Get a piece of 8" channel, 3/16 or 1/4, cut it to fit exactly inside your frame rail, bolt it in with (3) 1/2" grade 8 bolts on each side as close to the bumper as possible. Then bolt tow hooks or whatever to that. Personally I do not like D-rings that much unless you get something built for a tractor because of the clamp holding the D-ring down bending under a shock load.

What I like to do for front and rear bumpers is put a piece of sq/rect. tubing directly over the frame, bolting it to the frame flange top and bottom, and then through the face of the bumper to the frame. Then attach a 15T pintle hook in the middle.

I back up the frame bolts with 3/16 channel at least 8 inches long.

I have pictures of such on my F-100 and BII in this forum if you want to search for examples.

Nice 78/79 Bronco, wish I had one!

 

Thanks for the compliment rebo. the pintle hook is a good idear, ill have to see what some of them run $$.

 

I just have to say, this post made me laugh. Some people try so hard to be critical and make others feel bad. Looks like you had fun, got stuck, got unstuck, and now get to build it bigger and badder. That sounds like what wheelin's all about to me. You came here looking for suggestions on how to build, I dont understand people that contribute nothing and criticize everything.

 

thank you 74, exactly what was running through my mind, I just figured I'd keep my mouth shut.

 

pffffft, hahahahahaha, we got another know-it-all here!

or you could paint your wheels rainbow and be cool like huckster

i actually welded a lunette eye on a buddies truck and that has been awesome! used some 3/8" angle welded from frame to frame and then welded and bolted the eye in the middle. i tucked it in (he runs a fuel cell) the frame so he still had a depart angle and it doesnt get in the way but is still very easy to get to!

-cutts-

 

you could have unbolted the trailer ball from the hitch, and put a shackle in that hole, it probally would have centralized the load better.

and also, does any body know whats the minimal size for D rings, or shackles, or do i just get the biggest i can fit?

 

I recently bought a draw bar and a shackle to put in my hitch for pulling with. I also bought some 10k lb tow hooks for the front and bolted them straight to the bottom of the frame on my explorer.

As for shackles, I bought one that is rated for 13,000 lbs

 

BINGO...... the object of this game is OVERKILL otherwise there would be no point in ChroMo

if you buy the bolt on ones (which IMO are just too light duty) at least weld or have someone weld it on as well as bolt. thats a lot of stress you are putting on 2 bolts!

-cutts-

 

the thing is, i just bought a bumper, and the guy that had it, had some pretty good ized ones on there, the shackle tabs are welded, and i was just wondering if there was any standard to sizes.

 

As long as you have grade 8 bolts it should be just fine. In a situation like that I would trust the 2 grade 8 bolts over welding. One would have to make sure that the welds are damn good and have good penetration. Thats not something you would want to fail under load.

 

is that why the larger rated D-rings are weld on only?

i trust my welds LONG before i trust a couple of bolts. its not all that hard to get good penetration

-cutts-

 

As long as you are a good welder its fine, but most garage mavericks out there aren't good enough to get proper penetration so the weld will hold.

 

> or do i just get the biggest i can fit?

Take the truck weight and go 6x bigger to account for shock loads and such when shopping for shackles and D-rings.

The thing is the ring is rated for ##,000 pounds, the clip retaining it is not. As someone mentioned, it is a lot of stress for just two bolts, even grade 8, because they are usually only 1/2". For something with only two bolts, you will need at least 5/8 to hold 10,000 pounds. What happens is you give a good yank and the D-ring twists in the clip.

> is that why the larger rated D-rings are weld on only?

One reason, the main reason is they are meant to be attached to steel 1/2"+ in thickness so the backing material can handle the load and welding is a good cheap reliable option with an ARC welder, which almost every truck shop has.

If you read the instructions for the 15T pintle hooks, you are suppose to have something in the line of 5/8 - 3/4 steel backing it up. No way you are finding that in a light truck bumper. Though I know from experience it works fine with 1/4 steel and have broken 5/16 transport chain yanking trees down.

One reason I went with pintle hooks and the bumpers like I did, is I bent the frame of my BII pulling a F-350 from a snow bank using a tow hook. My chain ripped through the F-350 bumper and went flying over my (open) hood, oops. Luckily my chain stayed on my tow hook. Time for upgrades

I see you are in GA. Get the Atlanta Advertiser and look in the building supply section. There is a guy named Jerry that sells scrap steel, near the race track. I bought stuff from him before, good prices, good guy. Basically he buys pallet systems, then resells the steel. So when you get something 3/16 it is structural steel (ASM500 something) and meant for heavy loads.

You can get 8" channel or 5" sq, both 3/16 wall, plus other stuff. About $0.50 a pound last time I was there a year or so ago.

I buy my pintle hooks from Northern Tools and there are six or so stores in GA, so you should be able to save on the shipping (they weigh about 40 pounds) and pick it up local.

http://www.buyersproducts.com/dispat...ile=index.html

Download the catalog (.pdf) and browse the goodies you can put on! :-)

 

...and now for a much more uninformed question...

i have an '03 150 and i just picked up a set of tow hooks for the front (already got a D-ring for the rear tow hitch!)......is it ok to bolt them to the frame rails that peek out UNDER the bumper (about parallel with the grill)???

the rails already have a couple of holes drilled in it (but not the right spacing though) - but - it also looks like its one piece of metal kinda folded over itself AND then welded along the seam...

so i guess my question is - is that a good spot for the hooks (folded welded seam and all)???

drj

 

the only thing about hooks, is that they are only good for one direction of pull, and like to unbend themselves in a hard pull. i would suggest d-rings and shackle tabs if at all possible, but just my two cents here.