I don’t mean to rant – well, not much – but may I suggest without intending disrespect to anyone that the mentioned bolts be checked with the right grade specified for proper Recovery Points?
It is worthwhile to distinguish between
- unrated “factory tie down hooks/loops” used for shipping the vehicle and which are downright dangerous for anything else, and,
- rated (?) “tow hooks” which might be used for ‘gentle’ towing at very low speeds on good roads such as after a breakdown but are hazardous for anything else – as noted in the attached extract from a Land Cruiser Owner’s Manual (USA version), and,
- rated “recovery points” which are specifically designed (including especially the method of attachment to the vehicle) and which are used for extracting a vehicle stuck in water, sand, mud, ruts, rocks, etc and for which snatch straps, ropes, winches etc, will be used under proper procedures. Forces considerably exceeding the vehicle weight may be involved.
Has anyone found a rating on a LC100/LX470 factory-fitted long hook or listed in the Owner’s Manual, meaning Working Load Limit (WLL) or Safe Working Load (SWL) specified in tons or tonnes??? I could not find any such rating in any Land Cruiser Owner’s Manual.
Personal opinion: No rating, no go. Best use of unrated hooks and unrated attaching bolts is as paperweights or as sinkers for fishing!
The risk with the LC100/LX470 factory-fitted long hooks is the temptation to use one as a “recovery point” -- because they are there. This temptation is best removed altogether and replaced with more capable and much safer devices, correctly attached. There are rated choices available in most countries.
Apologies for the rant – but sad to report, some years ago I came upon two Land Cruisers at minesite where I worked, one bogged in mud, the other had been used for recovery. The hook (or bolt?) had failed and the strain energy in the rope whipped the hook through the windscreen of one vehicle, striking one driver a glancing blow on the side of the head. He had one hell of headache. There was a fast emergency trip to a nearby hospital but he lost sight in one eye. If struck a little differently, he would have been incapacitated for life or dead. Or if the trajectory had been a little different, several bystanders would have been hit instead. Wrong attachment, wrong method, wrong equipment, wrong judgement, wrong outcome – bad enough and the worst possible outcome was avoided only by sheer luck. How would it have ended if this had occurred on a remote trail or beach somewhere?
There are plenty of websites describing the right hooks, the right attaching hardware and equipment for any towing or recovery purpose and the correct methods and precautions for their safe use.
There are also many videos on what not to do. Here is one – the vehicles in this video are not Land Cruisers but the message is clear ….
