Can tow hooks or shackles be installed on an 85 F-150?

[Nothing Special]

FuzzFace2 wrote

... mount them to the bottom of the frame rail?

At most would need to drill 2 holes to mount and I think I would use something like a large flat washer to spread the load over a larger area on the inside of the frame.
Dave ----

I think my '95 F-150 had a crumple zone in the frame right where you'd want to mount tow hooks.  I remember seeing that there was no flat part of frame anywhere I could've mounted them.  But that was a '95.  I have no idea when Ford added that crumple zone.

In my case I added a front receiver so that gave me a recovery point and I didn't need to worry about tow hooks anymore.

[JimJam300]

You can get aftermarket hooks that are the same style for much, much cheaper. Maybe they even bolt up the exact same. If you don't have the holes drilled, then even better.

$10 on Amazon

EDIT Sorry Dave I didn't mean to respond to your exact message haha. It was the last one on the page and I hit reply.

[CDLong]

I thank everyone for your help. Tow hooks are on the way. I'll post what i do to get them moumted. I'm still found of the hitch mounted behind the bumper.

[CDLong]

I have the tow hooks. It appears they need to be 3 inches lower than the frame. My question is what should I should use for a spacer? 2 pieces of 1 inch square tubing 3 inches long per side or 1- 3 inch square tubing per side? Grade 8 bolts?

[Nothing Special]

Keep in mind that using spacers stresses the bolts much differently.  With the tow hook attached directly to the frame the bolts are in shear.  That means you are basically trying to cut through the bolt, with the hole in the frame and the hole in the tow hook being the two sides of the scissors that are trying to do the cutting.  Bolts are good at resisting this.

When you put a 3" spacer between the hook and the frame you are now trying to bend the bolt rather than shear it, and they bend a lot easier than they shear.  So anything you can do to hold the head of the bolt back will help reduce the stress on the bolt.

Just looking at the spacer, what you want to do is keep the spacer from collapsing, which would effectively loosen the bolt.  So a piece of 3" square tubing laid on its side wouldn't be the best option since the tubing could collapse in on itself.

A single sleeve on each bolt would be best at preventing the spacer from collapsing, but that would be much worse than the 3" tube at helping to hold the heads of the bolts back.

A solid 3" spacer would be good (but heavy).  Or sleeves welded into the 3" tube.

[CDLong]

Nothing Special wrote

Keep in mind that using spacers stresses the bolts much differently.  With the tow hook attached directly to the frame the bolts are in shear.  That means you are basically trying to cut through the bolt, with the hole in the frame and the hole in the tow hook being the two sides of the scissors that are trying to do the cutting.  Bolts are good at resisting this.

When you put a 3" spacer between the hook and the frame you are now trying to bend the bolt rather than shear it, and they bend a lot easier than they shear.  So anything you can do to hold the head of the bolt back will help reduce the stress on the bolt.

Just looking at the spacer, what you want to do is keep the spacer from collapsing, which would effectively loosen the bolt.  So a piece of 3" square tubing laid on its side wouldn't be the best option since the tubing could collapse in on itself.

A single sleeve on each bolt would be best at preventing the spacer from collapsing, but that would be much worse than the 3" tube at helping to hold the heads of the bolts back.

A solid 3" spacer would be good (but heavy).  Or sleeves welded into the 3" tube.

Thank you Bob. How about a 3 inch solid aluminum block?

[Nothing Special]

I'm not an expert, but I don't think I'd use aluminum.  First is aluminum and steel don't play well together in a corrosive environment.  Maybe not an issue if you live in the desert, but here in the rust belt it would end up being impossible to disassemble after a couple of winters.

Also aluminum isn't as strong as high grade bolts, so I'd be concerned about it possibly yielding under the stress, causing the bolts to loosen up.

On the bolt grade, I'm not sure if 5 or 8 would be better.  8 is stronger, but 5 is tougher (it can take a harder hit without breaking).  I think I'd use grade 8, but I'm not saying that's the RIGHT answer.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Nothing Special wrote

Also aluminum isn't as strong as high grade bolts, so I'd be concerned about it possibly yielding under the stress, causing the bolts to loosen up.

On the bolt grade, I'm not sure if 5 or 8 would be better.  8 is stronger, but 5 is tougher (it can take a harder hit without breaking).  I think I'd use grade 8, but I'm not saying that's the RIGHT answer.

Any Tractor Supply has either one by the pound...

5 is not only 'tougher' but FAR less prone to corrosion stress cracking.
It won't as readily provide nucleation sites for cracks to get a beachhead.

Aluminum may* not"play well" with iron & steel, but we see steel fasteners in aluminum everywhere.
Cylinder heads, transmissions, bellhousing, transfer cases, water pumps, etc.

I think the bigger issue may be it's modulus of elasticity and that it might deform under the head when subject to something more than pure clamping load.
OTOH, it won't budge until this happens and it may help absorb some shock that would otherwise cause failure in a thread root or the part the hook is bolted to.

If it does this, it's sacrificed itself to save the vehicle (and it isn't possible to be a catastrophic incident, like Jonathan outlined last year)

Just my 2¢

[Gary Lewis]

I agree with all you said, Bob.  Further I'd use bolts that are a tight fit in the holes in the frame, spacer, and hook.  That will keep twisting to a minimum.

As for the bolts, G8's have a higher torque spec, and I'd tighten them to that spec.  That will give the maximum friction between the parts.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Bill, would probably offer some good advice here, after all the testing he's done at Newport News.

[viven44]

Been meaning to grab a pic for a week now but here’s factory tow hooks on my 78 Bronco, sorry it’s a dentside, but I’d imagine the bullnose tow hooks are in a similar spot.

[85lebaront2]

Ok, first item. aluminum has no where near the tensile strength of steel, no way would I trust aluminum tow hooks. I have an Aluma cargo trailer, all aluminum, even the wheels except for the hitch and safety chains, those are steel.

After I bought it, I went through and replaced every bolt with cres bolts. I used 304 cres condition B as it is the higher strength version.

On attaching hooks to an F150 frame, as long as it is not new enough to have the controlled crush front frame horns there should not be a problem. If the truck has a driver's side air bag it will have the controlled crush front frame.

[ArdWrknTrk]

It's NOT in tension or shear, it's a spacer block between a frame rail and a forged tow hook.
Compression only!
The bolts go through BOTH thick pieces of steel on the sandwich, and can't pull through.  🤷‍♂️

[85lebaront2]

One other item on the frames, the 250, 250HD and 350 frames, in addition to being "taller" on the sides are also thicker metal. It is probably a metric dimension as 1985 was the year Ford started metric components and measurements.

[ArdWrknTrk]

250-350 4x4 frames have leaf spring shackles in the boxed frame horns....

That darn 450 (and all C&C trucks) had a thicker frame still!

How's your back, Bill?
You're commenting early

[85lebaront2]

Back is still bothering me, we are taking the alarm system (Trixie) for her "spa day" and then going up to Salisbury MD as Mary has a pipe dream of wanting a "gussied up Chevy" (Cadillac Escalade) and wants to look at any the Dealer there might have.

She objects to climbing up into Darth, but wants something probably taller.

On the back issue, I am giving the Jordan Young Institute until noon today to call me, after that I will call and see what their problem is. The referral wasn't picked up on until I went on their website and registered. When they called the lady was able to find my information.

[Gary Lewis]

I hope they can get you in quickly.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

The Escapade probably has retracting step bars.

At least all the limo ones I move around do.....

[85lebaront2]

The ones we looked at one did and one didn't.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Did SWMBO make any type of decision?  🧐