The Great Tow Hooks Conspiracy Thread

Amen! Those who know, know. Those saying it's a non-issue, simply have not been in a position to know.

 

https://youtu.be/n5jodEkx-y4

 

I don’t think so Tim…. not going to fit

There was a picture at the beginning of the thread showing a TRD Pro. My SR5 Off Road is the same. The Off Road in Canada has an air dam delete.

Not much to bolt to under there. The frame rail is about 6” higher than the bottom of the plastic bumper. That single lower bolt holds the sway bar. That Lexus has multiple bolts and looks lower.

Front is at the top. Drivers side.

I believe tow hook design responsibility was handed over to the Engineers that we’re handling the 2019-2021 Tundra transmission cooling. Now that the hook design is complete they are working on the multimedia system. PIN !!!

 

Agreed. Curious what SR5 Off Road package includes as far as skidplates. Are their others beyond the Front diff?

 

The gas tank has a plastic plate. The skid plates are a joke. But the one over the tank is a lot better then nothing.

 

You made me look. Lots of nothing! Only that front plate, steel plate under the transfer case and a plastic shield for the gas tank. I did not realize the tank is about 8’ long. Nothing under the front differential. Nothing under the transmission.

I might be buying that TRD Pro skid plate.

 

Doesn't work for those of us with a fiberglass capper, like a Leer. My current truck has a Leer cap on it, the 5-6" of bumper step on either side of a lowered tailgate are very appreciated.

 

While someone is getting that approval from Toyota, they may as well get approval for higher capacity ratings too

 

RCI will get a front skid out fast with an access door for the oil filter. Weird the TRD skid doesn't have oil filter access.

 

If I stepped on the bumper, I'd hit my head on the door of my canopy.

 

I have a Leer with the cargo rack rail accessory, from Thule, and I just lower the rear glass and use the bumper sides to access the roof rack on my topper.
Prior to having a Leer topper, I used that side step to access the bed on a regular basis, my truck is 4x4 so PITA to get up on otherwise.
I will admit, I have a collapsing step stool for when we are boondocking, and the Leer hatch is open.... and it fits neatly behind the rear seat of my truck

 

2022 owners will never know the pleasure of removing a tow hook to paint it TRD Red!

 

Thanks for looking! So metal ones for Front Diff and transfer case and plastic for gas tank, but nothing for transmission. I believe I was told transmission hangs lower than frame cross bars, that might be an issue.

 

Nothing covering the front diff. Wide open.

 

No plates over front diff on Off Road package.

 

What the heck Toyota! This is a disgrace. At the price charged for Off road package, unconscionable! All the badging and stickers do not make up for plastic plates and no recovery hooks.

If you want to go into the bush and come back in a Toyota consider any other 4WD model they make, literally.

Toyota needs to fix this.

 

Today we are supposed to get 20 inches of snow. Definitely a potential tow hook day. Parked the Tundra. So I drove my FJ Cruiser this morning to the shop - it has skid plates that slide over the snow. And it does not even have "Off Road" sticker on it. I need to paint the hooks red though.

 

One of my great regrets is getting rid of my FJ.

 

I think the idea of skid plates on this new Tundra is kind of silly. I could be seeing it wrong, but it looks like the plastic front end hangs down much lower than the rest of the chassis, and even on the TRD Pro the plastic chin is lower than the skid plate.

Anyways, you'll be tearing up the plastic chin before the plates get any action

 

The air dam on the front of my F150 hangs down about 4" lower than the rest of the stuff under the truck and yet I've never had issues with it. Buy I had to take off my running boards because they have tried to remove themselves on rocks several times. They were an upside down U when I took them off.

When you have a 145" or 157" wheelbase, things in the middle of the truck tend to contact the ground.

That said, the lack of front diff skid doesn't worry me as much since its tucked up in the cross members. You'd have to hit it just right on a rock to have it actually whack the diff.

 

The front bumper is actually about the same height as everything else. It just looks lower in pics.

 

Sorry in advance, but I must beg to differ if you plan to go off road.

Skidplates being "silly" falls into same category as recovery hooks being "unnecessary". From an off road standpoint neither statement is wise.

The front air dam is 100% not a critical component. You can tear the whole bloody thing off and toss it in the bed. Try that on front diff, transmission or fuel tank. You let the bush bang or poke a hole in one of those and you ain't coming home.

 

Skid plates don't matter at all in a mall-crawler.

 

Yup, makes the SR5 TRD Sport seem like a good idea. I've been warming up to it...

 

Does the 2.5 gen Tundra, Raptor, Tremor, Power Wagon or any other truck have a front diff skid plate? That's not one I've heard of before.

 

Nope. Ford and Ram just do the exact same thing. They remove the Recovery hooks and skid plates on the off road oriented models. As we have established, these are totally unnecessary for off-road and just for silly people.


Just kidding- see photos below.

Ford Raptor


Ford Tremor



Ram Rebel






Toyota Tundra 2.5




Toyota 2.5 Alternate Perspective



And finally the current 22022 3rd gen TRD "Off Road" package per the poster in this forum....

 

Just saw a newer Ram 1500 in a parking lot. No tow hooks.

 

I'm sure it used to have them, they just broke off from over use.