harrydirty

Just got a folding tow hook installed on the front of my C6Z at Blu808....we used a folding one from Auto Tecknic designed for BMW's. It not only folds down out of the way, but will unscrew for a completely stealth look. Best of all, the front fascia did NOT have to come off for the install. Instead, the attachment point used was the driver's side front skid. The front wheel well cover, brake duct, and fog light were removed and the skid was completely accessible. A hole was drilled in the plastic shroud at the left side of the radiator opening, but the grill itself was unmolested. Luke did a great job fabbing the mount and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I'll try to get some pictures posted.

This was the last major item I needed to complete prior to taking my C6Z to the track.......I'm excited! First event is Thunderhill this coming Friday.

jfaphoenix32

FYI, I would not recommend attaching to the skid.. The skid is not strong enough to be tugged on by a tow vehicle... we tried these in the early c5 Years a with disasterous results..

froggy47

That skid is pretty flimsy, a thin wall square tube. It's really not intended to be "much" of a skid, rub the pavement a few times & it'll bend or rub a hole in it.

If a tow operator needs to pull you out of a ditch with it, you will be replacing the rad support/rad/condensor/maybe front clip/ps cooler etc. You will have more damage after the tow.

Jason

But on the bright side, you won't have to pull the fascia.

0Blu808

It is attached to the upper part of the skid where it attaches to the frame. We have been doing it this way and have tested it many times.

Luke

froggy47

Post some pics, maybe we jumped the gun. A lot of guys would like to put one on if it were not for pulling the nose (which I've been told is not THAT bad).

trackboss

The skid is attached with some pretty strong threaded inserts, but the skid is built to sacrifice itself instead of the frame when needed. Remember, it's main purpose is to support the radiator. While attaching there would be ok for easy, no load,tows it is a bad idea if stuck in a sand pit or if the car gets damaged and requires a pull/drag. Keep in mind if the tow point fails the tow people will do whatever they have to to clear the track as quickly as possible and that often means damaging the car.
It would be stupid for one to concern themselves about an hour or two of labor to r/r the front bumper cover to do a proper tow point. The damage that can result from not having one can cost a whole lot to repair.

0Blu808

This is one of our race cars that has a tow hook in the same location.



We have tested it many times on this car and others. Also keep in mind that if you crash into a wall you don't want a tow hook to be the reason you have a hole in your frame. The front skid plate is actually a structural piece of the car. It is possible to actually jack the car up from it.

I would agree that if you had the car buried in the sand with no wheels on it, then you may have to worry about it bending the aluminum that it is attached to. But if you are simply pulling a car out of a sand pit or the mud it will work great.

0Blu808

trackboss: It was not a concern to pull off the bumper. It was just simply not required for the install. Also if your car is damaged to the point that a tow hook would break off from trying to pull it then you won't really care about what else is happening to it.

doveboat

Blu808,

Looked for this tow hook on your website with no luck. Can you provide a link please.

Ed

0Blu808

Ed,

The one we fabbed up for Jim was a one off. We have actually just bought a new CNC machine and will be making them available as a Blu808 Product soon with a slightly different design that is more production friendly.

Luke

trackboss

I only use soft hooks specifically so there is no damage to the frame or another vehicle from an impact.
I'll agree about an already crashed car, but the skid bar is not structural. If it was it would not be mounted with thread serts. Also, it is not meant to be a jacking point. I suppose, if careful, it could work, but it is 1"x1" .0625 mild steel square tubing with crinkled bends, even thinner sheet in the mounting areas, and not built in a way to take a whole lot of load in any direction.
I built a completely custom "skid bar" because of my custom cooling system and it would have been easy to add any sort of tow point possible, but I still chose not to because I don't believe it is a really good place for one.
All that being said, any tow point is better than no tow point. Why on earth all euro and japanese cars come with them from the factory and U.S. cars do not is beyond me. I supposed here the lawmakers are more concerned with ridiculous smog laws.

96solo

This happened to me too! $500 damage! It yanked the lower radiator support right out of the frame.

Bill Dearborn

I saw a tow bar hook up over the weekend that a forum member's father fabbed up for their C6Z. It basically is a 3/4 in x 12 in eye bolt that bolts into a flange that was made to bolt to the side of the frame just before it intersects with the front cross frame member. The flange has a 3/4 nut welded to it and all you do is thread the eye bolt in from the front of the car. They drilled a hole through the plastic piece that directs air toward the radiator. I went looking for those kind of eye bolts the other day but the only ones I found only had a 675 lb working load rating. Not sure if that is enough for a tow hook.

Bill

John Shiels

MSChardware.com has all types of rated eye bolts.

0Blu808

Sounds like you guys need to have a talk with whoever is driving the tow truck.

sperkins

Yeah because they really give a crap about your car.

I can't believe that you're actually suggesting that you're going to design, build and market a rad support mounted tow hook. This ranks up there with the titanium lug nuts to me as one of the dumbest things I've ever heard here on the forum.

0Blu808

We have tested this attachment point and used it many times. If you would like a 1" thick tow hook that is welded to the frame that you can lift the entire car from then we can make one for you. If you would like a simple hook to pull the car out of the sand then this is an easy solution.

drivinhard

Tim M. had his rad skid yanked off by a skid mounted tow hook at road atlanta.

0Blu808

Nice.

I just tested mine at Road Atlanta on Friday. No issues at all.

I could see it yanking that lower rad support right out of the car if the tow truck got a head start, or if the hook was mounted on the bottom of the support. It would create a crazy amount of leverage and snap those bolts right off.

Like I said the one we made for Jims car will work fine to pull the car out of the sand, or around the track back to the pits. Ours mounts towards the top where the support bolts to the frame and is an easy alternative to cutting, drilling, or welding brackets to the frame.