on the end so if I do have to get pulled, it would distribute the force to both hooks and mounts instead of just one.

 

The OEM tow hooks have an integrated bracket tieing them into the frame at 5 points all together. There is no need to buy more expensive tow hooks from the after market. I would hook a winch cable to an OEM XJ tow hook and lift it off the ground any day of the week. Those babies are strong and mounted well. I do agree with Styker about shackles being better. You never have to worry about a tow strap or winch cable slipping off of a shackle.

 

Definitely not the cheapest..but the quality is a non-issue. I picked these up after not being able to score any from my local j/y's.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/12007_800_07.htm

 

i see... i didnt know what you meant about them. well the cheapest i found, with shipping is $84.15. i had jeepinoutfitters price match them since i wasnt too keen on the 4ws.com place. they did the price match and i got them sent out to me for the same price as i found them on 4ws.com- $84.15. i know c4x4 has them on their site but i dont know if they list a price. the going price on most sites is $80 i believe, plus $15 in shipping or so(at least to my zip it was). so i saved $10. nice kit- nice little hour project or so.

i agree with stryker- a shackle would be nicer. but hey, a tow hook works fine too

 

I like the Hi-Country stuff. It looks like that shackle kit is in my future. That is, if I can't find factory tow hooks first.

 

i just looked at the hi-country shackles- only thing i dont like about their brackets is there is no tie-in to the unibody further back like the c4x4 or the rugged ridge brackets. it just ties into the front, no extra support further back

 

don't EVER use chain for any type recovery, especially with a hook on the end. someone could get killed.

use a proper recovery strap and proper d-shackles together mounted to the correct recovery point on each jeep.

if you're not sure exactly what you need or how to use them, do a search, it's been beaten to death already.

cheers.

 

Also you can get the d-ring mounts from custom4x4.. Their brackets mount in the same holes as the factory ones so you get a stronger tie in..I am going with them since they are a couple miles from my house and a local business..

 

or you can go read this as well. http://custom4x4fabrication.com/keeper.htm