rated recovery points for the GV.

[andrew_wale]

G'day.

My GV does not have any rated recovery points only tie down points.

As I am finding out, none of the brand name 4X4 shops have them out of the box.
I am thinking these will need to be made up...

Any suggestions ?

p.s The current tie down points (front/back) look like they are welded to the chassis.
I remember there was some discussion within the club about how strong these actually are and whether they should be used as recovery points.

[gwagensteve]

Don't worry about the rear too much. The best thing you could do is cut down/make a much shorter tow bar tongue just long enough to have a hole to take a shackle.

The front is much harder. GV front tie downs are nowhere near as strong as sierra ones and do bend/break if an awkward recovery is performed.

I don't believe it's possible to fit a "proper" recovery point without some chassis work - setting crush sleeves through the chassis for bolts to run though. There's not many bolts on the front of a GV which are big enough or positioned correctly to attach a recovery point too.

Also, as an aside - there's no such thing as a "rated" recovery point. recovery involves dynamic loads and loads from many angles, it's almost impossible to caluculate (or measure) peak loads generated in all possible situations.

I think you mean a rated hook, which is fine, just bear in mind that a hook rated for 5 tonnes might break off the chassis at 2 tonnes if it's badly mounted.

Personally, I'd have a look at 80 series landcruiser tie down rings. You will still need some fab to mount them, but they are lighter, more compact and more convenient than a cast hook.

The British army (who invented snatch recovery) has done MASSES of research into loads and safe mounting for recovery points. The product they developed was the JATE ring,
*edit* I see the they were developed for air transport (helicopter lift) but I understand they are used extensively for recovery)
http://www.landroverstuff.com/jaterings.htm

These are fitted to all their landrovers. However, they always attach a strap at two points (across 2 rings, one on each chassis rail) I was reading about this in a Landrover owner mag in the early 90's, and some of this information was referenced in Tom Sheppard's excellent book on land rover off road use and setup - "the landrover experience"

http://www.biblio.com/details.php?dcx=52451279&aid=frg

The actually attached load cells to cars and carried out recoveries. VERY interesting.

(PS i also noticed he's written some other books on vehicle based expeditions. He's done LOTS of african expedition work and is an excellent author)

Something similar to the JATE ring could be fitted through the front of the GV chassis - it woudl only take one hole and one sleeve, and wouldn't rely on bolt strength to work. Also, the load is applied to the chassis Exactly in line.

Anayway, just some thoughts.

Steve.