Anyone use these tow hooks?

SLEE also has some nice recovery points. They are a little more pricey but they look heavy duty. The deluxe version gets out in front of the bumper.

https://youtu.be/jNWbbn_3Sw4?feature=shared

 

That’s like 900$ plush shipping. I think you can get a CBI covert bumper for that price.

 

I don't' see any reason you would buy these over a full bumper with a spot to mount a winch....hell if you did the rough country bumper and a steel cable badlands winch you would almost break even compared to Slee recovery points and bonus points you get a winch out of the deal. In the video they look like they are very bomber, but I'm with ya man I don't see how anyone could ever justify spending that kind of money when a bomber stealth bumper is the same amount of money. Its a no brainer to me and I wonder how many of these Slee will actually sell.

 

I would agree with that. The AFE are really the only affordable solution when they have them priced at $130 for the two. The brackets themselves look heavy duty but not sure about the two bolts holding them on. For light use it may be OK.

 

I just installed the AFE hooks, very high quality. Better than nothing. Especially if *I'm* the one stuck...

 

I installed the AFE Hooks as well. Whichever engineer decided to use that fine pitch thread on the bolts needs an attitude adjustment. Same thing for the skid plates. Anyone know why they are using such a fine pitch??

 

They're stronger (20-25%) for the same nominal diameter. They're a lot of other factors that can come into play here (they tend to be less prone to self-loosening under shock or vibration conditions) but for this application that would be my assumption. The biggest downside of fine pitch threds? Yeah, easily cross-threaded, more difficult to assemble.

 

If i ever get mine I'll post pictures.

 

No doubt - cross threading was a real problem. Especially while standing on my head trying to hold the part and jam my bear paws up in there. Good thing I had a good tap for just that thread. I miss the days of a 3/8-16 thread!

 

So I finally got the NyTop items. Super solid. Each one is 8lbs and they made sure to pack them carefully. However one has three different blemishes in the paint coating. I’m going to contact them. If it was my company I wouldn’t have shipped this one. I’ll see what they say before I install them. No instructions with them but I’ll have to check the website again. I was expecting some instruction and hopefully a simple template for cutting for install.

 

I was looking to see if there was a template for cutting the holes. I’m almost certain I will mess the cuts up. Keep us posted if templates are supposed to be provided.

 

I emailed nytop about templates a couple months back and they said templates were not available at this time. Main reason I haven't ordered. My OCD will turn it into a full day's job.

 

One thing that I haven't seen anyone mention is the fact you have to remove your crash bar to install any aftermarket bumper. I wonder if that would effect your insurance or your cars warranty if anything were to happen.

Here is a video of the nytop install. Might help out. They seem pretty legit.

https://youtu.be/9SGx0qKnAoQ?si=-5FSKM3amQKht-aS

 

Removing a piece of metal won't have any bearing on warranty unless Toyota can show a subsequent failure was caused by the removal (or addition of new bumper).

As far as insurance, you should inform your insurance of any changes such as a aftermarket bumper. I do that with Geico, and then there is no question of accident coverage, and they'll pay for a replacement bumper in an accident. On my land cruiser, adding the bumper increased my insurance by about $10 a year.

 

Interesting. Good info. Thanks.

 

yep. Totally worth it. Years ago my very expensive lift on my Defender was covered when I wrecked it and insurance didn’t fight me as I had already established what was installed and the value.

 

I still need to cut the holes in the front plastic. I’m waiting till a buddy can help with measurements and marking as he is much better at that. NYtop did take care of the issue of the blemishes on one of the tow hooks so I will say I’m very pleased with how they handled that. They said they did not have a template for cutting. Once done I can easily share the measurements here. Install was very easy. As the video on their site points out you will break the side plastic tabs if you don’t want to remove the bumper mustache shells. I didn’t care. All the other tabs are intact and will hold it on fine. It came with extra inserts and bolts for extra strength but I did not use them. The hybrid bumper they offer is just a shell that bolts onto the recovery points. For $600 I would pay $200 more and have a place for a wench but I do think they recovery points were worth it. They are crazy sturdy. You simply remove the plastic, remove the stock L bracket holding on the crash bar and bolt onto the frame and crash bar. Up to the point of cutting it’s a 30 minute endeavor. They stock out but only what is needed to be functional and if I use them won’t damage the bumper or anything else like the AFE ones. I feel much more comfortable with these for not that much extra cost.

 

I like those NYTOP ones a lot. Unless one really needs a winch it’s a solid solution that requires no cutting.

I’d probably buy a metal hybrid bumper just for simplicity of not having to cut though.

 

I will say the plate option would be very easy to install and yes more sturdy. Not sure it’s worth $300 but I’m happy with the recovery points.

 

If ya mess up the lower valance when cutting out the holes I just happen to have one 4 sale in the 3rd gen market place for less than half $...Just sayin.

BTW I like the practicality & looks of those hooks.

 

Sorry for the delay. I've installed the plastic back over the front and the NYtop recovery points. Basically, if you never want a winch and this is a final version for you, I would suggest buying the metal cover. However it only bolts onto the recovery points. So it would look good and be better protection than the plastic but it's not really going to do a lot more to protect. But would be a lot easier. If you want a winch eventually or a fully bumper I would cut the plastic like I did or would just spend $200 more and get a covert style that holds a winch. I'm happy with my purchase of the recovery points, feel VERY comfortable in their ability to perform and am very happy with their follow up customer service. Compared to where the AFE option bolts on I like this a lot better. It is way more secure bolted onto the frame and crash bar with four bolts and on the front so I won't screw up my bumper.

The install:
My truck is not a show truck and I don't really care if things are perfect as long as I did them myself. So you know, hate away that the cuts were not perfect.

Removal: Removal of the plastic was fairly easy. There are a lot of clips and there are two side clips under the mustache part you have to break off if you don't want to take more stuff off. I broke those off and on reinstall had not issues. This was called out in the install video I watched on YT from their product page.

Install of the recovery points was super easy. Unbolt the brackets for the crash bar to frame and bolt on the recovery points.

Putting the plastic back on was trickier. Nytop told me they do not have a template. Oddly enough the recovery points are not centered in the plastic. I believe this is because they go on brackets that normally are covered and so Toyota did not bother to center them. One is right against the edge of the bumper and one is slightly off the edge. You should be able to tell in the pictures what I mean. However I assume all Tundras must be this way or Nytop would not be able to sell the mass produced metal piece because it wouldn't match up. So I would ASSUME my measurements should work on your Tundra. But don't blame me.

Having no good way to know where to cut I used grease on the recovery points and pressed the plastic against it. We measured the recovery points and we measured the sides of the rest of the bumper. My friend has a vinyl cutter so we made rectangle stickers. You could do this with graph paper and mark it as well. Measurements were 6.25 X .875 in inches because I'll measure in whales before I use metric. If you want to make your life easier make yours 6.5 X 1. One side I cut from the back but the bend was a pain. The other I cut from the front by drilling holes in the corners and doing a second marking on the front after marking the back. Measuring on the plastic from the side and the top the passenger side would be down 2.78 and over 1.4 inches. The driver side would be down 3.125 and over 1.625 inches. As I mentioned, not centered in the plastic.

After cutting reinstall of the plastic was fairly easy. You have to be careful the clips go back in place. They are really flexible and it is easy to miss. I had to bend it some to pop it back in place because it is curved but it snapped back into place and is very solid. I've been driving around for a week with no issues including in snow.

Feel free to ask more questions if I didn't explain it well.

 

I really like the way Wescott did their recovery points on their SEMA Sequoia. I flows so well with the design of the bumper cover. I'd love to see them do something similar with the Tundra. I asked about the Sequoia ones via email and the response I got was that they were a one off deal with no plans to make any for sale.

 

Those look nice. Wonder how hard it is to use. The hole looks small. Really the same thing they just don’t stick out as much and Nytop actually makes these.

 

These went on sale this week for $137.45 when normally $169.79. I overland my Tundra during my annual whitetail hunting trip so I want front recovery points just in case and in addition to a kinetic rope and traction boards. I placed the order on 11/20 and it arrived today 11/25. Installation was simple and fast (at least it would have been if I didn't have a crappy Craftsman torque wrench). After the install, I'm feeling confident this should hold if I ever need to use them. Here are a few pics...

 

I decided to go with the AFE tow hooks. Install is pretty easy. I would recommend removing skid plate first. Also, you have to bend back the factory retaining tabs. The front two just a little but the back one I recommend flattening it completely so you aren't smashing it down when you torque down the AFE tow hook.
As far as pull angle, it looks like it is barely touching the valance at 0 degrees. At 10 degrees it is deflecting the valence a little. At 20 degrees it is deflecting it a lot. Above that you would probably have problems breaking the valance.
Overall it is not too bad. They definitely did very well in the construction and the welds.

 

Help! I got impatient and cross threaded one of the bolts holding the sway bar/afe tow hook. Grrrrr. I didn’t back it out. Did I likely cross thread the bolt or the receiving end? The bolt has such fine threads!

 

Can you get it out or it’s not seating flush and stuck partially in?

 

I didn’t try to back it out. Got about half way and couldn’t get it any further. I didn’t want to back it out fearful I would never get it back in.

 

I’d back it out and try again, worst comes to worst you got a good reason to buy a tap and die set and re-thread the hole. (I know just enough to be dangerous tho so may want to wait for better replies).

 

I hear ya. Anybody know if a cross thread is likely on the bolt because of the fine starter threads?