Low Cost 3rd Gen Recovery Points

Yes I am wondering this as well. What is wrong with using the loop on the driver's side?

 

In the situation you describe, I believe that the factory equipped toe hook would be sufficient

 

Definitely check the manual, too. Your Tacoma has two hooks in the front -- one passenger side and one driver's side. Not in front of my truck right now but one is a tow hook an one is not a hook but actually a tie down for when they are transporting the Tacoma from the factory to the dealer. I am probably wrong but I think the tie down is on the driver's side. But you get the idea.

Lots of good folks here with good experience and insight. We are talking about towing really (light to moderate towing) and not really hard core off road recovery. If you are predominately pulling your truck (or any car) on a relatively flat surface you will be fine with the installed tow hook. If you are really in a ditch, however, you will also probably be okay. I mean tons of people without hard core recovery gear get pulled out by those standard hooks on normal cars without a problem.

If you are interested in what I call mid to more challenging recovery, then you might want to consider an upgrade. Here is a bit of the hierarchy that I found in my research:

1) Top of the line, real recovery. The ARB. Attaches to the frame. The 100 percent best solution:

https://www.extremeterrain.com/arb-...VA77ACh2N0wuwEAQYAiABEgI2LfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


2) Kind of mid level solution from folks like BPF. Still rated but not in the same league as the ARB. This is the option I chose. They also now have a driver's side as well. Nice people, too. I am installing these as soon as it gets warm enough for me to get out and not freeze!

https://www.bpfabricating.com/products/tacoma-recovery-tow-hook


3) The Demon brackets. Not really rated and probably okay for reasonable towing -- as opposed to hardcore recovery.

Throwing my strategy out there for consideration. I am going to use the BPF on the front for low to moderate towing and very light recovery. I then plan on using a trailer hitch for more moderate towing and recovery. We go off road but not in extreme situations so this should suit our needs perfectly:

$47 Rhino USA Shackle Hitch Receiver (Fits 2" Receivers) Best Towing Accessories for Trucks, Jeep, Toyota & More - Connect Your Rhino Tow Strap for Vehicle Recovery, Mounts to 2" Receiver Hitches

https://www.amazon.com/USA-Receiver...ocphy=9005143&hvtargid=pla-570370321405&psc=1

If I start doing more serious off roading (which I doubt) I will upgrade to the ARB solution.

 

The drivers side has the decent stock loop. The passenger is the tie down. It can be used very gingerly. The OR / Pro hook can be swapped in there very easily. It puts the strap load directly in line of the bolts, so there is only shear, not bending plus shear.

The one thing to note here is that they are both on cross members mounts several inches below the actual frame. So, a hard recovery could tweak things. Use good judgement and tell anyone helping you out to not go full send.

 

Thanks for the clarification ... I hadn't looked and got it mixed up ... Agree 100% ... I think the best thing is to pull from the back with the hitch receiver ...

But in all cases, a slow pull and extreme caution is always best. Granted, I am in the Northeast so not really doing serious rock crawling and ditch driving. On a scale from 1 to 10, I think I will do no more than a 4 ... so my low to moderate "tow / pull / recovery" should be fine. Also pull a lot of people out of the snow who go slide off road.

If I feel I need more of a ... what I will call ... real recovery ... I will get the ARB which bolts to the frame ...

Solid advice from you ... !

 

You're welcome!

No worries. I get them mixed up also.

Yeah. The hitch shackle is the best. But sometimes that end isn't the one you need yanked from. Hahahaha!

The ARB is very nice. Maybe someday.

 

Ha! Agree. Most of the time when pulling someone out of the snow the hitch is perfect but I wanted to have something in front just to be safe in case I needed a front yanking ! Ha !

But look at this. I have not seen this before. I have no idea who Slee is ... seem interesting ... but look at this $99 ARB recovery point. Says it is not available but looks interesting. Hard to tell if this will fit a Tacoma or not. If it bolted to the frame this could be one of the more interesting options out there. Of course, I find it after I purchased the one I decided on. Story of my life.

https://sleeoffroad.com/products/2815020/

 

Slee is a good brand. It looks like it goes on the passenger side in place of the tie down. It will be pretty much equivalent to the OR / Pro tow hook.

 

Interesting. They seem like a good brand (and good people with a great showroom and shop) but honestly their Web site is so frustrating I gave up.

Side note, the BPF guys now make a recovery point for both the passenger side (which I got) and the driver's side. I was very interested in the driver's side one as well but it requires drilling into the frame ... nothing wrong with that but I don't have the skill set to do it in a way I can feel comfortable about (just not brave enough to do that!):

https://www.bpfabricating.com/colle...vy-duty-tacoma-recovery-tow-hook-drivers-side

 

No frame drilling for me. I don't see the benefit there with the existing one being good enough for my needs.

 

You get a chance to use these yet or is your absence after posting this mean they suck?

 

I actually just need to buy an equalizer strap to evenly distribute the force between the two points. I already own a kinetic rope, GoTreads, and MaxTrax.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to what equalizer strap I should get? I tried doing some research on them but they aren't as common as snatch straps or tow straps; although they look like they are identical to a tow strap.

 

To distribute the load on the front two hooks, right? You want a non-elastic strap. So yes, a regular tow strap would work. You then just loop it through the elastic kinetic snatch strap.

 

Serious question...you're not confident in just the one?

 

Any quality winch tree saver strap will work good for that. They are pretty much just short tow straps.