hey guys I thought id show you what me and my dad have been up too the past few days. I had no front end recovery so I started looking at the options out there to buy and didn't find any that I liked. I didn't like the ones that most companys offer that bolt separately to each "frame" rail but I did find IRO(http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merch...egory_Code=PFX) makes one with a crossmember between the two and I liked that idea but I didn't like how far it hung down. so i decided to make my own
heres what i started with (all 1/4" steel we had laying around) :

cleaned up a little:

cutting to length:

before the bend:



after bends:

drilling holes:

welded:

installed:








only hangs down ~1" below the factory crossmember:

its not done yet but pretty close. im thinking about cutting the corners off the angle iron to make it look a little better. what do you guys think? im also trying to decide what kind of hooks I want to use and where to mount them. im open for any suggestions

 

I sure wouldn't trust the sway bar nutcerts to pull from. It'll probably pull them right through the frame rail. I wouldn't trust that Iron Rock thing either. My C-4x4 tow points use at least six bolts per side (May be seven I can't remember), and sandwiches part of the frame rail between the brackets. Beef up your mounting and it would be killer!

 

I made this tow hook brackets and bolted to the sway bar mounting points.i havent had to use them much.Ill see if it holds up..

 

Guys, make sure these things are strong. I wouldn't pull you out with either of those set ups. Beef those mounts up for some more bolts.

Overkill is highly under-rated

 

how should I beef it up? would Welding it to the uniframe help

 

the IRO inspired one should be fine. It's using the sway bar mounts plus 2 more on each side. as long as you're not trying to hoist it up a vertical cliff i'd be willing to wager a few bucks that you'd be just fine with it. I would recommend using some d-ring mounts instead of hooks tho. rope can't slip off a ring


I would, however, definitely be iffy on the little angle iron pieces in the second setup.. I could definitely see those getting pretty tweaked with any real weight on them. probably be stronger if you just turned them sideways and bolted them straight to the frame itself, and not using the angle pieces

before I got my front recovery, I got pulled out of a stuck by my sway bar (mainly because that was the only thing we could get to without scuba gear.. lol)

 

I used my swaybar to pull a good size tree off of a trail. tweaked the little U shaped sway bar brackets pretty bad.

I just realized that since I removed the swaybar, I have no front recovery point whatsoever. I need to get started on building a bumper!

 

I agree with most of this. it mounts the exact same way the IRO one does and haven't heard of anyone having problems with it. but there is no way I would use the other setup that other guy posted. I am open to any suggestions on how to make mine better tho. how could I make it better?

 

I think it will be okay for straight pulls, no crazy angled tugs though. If you gusseted the angle iron pieces and had extra support wrapped around the frame rails it would be a lot stronger

 

fine I'll just take them off. lol they're really just for emergencies because I don't have any other front recovery points. I'm building a rear bumper now next will be the front bumper with the d shackle tabs

 

It would, but if you did I would reccommend ditching the crossbar and just making individual plates for each side of the frame.

 

I dont have a crossbar.there bolted to 1/4 angle iron and bolted to the swaybar mount location.

 

Oh sorry, I got confused between you and the op. You should rethink your whole design, and use more bolts so the stress is not on two little nuts welded to the sheet metal of the frame rail, because those are the weakest link in your design.

 

like a couple 90* triangle peices welded to the angle? I thought about doing that. like I said its not finished yet. I will try to find a way to wrap it around the rails too

 

I would say if you weld pieces that go up the side of the frame that run through it would definitely help strengthen it. Factory tow hooks use all 3 bumper mounts + a larger bolt that goes back along the "frame" further.