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I removed the front of my car when I fitted the SWB nose. I mean, if I crash it probably won't be head on will it?
What I hadn't thought of was breaking down and needing towing. At the moment this is either me standing up and holding the tow rope or a truck winching me up while I stand on the wire to stop it crushing the radiator. To get to the photo situation I drove about a mile on the back of the truck after being winched up while stood on the wire about two feet in front of the car to get enough leverage to stop the wire cutting the rad!
I was thinking of bolting a steel bar between the original bumper points as a tow point. The only thing I have suitable is a J Beam left spare from some building work we had done.
I know it will add weight to the front of the car but structurally do you think the bumper mounts are a safe point to pull a car from?
The bumper mounts will be plenty strong enough.....it all depends what you make to bolt to them....
I'v seen landrover boys rip off welded on winch bumpers because their welding was.....errr......sh!t...!
So whatever you make, make it good quality and it'll be fine....
Most cars have a tie down / winching "loop" on the back, and crashed cars often get pulled onto transporters backwards by this "loop", which is often held on with a few spot welds........
There was a thread or some photo's on this awhile ago, can't seem to find them.
If I remember correctly, someone has a thread-on pulling eye through the grille. Store it in the boot.
I removed the bumper and mounting shocks and filled the end of the chassis rails with an alloy plate. I intend to replace the alloy plates with a heavier section of sheet steel, drilled in the centre with a nut welded on the inside to take the towing eye. You will have to raise the bonnet to tow it but at least you can drag it onto the back of a low loader
I just put made and bolted this onto the front of my hijet. It was more crash protection for the rad etc than for towing but something like that would do you.
If you fit a 'joiner' between the bumper mounts I agree that may provide good rad protection. A tow ring fitted in the centre will cause large bending moment forces (if use for towing) on the bumper mount bolts. If the tow ring is on one of the bumper mounts the shear force will be there, but not the bending moment.
I know you took the bumper off when you got the 250 front but is it that much shorter that you can't have the bumper support in place. If I need a tow I'll have to have the bonnet up slightly as the tow hook doesn't line up with the grill, plus if I went round a corner under tow the bonnet would probably get pulled off.
