ARB Rated Recovery Point

I had the recovery hook for about 8 months so far. Just a heads up for those as lazy as I am and didn't remove the fender liner to torque the front bolt.. mine came loose. I was installing my reservoir mount and had to loosen the recovery hook to place the mount.

It's a tight fit, but with some careful maneuvering, you can make the reservoir bracket fit behind the hook. The Dobinsons reservoir bracket already had a hole over the spot where the hooks bolt would go through, so I didn't have to modify the bracket in any way.

 

I couldn't find the instructions in color on this thread but saw a few people had mentioned getting them from ARB. So I reached out to ARB and figured I'd post them here to save some time for the next person. Hope to get this installed over the weekend!

 

Glad to see step 11 is just as useless in color as it is in grainy black and white.

But I appreciate you posting this for everyone nonetheless.

 

Yeah, the instructions weren't all that helpful but once you get started it's pretty intuitive. That window you put the "nut on a stick' through in Step 11 is more obvious once you get there. It's just the rectangular hole behind the top front bolt. Getting that nut to line up just right to catch the threads on the bolt requires some cussin' and fussin' but isn't too bad.

One thing the instructions didn't cover was the need for a spacer between the recovery point and the frame at the rear hole that you have to drill out. Someone earlier in this thread mentioned stacking some washers together. My kit came with two different spacer plates intended for the front of the recovery point (one to use if you have the ARB bull bar and one to use if you don't), so I used one at the front and the other at the rear hole to line everything up correctly. I'll try to grab some photos later for clarity.

 

Oh I found the hole and got the nut plate in, but I'm not sure which order everything is supposed to go in and they don't exactly spell it out. I couldn't seem to get the crush tube through the hole which didn't help matters.

I've been meaning to get back out there and get it in, but motivation is low.

 

I don't remember a spacer at the rear most bolt unless you're referring to the crush washer. There was a spacer (thin rectangular metal plate) that I rattle canned black and used on the front of the recovery point between it and the frame rail where the 3 bolts sit.

The hardest part was that but on a stick. Finding where it went was easy, but getting the threads started on the bolt probably took me 40 minutes interspersed with pacing and cursing. Everything else, even torquing them down wasn't that bad. And I did it leaving the wheel/tire on the truck.

 

Right, the thin rectangular metal plate. I had a large one and a small one, both intended for the front. But I couldn't get the recovery point to sit flat across the frame back where the rear bolt was without adding something between the point and the frame. So I just used the spacer plate I didn't use in the front to get everything lined up at the rear whole.

I didn't think about painting those spacer plates until the end when I stepped back to look at it realized how annoying those shiny plates looked. I'll get those painted black over the weekend.

I also had to trim off a good amount of the factory skid plate. I don't think other folks had to do that.

 

Education, read up https://www.tacomaworld.com/customsearch/?q=ARB+Recovery+ and learn.


1. The front hook on the Tacoma is not a recovery point, never has been. All ARB front bumpers are not rated for recovery.
2. The ARB Recovery point fits a metal shackle.

 

You can’t clearly see how the factory hook is only attached to the crash bar while the ARB also attaches to the frame?

 

Ah, I see now. I may have had a left over spacer when in was done. You managed to install leaving the splash guard in place, that may be why you needed to space it out a bit. When I installed I had popped the lower clip on the splash guard but then couldn't get to fit back so resorted to a zip tie. At some point I may revisit that.



Luckily I stepped back when fitting everything and noticed how shiny the spacer in the front was, that's when I grabbed the spraypaint.

When you say you trimmed the skid plate, what exactly do you mean. The figment with the TRD skid plate was no issue.

 

I could see how somebody who has never physically seen/handled the ARB recovery point may think this, however as soon as you see the part in person and pick it up, there is no comparison. In addition to what eurowner/others have said, the part physically weighs ~17-20lbs WITHOUT hardware. Go and pull off that stock -transport- hook from your front frame and pick it up; it pales in comparison. It also doesn't mount to a physical/structural frame member, but rather the unsupported tubular end piece of the bottom bumper support/frame extension. If you wish to attempt yarding your rig out of a situation using a just the transport hook (which isn't rated for any force other than static tie down, and is only attached to a few 16ths thick piece of hollow/tubular steel) all the luck to you... Just be sure to post pictures of the carnage.

When installing one of these ARB points, something I'd highly suggest doing first, before you do any frame drilling/enlarging - test fit/dry mount up the ARB point and see where your holes all line up. Something I encountered when installing my ARB recovery point specifically, which I've not seen anyone mention anywhere before, was the rear frame mounting hole (the one that is right next to the sway bar) did not line up with the recovery point's rear mount slot if you installed things as per the ARB directions.

When I mounted the ARB point and had all the other bolts installed, the rear end of the ARB Point was higher on my truck frame than intended, so for me the slot on my recovery point only lined up to the bottom of the existing hole on the frame rail. I ended up not enlarging the hole using a step bit, but rather grinding a half moon/half M12 crush tube hole into the vehicle frame hole, using the bottom of the existing frame hole as the bottom of the new crush tube/M12 hole. If I had gone by the ARB directions, my mount hole would have been half a bolt/crush tube width too low, and really screwed up the mounting. If I then would have just moved the hole up higher, and mounted it up, without the supporting material under the bolt, normal use under recovery forces I'd suspect to have two major issues:

1.) Under load/recovery pull, the rear 110mm bolt would probably pivot on that front mount point, and long term, bend right into the coolant lines under that lock nut on the 110mm m12 bolt.

2.) I suspect the front frame mount bolt hole would enlarge over time with use, due to the whole mount then being supported from only one solid point on the vehicle's right frame rail, and because the front mount point does not go fully through the frame member as the rear point does (recall front frame bolt/crush tube only goes through the right outside frame rail side using the nut on a stick, and not fully through the frame tube like the rear 110mm bolt does).

I also just cut the excess off the nut on a stick and left about 2in sticking out of the front frame hole opening next to the radiator- enough to grab and hold with channel locks. Hole in frame cap got sealed where the stick went through it.

That is a good tip on painting that mount plate black - I'll have to do that as well here, and I totally missed that during installing....anti-chrome club unite

 

That little nut wrench broke on me, I’ve got everything tightened down except that one bolt, any suggestions? Should I take the grill out to get down into that hole for better leverage?

 

Join the club, I havent even put mine in.

 

Do you think it’s fine without? I had to pop the grille off, it took a lot of effort and a helping hand, but I got it off, can’t put it back on because it’s cross threaded

 

For looks? Yes. But I would not attempt to be hauled out by someone without it.

Ouch, I was just having trouble threading the bolt and crush tube through the hole and was confused by the presence of extra hardware and washers and the instructions were borderline useless imo.

Im sorry to hear about your experience though.

 

Can it be saved with a tap or chaser?

 

I don’t think so, but I reached out, gonna get another t-nut and go after it again in a few days

 

Be warned that ARB will not sell small parts or the bag of hardware and will direct you to a reseller to buy the bag of hardware. I have tried and two resellers wouldn't order me the ARB bag.

 

I was polite I guess,,,lol

 

Lucky for sure!