OK, Friday I picked up my shiny new tow hook kit, and it's the right parts this time. Sat down to pre-assemble them and inventory parts and came up short for 2 ea. 12mmx40mm bolts, 2 ea. nuts & washers for same. The ones I did get are embossed on the head with "10.9" and a triangle under that. Are these hardened bolts ?? I'm not going to fool with Dodge, just get them locally.

The big thing I'm concerned with is mounting those massive hooks. They're 1" square steel with rounded edges, and look plenty strong, as do the 1/4" steel mounting brackets that're held onto the frame with 5 of those 12mm bolts. Trouble is, the hooks are held onto those brackets with just 2 of the 12mm bolts on each side. Do you guys think 2 - 12mm bolts will hold the kind of force that's going to hit those hooks ?? I kind of think I might just drill out the center hole on the hook thru the bracket and add a 1/2" grade 8 bolt there to back up the 2 - 12mm's.

Also, I ordered separately a 3"x30' strap (advertised at 30,000 lb test) with looped ends for this setup, and now I'm thinking it might be kind of light for the job. Do ya think a 4" strap would be better ?? Here's a picture of the situation I got into last summer that started all this....it took a farm tractor and 4L/granny to get me out of this.........:

www.tempics.homestead.com/files/stuck.jpg

Lar.

 

You won't break a 3" strap with anything short of a dozer.

Yes, drill extra holes and more bigger bolts.

If you jerk off one of those hooks with that sling-shot strap, someone could get killed.

We just buried a boy that dropped a jerk strap over a 2" hitch-ball.

The ball broke, sling-shotting through the back glass and through the back of his head.

He was dead on impact.

 

This was a great installation. Everything fit, the truck's frame is pre-drilled and it went fast and easy. Even the cutouts on the air dam are outlined from the mold. Good Kit, Good Deal ! ! ! I compromised on the bolts, since getting a wrench into the center to tighten down a 3rd bolt would've been very awkward. The 2 - 12mm bolts provided for each are threaded all the way to the head, and those threads take away a lot of the strength. Since I had to buy a couple of bolts anyway, I bought 4 longer ones that have 1" of unthreaded shank below the head. They were a little too long to fit, so hacksawed off about 1/2" of the threads. In order to get a tight connection, I had to stack 3 thin washers under each, but now I have unthreaded shank in the shear area between the hooks and brackets. This looks to me to be enuf stronger to ease my little mind, and now I'm happy with it. Thanks, BearKiller, for your reply. I took your advice and stayed with the 3" strap.

Lar.