Recovery Points

I have a rough country bull bar and I was wanting to know if it's ok to pull from the front and where. I looked but couldnt see any recovery hooks in the front. Are they under the skid plate or does the bull bar use those points as a means of attachment and you lose your factory recovery points?

 

Its definitely okay to pull from the front, we just have to be careful in how we do it of course! I installed my bull bar such that my factory tow hooks were still used, you can see them peeking out from inside each side of my bull bar.

My 08 Tundra came with stock tow hooks installed, sometimes they may be hard to see, but if you installed your bull bar you would have likely ran into them by now! My bull bar bracket shares the bolts with the factory tow hooks, I could have removed the tow hooks but like you, wanted to keep that capability to have recovery points.

If you don't have factory tow hooks or are looking for something more recovery focused (using a shackle) then maybe the tow hook to shackle conversion kit from Rough Country or like Demon Hook Mounts could be good options. They bolt up on the frame exactly where factory tow hooks would go. Otherwise, just buy a set of factory tow hooks if that suits you (and hardware if needed)

Things to think about:
1. Since your bull bar has a skid plate towards the bottom, if you use factory tow hooks (or an aftermarket recovery point) just be careful not to put stress on the bull bar if recovery was at a funky/sharp angle.

2. Bull bars are meant to keep things off our bumpers, they aren't however a full-size replacement bumper. If you choose to use your Rough Country Bull Bar itself as a recovery point, there could be potential to bend the bar or the bracket/bolts holding it if we put excess stress on it.

This is what my truck looks like with stock tow hooks installed with my bull bar.



Demon Hook Mounts- these accept a shackle and mount to where factory tow hooks would.



Since you have a rough country bull bar, their conversion kit would probably fit well.
https://www.roughcountry.com/toyota...MIwO-Ng6WZ6AIVJeeGCh2U2An9EAQYASABEgJK8PD_BwE


Hope this helps!

 

Thank HBB Tundra 08! That's a really nice aggressive looking shake kit but the factory ones are free lol I found them under the seat with the jack hidden away. I think I'm going to just sandwhich all the parts together under there with the bolts and call it good. Idk if it'll be ok but bolted together is all I can do. Itll be much like yours with the bull bar mounts and recovery mounts all bolted as one chunk. Any particular bolts you recommend. Idk of they have to be a certain kind or rating or just regular steel bolts off the shelf.

 

@NewImprovedRon thank you! But how would I pay for them on here? I just wanted to know if for example grade 8 bolts would be good enough to use or would I need to order specific ones. It may be just a regular rated bolt and not some insane high strength kind I'm not sure with it being used for recovery lol

 

When I installed my bull bar I had to delete my recovery hooks unfortunately. Maybe I could get those Rough Country relocaters ? Peace. D

 

@Dabutcher they have a kit to allow you to have your bill bar and d rings but it's like 90 bucks or whatever. My other factory recovery loops are free lol

 

I just got 4 new bolts for my Tow Hook holes and the dealer parts guy couldn't tell me what size they were but it was no problem ordering them stock either.
They were under $2 each and may or may not be long enough to use with a Bull Bar.
I have a LUND BB that was given to me and the instructions clearly state that the stock bolts might or might not work,pretty clear huh?

I didn't have the hooks or bolts on mine when I got it as they had something else mounted there before my ownership and I am not even sure that I will mount the BB that I have which is new but seems so insanely cheap and crappy that I am not sure that I want it on my truck at all?!?

I do know that though the brackets seem pretty stout for the BB nothing about it seems strong enough to do any actual work or protecting to me and I imagine the BB just getting tangled into a mess and then breaking expensive plastic if it comes down to it in any event?

 

Turns out I can't. I have to get an offset kit(only 65$ from rough country) bc the factory mounts for my recovery loops are huge!