Where to hook onto?

Lucid

Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Posts
124
Reaction score
0
On the gen4 where do you hook a winch or tow hook if the unfortunate need would to happen? Most road cars have a bumper area to pop off or a hook under the bumper. Where is the safest area to hook this car? I can't find anything in then manuals?
 

Nader

Enthusiast
Joined
May 20, 2005
Posts
3,386
Reaction score
0
Location
New York
Take a look under the front and rear of the car. The frame has reinforced anchor holes on each side.
 

SFViper

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Posts
159
Reaction score
0
Location
San Francisco
I think he's asking more about a tow hook and not a tie down point. There is one listed in the classifieds that looks pretty reasonable:

Viper Gen 2, 3, SRT-10/ACR Tow Hook & License Plate Bracket - ViperClub Classifieds

Sold many pairs of these hooks to satisfied Viper owners that used it with a winch to tow their Vipers onto a trailer. Can be installed & removed in under 5 minutes, no modification or special tools required.

[media]http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/uu139/robertkwong/TowHooks-2.jpg[/media]
 

Jon

Viper Owner
Joined
Jun 6, 2010
Posts
73
Reaction score
0
Location
Western New York State
I don't know if this is 100% applicable to the Viper, but figured I would share this possibility, just in case...

I am a member of a truck club and when we go offroading, sometimes some guys don't have proper tow hooks in the front so it can be difficult to get them out from the front when they get stuck. I purchased a set of tow chains; these are available all over the place. They are the type of chains that a flatbed/tow truck driver would have. They have a set of large J hooks and also T hooks. The T hooks are designed to fit into those slots in the frame that Nader mentioned - I think pretty much all vehicles have those slots because they are used to tie down the vehicle while being transported via truck or train. They are also used to drag a vehicle up onto a rollback.

So, if you are concerned about the need to hook up something, you might want to consider a set of those tow chains. Probably a better solution for the Viper though where you likely don't want a heavy set of chains to drag around would be to just get the T hook itself (or a pair of them) and instead of having them attached to chain, use some high strength rope such as a tow rope or possibly a section of synthetic winch cable (used on offroad recovery winches).

Of course, if you are stranded and need to be winched up onto a rollback, the driver will already have all of this stuff on his truck.

The reason I mentioned above that this might not be applicable to the Viper is the fascia... I've never seen the underside of a Viper, but I know the fascia is very low, so if you are tying into the frame, you probably can't let the other end of the rope/chain get too high, or you will be pulling up on the fascia as well. If that is an issue, perhaps one of those tow points like the one in the classifieds that was mentioned above would be better since it looks like it sticks far enough in front of the car for the cable/rope to not contact the body of the car itself.

Anyway, figured I'd throw that possibility out there, for what it is worth.
 

Nader

Enthusiast
Joined
May 20, 2005
Posts
3,386
Reaction score
0
Location
New York
Nice product but I think you said it best, this type of tow hook is best for pulling straight up a trailer (Trailer winch). I would not pull on that hook from any other angle other than dead straight.

I was looking for a "just in case" tow hook since my car is really low and I worry about the possibility of the need/requirement to have it loaded on a flatbed for one reason or another. I purchased another product which attaches to the same bolt as this one and realized the potential problems that could arise if pulling on it at an angle. Since I cant guarantee or predict what angle the car would be when a tow is needed (i hope never), I decided against it all together.





Sold many pairs of these hooks to satisfied Viper owners that used it with a winch to tow their Vipers onto a trailer. Can be installed & removed in under 5 minutes, no modification or special tools required.

[media]http://i641.photobucket.com/albums/uu139/robertkwong/TowHooks-2.jpg[/media]
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
153,215
Posts
1,682,024
Members
17,708
Latest member
xeng yang
Top