Tow ring/eye

[RS MN]

did you buy it, or fab it?
if you bought it, where did you get it?
if you made it, what is it made of?

just wondering :D

[KevinWelker]

OEM on the rear.

Home made version of this on the front.
http://www.ioportracing.com/images/product/tsl.gif

[carl]

oem front and rear. plus an additional heavy duty D-ring welded to the front

[SUBYRIDA]

Here's my interpretation of the tow loop. Made of 3/8" thick steel. Bolts right up to the original tow hook holes. People often ask me about it. Meter maids often laugh at it.

[cszink]

If I would have had a front tow hook, I would have avoided having my bumper ripped off last week. :cry:

[carl]

If I would have had a front tow hook, I would have avoided having my bumper ripped off last week. :cry:
did you take it out of your tool kit?

[MilesFox]

front factory towpoints. in fact, my towbar clams to the tow loops, i have towed many subarus 100's of miles in this manner. and quite a few with tow straps. stuck soobs in the woods were rescued by tow straps on the factory loops.

I even use the factory tow loops to jack up the car to change the tire or quick crawl underneath.

[cszink]

did you take it out of your tool kit?
I haven't a clue where it is. I don't remember having one. The previous probably did something with it.

[UP2MTNS]

OEM on the rear.

Home made version of this on the front.
http://www.ioportracing.com/images/product/tsl.gif

I like this....much cheaper than those 'fabricated' tow hooks for like, $100....blech. I may have to pick one up.

[KevinWelker]

Jon, just do yourself a favor and make sure it is mounted WELL. Ours is actually bolted into the bumper beam then wrapped around the beam one and a half times. That way the force is dispersed and not all in the bolt, which can have a tendency to pop out when an overzealous sweep or competitor gives you a tow.

[RS MN]

thanks for all the replies guys :D
good info!

[Daniel B]

A word of experience...

The OEM towhook on the passenger side rear is like the tab on a pop can, use it once and you're fine, try to use it twice and "pop"... it comes off.

[RS MN]

good to know daniel.
i always thought they were pretty good, but ive heard some stories about them popping off or breaking.

ive also heard theres a recall on some GC models where the front towhooks can set off the airbags if hit hard enough? anyone else heard about this?

[Rallycat66]

good to know daniel.
i always thought they were pretty good, but ive heard some stories about them popping off or breaking.

ive also heard theres a recall on some GC models where the front towhooks can set off the airbags if hit hard enough? anyone else heard about this?

Yep. The recall "fix" was to take a sawzall to the front tow hooks and lop them off. My 95 L had been "fixed" prior to my getting it.

Apparently those folks who liked to pull into a parking spot until their front tires hit the curb were getting a big surprise when the towing points hit the curb first and would set off the airbags from the jolt.

Tim

[RS MN]

wow, quite a "fix", now what happens when your stuck and need to be towed out?

[Gnome]

i smashhhhheeddd mine when i messed up my front end like its gone lol.... but nothing went off

[Rallycat66]

wow, quite a "fix", now what happens when your stuck and need to be towed out?

Hope you went in head first and could use the rear hooks. :lol2:

There are other points you could put a hook on under there, but not quite as easy to get to as the original points.

Tim

[Rallycat66]

i smashhhhheeddd mine when i messed up my front end like its gone lol.... but nothing went off

Air bags respond nicely to sharp impacts (like nice strong metal pieces welded to the frame of the car hitting nice big concrete blocks anchored into the ground). Sometimes those "softer" impacts that can really mess up the car don't cause enough of a shock to trigger the airbags.

[Gnome]

this was a rock that went underneath the car lol

[dunkinuts]

anyone have photos on how they mounted to the stock tow hook?

[409industries]

Good discussion so far. I could see how yanking on the OEM tow "loops" on a GC could eventually fatigue the metal and break them off.

Especially if someone is tugging at your car pulling you out of deep snow or mud.

[A1337STI]

When i built up my car, i think RA had a rule your tow eye had to have at least a 2" opening ... doubled RA and Nasa and i don't see that rule anymore...

2 things to think about .
1) Once you are OFF is your tow eye location easily accessible , even when you are stuck in Deep ruts, a bush, into a treet, etc
2) You might be pulling someone out via your Rear tow eye, not the one getting pulled : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymHimE_ZfoA near the end you'll see me pull out K.welker only lost about 45 seconds

[subyspawn]

we used the stock one in the rear and fabbed up one for the front

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kvjXUXvKUh4/SLiMBgwWbTI/AAAAAAAACpQ/YaWnmW_PNLk/s800/IMG_1197.JPG

[dunkinuts]

In my search to find one, I have read that some series you can't have the hook stick out.

[RS MN]

Especially if someone is tugging at your car pulling you out of deep snow or mud.



1) Once you are OFF is your tow eye location easily accessible , even when you are stuck in Deep ruts, a bush, into a treet, etc
2) You might be pulling someone out via your Rear tow eye, not the one getting pulled

these are the reasons i ask these questions.
i'd like to have something higher up and STRONG to get pulled by (or to pull someone else) so:
1. they dont bust off
2. i can get to them if the OEM ones are buried in something.

great info guys, this is becoming an awesome thread?
sticky?

[JacksonRally]

we used the stock one in the rear and fabbed up one for the front

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kvjXUXvKUh4/SLiMBgwWbTI/AAAAAAAACpQ/YaWnmW_PNLk/s800/IMG_1197.JPG



I offer these for the 02-07 Impreza's. Obviously a "race car" part as it completly replaces the factory bumper beam. It is a direct bolt on. PM for pricing.

[hoche]

When i built up my car, i think RA had a rule your tow eye had to have at least a 2" opening ... doubled RA and Nasa and i don't see that rule anymore...

Just some notes on tow hooks:

I'm not 100% sure on this, but as a scrutineer for both RA and NASA this is the info I was passed: The wording that had the specified opening size and that they had to be painted some bright color all came from STPR, which had a river crossing that people were constantly getting stuck in. The STPR organizers would park a sweep vehicle nearby and their job was to hook up and yank people out as fast as possible. They needed to quickly find the tow hook and connect up to it when it was under water. So they developed some requirements for that. If you can visualize the situation you can see that the requirements made sense.

However, it was recognized that those requirements were a one-off case, and most of the time pretty overkill. So they were stricken from the rulebooks. I think STPR may still have those requirements in their supp regs, but I don't know as I've never done that event.

As for myself, I was yanked out twice using the OEM tiedowns on my Golf. The first time, they were fine. The second time, both bent. The rest of the car was even more bent so it wasn't that big a concern, but now I have beefier towhooks built into my skidplate. I'd try to explain how that works but's a for a Golf and wouldn't really help much here in a Subaru forum. Roughly speaking, they're 3/4" wire that's welded onto 1.5" tubing bolted to the frame and subframe.

As a sweep, I've yanked out several cars and I'm always kind of leary of using the stock tiedowns. Generally if a gentle yank is all that's necessary (to get someone off a berm, say), they're fine, but if a more several haul is required I'll try to get a Y to both of them, or just find a better place altogether. However, in the latter case, time isn't usually of the essence so digging and poking around under (what's left of) the car is ok.

I think my favoritemost towout was when Larry Gross launched his car off the cliff after the FF of First View at Prescott in 2008. He ended up 30 feet down in a bunch of sagebrush. We hooked up a big Dodge diesel and hauled the car vertically up and back onto the road. Surprisingly, there was no damage to the car at all, so we let him get belted up and sent him on his way. Since he'd done it after FF and before Stop, he was off the clock and there was no time penalty for him and he ended up 3rd in class. Crazy.

[RS MN]

thanks for all the info :D

and thats a crazy story about Larry going off the cliff! what was he driving and how was there no damage at all?

[kturner]

If you are using the stock tow points on a GC impreza, think about welding a small triangle piece to the codrivers rear mount. The tow loop is bent a right angle against the body but only on one side. The loop side that is only connected via the backing plate will crack at the junction, where as the other side of the loop makes a 90 degree bend taking the force off the backing plate. make sense?

[hoche]

and thats a crazy story about Larry going off the cliff! what was he driving and how was there no damage at all?

He drives an '81 Corolla, RWD. He's pretty quick in it, considering. I don't know exactly what he did, but he managed to go off at a spot where the cliff was only about a 70deg incline and covered in sagebrush. He got the car straightened out before he went off and just nosed straight down. The car was sort of caught by the sagebrush.

Luckiest off I've ever seen (and I've seen and been in a few doozies).

[012.5RS]

i was wondering what some of you guys with the older impreza's did for the front. I have a 95L that im trying to build come fall and I heard bout the recall. Think i still gotta sawzaw it off. would love something like the jackson rally one for my L.

[SportyMark]

for a road track car I built a reinforced mount on the lower radiator crossmember on a 2000RS, then bolted a tow hook to it, not sure how it woudl be to get it out of a ditch, but works fine for trailer ons and pulls out of off track excursions. It bolts to a piece of 1/4inch steel that is boxed to the rad crossmember.

[409industries]

i was wondering what some of you guys with the older impreza's did for the front.

My GC is going in to get some tow hooks made (among other things). This will be incorporated into the OEM beam so all you guys might be able to get some ideas from what we end up with.

I'm definitely planning on cutting off the OEM ones now, at least in the front. I had no idea that they would fail after repeated use. Good to know!

[RS MN]

Can't wait to see what you do aaron. I now have the means to build myself some custom ones, but want some ideas of how to go about it.

I'm thinking a tow ring made of 1/4 inch plate and either bolted to or welded to the bumper beam in between the passenger fog light and lower grill opening. Rear I haven't thought too much about yet.

[spiwrx]

FYI, I happen to have to stop with the sweep crew at the PFR rally last weekend when they were pulling out a bugeye with what looked like some of the woven strap type tow eye's shown in this thread. The car was moderately stuck in loose debris and gravel and that thing came right off with the first good tug. Can't say if it was the mount, fastener, or strap that actually gave way but it popped pretty easily...
The Before Picture:
http://www.dbrally.com/images/PFR2010WRX.jpg
Sorry don't have the after, I think it went airborne...

[KevinWelker]

The woven straps are great cause they can be kept out of the way and you won't bash your knee on them, but they need to be wrapped around the bumper beam to distribute the load properly. Just a bolt through some sheet metal won't cut it, regardless if it is a woven strap or a metal eye. Our strap has an open hook which makes it quick to hook up for a pull to get back into the rally, but poor for long distance towing (like we had to do at Prescott :( )

The best/cheapest way I have devised is to use 3 or 4 large sheet metal screws with big honkin washers on them screwed through the length of woven strap into the top of the actual metal bumper beam. Then wrap the strap around the beam twice and out the front. All the tension pulling the strap will tighten down on the strap itself and actually help keep the large sheet metal screws from pulling out, effectively making it tighter the harder you pull.

I should have done that instead of hooking Marty's strap to our light bar which got "bended" when the strap went slack at the Prescott roundabout....

[409industries]

This is the front towhook that Kyle made for the RS. I still need to pull off the bumper to check the whole thing out, but the plate that's welded to the beam is welded all the way around.

http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/hosting/imagehosting/RS_towhook.jpg

and YES... you need to watch your shins / knee around this bitch. It'll take a bite out of them.

[Rallyme02]

i made a tow hook ill get some pics tm

[RS MN]

The woven straps are great cause they can be kept out of the way and you won't bash your knee on them, but they need to be wrapped around the bumper beam to distribute the load properly. Just a bolt through some sheet metal won't cut it, regardless if it is a woven strap or a metal eye. Our strap has an open hook which makes it quick to hook up for a pull to get back into the rally, but poor for long distance towing (like we had to do at Prescott :( )

The best/cheapest way I have devised is to use 3 or 4 large sheet metal screws with big honkin washers on them screwed through the length of woven strap into the top of the actual metal bumper beam. Then wrap the strap around the beam twice and out the front. All the tension pulling the strap will tighten down on the strap itself and actually help keep the large sheet metal screws from pulling out, effectively making it tighter the harder you pull.

I should have done that instead of hooking Marty's strap to our light bar which got "bended" when the strap went slack at the Prescott roundabout....


this is some useful info, i will most likely be doing this before the winter TSD's.

any tips for a strap style tow point on the rear?

[Rallyme02]

my custom made tow hook

[Bubba02sti]

renegades car has the same set up as aaron welded to the support beam all the way around... they are on the fron and back... yes hitting your shins on them hurts bad... and you learn the first time (in most cases)
http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy345/Rally_Subie/Robs%20Toy/DSCF1646.jpg
http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy345/Rally_Subie/Robs%20Toy/DSCF1647.jpg

[Paul.Aspen]

I strongly suggest you check out darkperformance.com they have dope tow hooks!! and they bolt right on.

[erik*a]

Thought I would tell a little story about my tow hooks. First off my shell is a 95 and the hooks were cut for the recall when I got the car. My cage builder made me new ones in the same spot a little bigger gauge as factory. At NEFR (captured in the GRM photos of me launching out of a ditch) I hit the codriver side hook at the bottom of that ditch on a rock and it bent the frame of my car up like 2cm. The hook was in fine shape...
I got the frame fixed tow hook remained.
That very same tow hook seemed to come in handy at Sno*Drift last weekend when I got high centered in a bank. A new team stopped to try to help but failed to tension the tow strap and just gunned it snapping my tow hook off and continuing down the stage with my strap. That same tow hook that bent my frame was able to be snapped off by a VW Golf.
Many lessons in this story. #1 dont make your tow hook stronger than your frame.
#2 Newbs need to know how to properly tow or don't do it- bc someone could obviously get really hurt.

Now for #3- How should I fix it in order to avoid the above?

[AWD>FWD]

The only reason Subaru cares about those "tow loops" is to tie down the car on the boat. They didn't put much time into welding them on, so yeah, with enough force you can tear them off.

I don't have anything on my STi at the moment but the tow loops. I have replaced my crash beam with a hefty FMIC core (I've been in a decently hard front-ender with a FMIC and can tell you it performs in essentially the same way), so the factory eyelet and those straps can't mount in the normal spot. Suggestions?

[SubieDanRS]

I would like to get one that bolts onto the rear end of my GC/RS in place of the factory one. I have no fabricating skills nor tools... Anyone know where to find one or anyone willing to make me one? For $$ of course!

[bue car]

i got mine off this site awhile back.

[SubieDanRS]

After some searching I ordered this yesterday...

http://www.rennenmetal.com/proddetail.asp?prod=1347

The tie down loops on the '04 that I looked under at the dealership looks
exactly like the one on my '01. Crossing fingers that it will bolt right on!

[bue car]

very nice find!

[A1337STI]

My tow hooks are like 1.5" diameter metal , solid. not sure how we bent them but its basically a big U out of super beefy metal that's welded to the bumpers. you could probably pick my car up off the ground via a crane with them.

a buddy rear ended me once . my car fine, his car? tow hook damage to his front bumper and license plate.. (oops) i think i over did mine, as they are stronger than the frame for sure

[RS MN]

Currently using the stock tow ring/eye bolted into the bumper beam on my 02.

Seems like it'll do the job pretty well, and it looks pretty good too :)

[Dan McGinn]

We used some DOM and made a central tow hook/light bar, bolts into the stock bumper holes.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ujUFnR0bQ3c/TehLI6sJPxI/AAAAAAAAJJc/HizzWWpSxvE/s640/IMG_20110526_083811.jpg

[UP2MTNS]

After some searching I ordered this yesterday...

http://www.rennenmetal.com/proddetail.asp?prod=1347

The tie down loops on the '04 that I looked under at the dealership looks
exactly like the one on my '01. Crossing fingers that it will bolt right on!

nice...thx. I just bought the rear bolt-on one....and I bought their standard 6.5" tow eye that I'll weld onto my custom front bumper beam.

[KevinWelker]

For our new car we are just going to cut a hole in the skid plate and use that. SRTUSA does that and since the skid plate is the single strongest piece of our car it will make sense for us too. Also no extra weight added ;)

[bue car]

yea my home made one bent after the truck tried to pull my car off the course. still worked lol

[Pedro]

After some searching I ordered this yesterday...

http://www.rennenmetal.com/proddetail.asp?prod=1347

The tie down loops on the '04 that I looked under at the dealership looks
exactly like the one on my '01. Crossing fingers that it will bolt right on!
That one needs a gusset in the bend. in an off that requires more than just a tug, that type will fold up (BTDT).

A decent sweep team will have enough gear to recover you from the cage in the rear or from the trans cross member in the front if all goes south. but you won't be able to get that tug from a competitor if your points are no good. I have broken a ton doing sweep for the last decade.

[pigeonfarmboy]

Good info in here. Got to tackle this job after I get the seats in.

[Dan McGinn]

Did up a new version of my tow hook. This time we went with dual hooks, each at the end of 1.75 x. 120 DOM which bolts into stock bumper location. This, unlike my first version which was only in the center, allows for pulling from either side and is stronger because it is directly at the end of the tube attached to the chassis. It also allows for the front of the bumper bar to be flat, just in case I need to give someone a push for jump start etc.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7iGGZJcS9H0/T11JMpLri1I/AAAAAAAAM00/fajUb2r-d3Q/s948/2012-03-11_16-34-50_798.jpg