I found a passenger side OEM toe hook bracket online, but not the driver's side. Then I found an aftermarket Omix brand driver's side. How different are these? Anyone have any experience with these or any other aftermarket brackets?

I have the extra reinforcing plates and the hooks themselves. The donor vehicle was damaged in the front and the main brackets were all bent up. I took what I could.

 

Is this what you are looking for ?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20305419728...3ABFBM1uyql5Nh

 

Yes. Are those any good? I like to stick with OE when I can, but aftermarket is fine if the quality is good and the fitment isn't too frustrating.

 

Some thing you should see before you start to pull any thing. You may have seen this but take a 2nd look, especially if you are going to mount and pull from the front. I Been wheeling for more than 45 years and and recovered more than my share. This really opened my eyes to the dangers to pulling on a stuck vehicle. Also OEM hooks are not the best and are very dangerous.
Remember most of the eBay crap is made in China, as is the hardware.
CH

 

Knew a guy when I was in college that this happened to him. The tow hook ripped his bicep right out of his arm. They tried to reattach it but I never found out how he recovered.

I remember that the guy trying to pull him out, got a bunch of slack in the tow strap and floored it. You know what happened after that.

I don't "wheel" but would still like the hooks to be somewhat functional.

 

When pull or winch stay back, place a heavy canvas on the cable or strap mid way to reduce it whipping. If one must be in the driver seat of the vehicle being pulled, raise the engine lid to serve as a barrier.
In the above video, a raised hood would have likely saved his life, the heavy canvas would have reduced the risk also. Of course inproper technique was the root cause in the video, i.e. bad choice of an anchor point, but raising the hood would have negated that error as for the death.


Raising the hood is a must if you need someone in the driver seat.

Tow straps are not dental floss.

 

More info on the Arizona fatality https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a4...very-accident/

Multiple mistakes were made in this instance. They hooked up with chain and a non-stretchy strap (a static tow strap or a lifting strap, not a ****** strap), proceeded to floor it with a running start, and hit the end at the leash with 4-ton trucks at either end. They attached to the bottom of a drop hitch, which puts enormous bending force on the hitch. Some of the broken metal in the picture looks like fatigue failure to me, so the drop hitch was likely already compromised. I'm sure you're all seen the guys doing this, and you know damn well they're going to keep going until they either get unstuck or rip something off trying.
Please be safe. Stop and think it through first, and consider what if something snaps. Use the right equipment! A trailer ball becomes a canon ball pretty damn quick.

 

I never did much mudding in the "old days" when it was called "offroading", lol. "Wheeling" hadn't been invented yet.

Mostly my buddies and I drove in snow. 2-tracks in northern Michigan where it snowed 2-4" practically every day. We put chains on our vehicles and took off through the woods. If we got stuck, we jumped out with the shovels and dug ourselves out.

I guess because I did that all those years, dirt hasn't appealed to me much. You see, when you are done with the snow, it melts and it's gone. Not so much with mud.

Good subject drift for the thread, lol.