Anyone use these tow hooks?

These seem like a viable solution to our tow hook problem, but I'm a bit nervous putting them on a Platinum with the air dam and other plastic so close.

Anyone actually use these hooks and if so did the straps crunch the plastic or cause any other damage?

https://afepower.com/afe-power-450-72t001-r-afe-power-front-tow-hook-black

 

the problem with the tundra is the angle for being pulled out is the biggest issue (any up angle will rip the front covers). best option and most $$$ is a replacement bumper for the front or a stealth bumper for looks and functionality in my opinion.

 

Get a hitch receiver recovery point at a minimum. Not sure what you’re doing, but allot of recoveries can happen from the rear. Like mentioned above. Any upward angle is going to start destroying plastic using those hooks.
https://factor55.com/product/hitchlink/

 

Yea, but won't removing the air dam cost us the 0.003 miles per gallon it saves?

 

thats the least of your problems. its the adapter/plug you need to not throw codes when you disconnect/remove the motors for the air dam.

 

Keep your foot down.

 

some pull angle is fine, the plastics flex. If you need to use these, you're gonna have other things to worry about than pushing on bumper plastic, and its better than hooking to an A arm.

 

Who's or which brand of tow hooks stick out the furthest from stock tow hooks?

 

I have a 1.75" leveling kit on my Platinum. The air damn would not be deployed when parked or if dragging it out of a hole...think it deploys at 20 or 30mph. Im 2wd so if I ever get stuck, my nose end will be pointing even higher, so a strap touching the bumper wouldnt be a problem for me...plus its VERY flexible.

 

I have the AFE tow hooks installed on my 22 Tundra Limited TRD OFF ROAD. These hooks are a great value. Solid steel, high quality powder coating and good welds. Very easy to install. I had to trim the OE “skid plate” but I threw that POS in the trash a few months later and bought the TRD PRO aluminum plate. No trimming required on that one.

 

I have them. Never had to use them. If you do, you will have to be careful with the strap angles, but better to have something than nothing if you need it.
Very well built, heavy. They do replace a factory part - the brackets that hold the sway bar in place.
They aren’t perfect, and nothing short of replacing the bumper, or someone coming out with a design that goes through the bumper into the crash structure, will do much better.

 

I have a set and went to install them but found out they're not compatible with my TRD Lift.

 

What do you mean TRD lift? I have factory TRD.

 

I just had the factory 3" TRD suspension kit installed at dealer which has a spacer for the the sway bar. I talked to AFE and once that spacer is installed they said the tow hooks are not compatible.

 

Can you take a picture of your sway bar with the spacer? I have a TRD Pro and I just ordered the afe tow hooks. I'm just wondering if it will fit.

 

Here you go

 

Thanks Bro.

 

Thank you for adding this here as it's exactly what I was trying to figure out, would it would with the trd 3" lift extensions. They should have that listed on site. Did you happen to find an option that works?

 

there are a lot of options. After watching the cbi install videos I like how well engineered their items are. Their rear bumper comes forward and attaches to the frame on the side. It looks like their items have more design time invested in them.

 

No, I sold the AFE ones I'm maybe going to give these a try.

https://nytop.store/2022-current-toyota-tundra-front-recovery-points

 

If you install them without their hybrid bumper insert I’d love to see pics. Very little detail on the website and only a cgi computer mockup doesn’t convince me to spend a couple hundred dollars.

 

I have yet to see anything real-life on any of these aftermarket front tow hooks, and because of that I'm delaying the purchase of the truck itself. Anyone out there have some pictures/videos of these in real-world scenarios? The manufacturer uses an aftermarket bumper with no active wind dam, meaning I don't see what clearance there is when a strap/shackle is being used under tension. Also, the truck they used wasn't actually stuck, so I have no evidence that the hooks are strong, nor do I know if that part of the frame is strong enough to handle that kind of load or stress. Any experience out there with this?

 

With all due respect, if you don’t want to buy a 3rd gen tundra because stock it is missing tow hooks perhaps you should just not buy one at all. Lots of other trucks out there and literally all of them come with them.

 

I can't argue with that at all. I just wish Toyota would fix their mistake with a feature add-on in a minor revision. In 2009 I bought a brand new Tacoma and have beaten it hard towing and hauling firewood, rocks, gravel, masonry scrap, steel scrap, and many other things that are maybe a bit easier on a truck. I waited for this version of the Tundra because of the composite bed that I know from 14 years of Tacoma experience can handle thrown heavy rocks and sliding sharp metal without ever rusting, denting, or cracking. Spraying in a bed liner on a competing brand can't handle all that as I have seen over the years. Sometimes a drop-in liner (like I had on a 1991 Toyota truck) is better for that, but it also creates rust underneath that is a hidden cancer. I would happily stick with my current Tacoma or get a new one, but I tow too much, and I'm afraid I'll end up getting in trouble with that.

Ford has a few things that Tundra does not, such as the tow hooks, a far better inverter (400W? Really? When the Sienna gets over a kW and the Taco gets more than 2 kW?), but Ford doesn't have the composite bed or the reliability of the Tundra, so I'm still torn.

The front tow hooks really are a deal breaker though, I use them almost weekly and often daily, because they allow me to pull things while I carefully watch, such as a putting a little tension on a back leaning tree but not enough to barber chair during a back cut. I have the weight of the engine on the pulling end so that it doesn't lift as much when I pull something that is tied up high. Front tow hooks allow daisy chaining to pull a very stuck vehicle. Many times if I'm stuck, the only access for another vehicle to get me out is from my front. I even use my truck to regularly clean a driveway side ditch, just driving one side of tires through makes the ditch straight and even, but I can get stuck that way, so it's better to have a pulling vehicle with all four wheels on the driveway to keep me moving at a steady pace. It's either that or spend all day with a trenching shovel.

Those front tow hooks really are valuable and I don't want to lose that function.

Anyone have affordable aftermarket bumpers with front recovery points that don't rust within 3 years and don't cause other problems?

 

Looks like they haven't been released yet, just pre-orders. They look promising though.

 

That’s fair. there are a number of the hybrid middle replacement sections.if you are REALLY going to use it I would invest the money in a legit replacement bumper or at least the CBI middle replacement that is very solid. The average person who doesn’t replace the bumper will likely never use them. I had my taco for three years. Never did. My precious Cummins I had a full bumper and did. To me it wasn’t a deal breaker. Annoying yes. If I can spend $200 and have them as a back up now that’s fine but eventually I’ll replace the whole bumper anyway.

 

I hope toyota releases a tow hook set through toyota at least. A 4x4 needs them.

 

^^ I believe it was planned for the aftermarket to take care of that. Notice how manufacturers are now more relying on aftermarket support for accessories. I’m sure Toyota releases their engineering specs to them for other means for revenue streams.

 

The fact they redesigned the Taco and it still has tow hooks but they have done nothing for Tundra still and officially said they won’t implies they never will. My 3rd gen Taco had a nice steel skid plate and tow hooks and wasn’t trd OR. My tundra is trd or premium and came with no hooks and the crap plastic they pretend is an off road skid plate so it seems to me they feel people will replace things anyway or not OR much. I’d love to be wrong but in the end I know I’ll replace the whole bumper even with the hassle of having to trim the plastic crap on the front because I want a much better approach angle to the front wheels.

 

I've decided to pre-order the ones from nytop. I'm a little nervous but did email them and they seem to be on top of it and have other items for Lexus that are in production. Given that it's $100 off and they do bolt to the frame and crash bar it seems worth it for $200 until I spend way more on a full bumper replacement. https://nytop.store/toyota-tundra-s...2-current-toyota-tundra-front-recovery-points