The front tow loop, while not a piece of 12mm rod like the back loops, is
also not "sheet metal".  It is the same material of which the frame is made
- about 3-4 mm thick, and firmly welded to the frame.

It is quite substantial, and has been used, at least once, to pull a fully
loaded Westy out of axle deep river sand (yes, I know personally - I wasn't
always this smart).

Karl Wolz

|-----Original Message-----
|From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]
|On Behalf Of Dave Mcneely
|Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 1:47 PM
|To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
|Subject: Re: Place to mount shackles?
|
|---- Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
|> The single loop on the front of my Westy is sheet metal and
|looks puny.
|>
|> The two rear loops are considerably sturdier, appearing to
|be made out
|> of something like 5/8'' steel rod stock, bent in a U, then
|bent again
|> to swing up where each is welded to a bumper mount.
|
|Thanks.  That describes my loops, also.  I guessed a little
|smaller diameter than you did, but I am less experienced with
|all things mechanical.  mcneely
|
|>
|> -- RJS
|>
|> On Wed, 2011-05-25 at 09:27 -0700, Roland wrote:
|>
|> > I'm with David on this one, the rear "tow hooks" are not very
|> > sturdy.  They sure look more like tie downs, same with the front
|> > "tow hook", just a piece of flimsy sheet metal to my eye.
|> >
|> > My Syncro came with one rear loop already bent upwards.  Then last
|> > year we had a recovery job, and the driver of the recovery vehicle
|> > attached a strap to the other rear hook and promptly bent
|the other
|> > "tow hook" upwards.  Now I have a rear fiberglass bumper that is
|> > also misaligned, the rear part is upwards and the 2 forward prongs
|> > on each side are pointing downwards.  It looks dumb, and
|the license
|> > plate access doesn't open as far anymore.  Oh well... one
|more interesting thing to fix.
|> >
|> > Longer story:  son gets his 4Runner stuck in a creek, all
|4 wheels buried.
|> > Son-in-law borrows Syncro to go get him out (I'm busy with work).
|> > Syncro gets stuck in creek, as darkness approaches.  Lemmings.  I
|> > tell son he has to spend the night there to protect
|vehicles.  Next
|> > day we get nephew with his F-150, with 2-3 year offroad
|experience in Flagstaff and other places,
|> > plenty of straps, winch, etc.    What bent the "tow hook"
|was the nephew
|> > used a jerking technique, with a bit of slack in the strap he
|> > quickly pulled his F-150 backwards to "jerk" the Syncro
|out -- I had
|> > never heard of this before, he didn't tell me, and it was too late
|> > to stop his attempted technique.  It didn't work anyway.  Then we
|> > got his winch out and, with some digging, got both of the vehicles
|> > out.  And I had rear drum brakes full of creek sand, bent
|up bumper
|> > and tow hooks, and out some $ because nephew is broke
|college student.  There is a fine line between fun and adventure.
|> >
|> > So, no, I won't trust those rear "tow hooks" again, and
|when I get a
|> > rear hitch, it definitely is not the gowesty version that
|bolts to these 2 hooks.
|> >
|> > We need to get Rocket a Syncro!
|> >
|> > Roland
|> >
|> >
|> >
|> > On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 6:10 PM, David Beierl
|<dbeierl@attglobal.net> wrote:
|> >
|> > > At 07:56 PM 5/24/2011, Dave Mcneely wrote:
|> > >
|> > >> Mr. Squirrel, my '91 camper has tow loops on the front, as well.
|> > >>
|> > >
|> > > Does yours have two?  I've only ever seen one on the
|front, on the
|> > > right side.
|> > >
|> > > Just to be picky, neither the one(s) in the front nor
|the back are
|> > > "tow loops."  They are "holdfast points" by means of which the
|> > > vehicles are lashed down to the deck during their ocean passage
|> > > from builder to point of sale, and they're meant to take
|a strain
|> > > pointed maybe 30-45 degrees downward.  What you do with them
|> > > afterwards is entirely up to you.
|> > >
|> > > In particular I'd be inclined to be very cautious about applying
|> > > side loads, especially to the forward one.  I don't have
|any hard
|> > > data on this, just a feeling.
|> > >
|> > > Yours,
|> > > David
|> > >
|
|--
|David McNeely
|
|-----
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