It would have been very handy to have a towing eye to attach the winch when I was loading my car onto a trailer last week.
Are they available as a bolt on without too much chassis surgery?

You can get them from the likes of Demon Tweeks etc. as bolt ons for race cars.

My Elise had a very good system of having a large threaded eye in the front and the tow eye under the bonnet to screw in if you ever needed it, then a little grommet at the front to make a nice job of the whole thing.

DT have got this one for under a tenner....



But it needs to screw into an M10 thread. I don't really fancy drilling a dirty great hole in my painted chassis. I suppose I could alsway fab a bracket of some sort though.

A decent sized steel bracket braced across two members with a stainless rivnut in it should do the trick - then you don't need the eye attached at all times

I would be a bit nervous about using a single rivnut in a tension situation. I was thinking some hefty U section maybe something like this ...
The mounting bracket can be a triangle shape to help spread the load behind the chassis rail and rivnutted in place (no real strength required this way as the rivnuts are under compression.


[Edited on 1-10-06 by RazMan]
Rescued attachment Towing Eye Bracket.jpg

I've seen cars using a length of nylon strap (like a spare bit from tie down straps), looped around the chassis and just rivetted to stop if falling off. You could do this and fold / tuck it away nicely so that you couldn't see it (cable tie or two) and just untuck it if / when you need it.

Regards

Wyn

Looks good could always weld another plate over the top or get some slightly larger diameter U channel to clamp the chassis and make it really really strong....Oli.

Or a length of nylon strap with a couple of decent caribeeners on each end, so you can take it away altogether for the majority of the time you won't need it.

I like the bracket idea though - a neater solution (and a chance to fabricate something a bit different too)

quote:

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Originally posted by oliwb
Looks good could always weld another plate over the top or get some slightly larger diameter U channel to clamp the chassis and make it really really strong....Oli.

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Rescued attachment Towing Eye Bracket 2.jpg

The nylon strap is another option but I prefer the more permanent solution

i used some oversized u bolts from the local agriculural supplies places made of 10mm round bar, drilled two holes straight through the front and rear chassis members then welded them in on both sides of the hole, cheap, the u bolts were about £2.50 each the whole job took about 30 mins for both ends.
Mac

If I was to turn the clock back (pre-powder coat) that would have been the easiest way.

Still, the U bolts have given me an idea - clamping a small length of bar to the chassis rail and welding a nut to that.

edit: Nope, I think that would look rather agricultural. Back to plan A then.

[Edited on 1-10-06 by RazMan]

Suitable nut welded in (or welded to a clamp on fixture) , followed by one of those screw in towing eyes from a Mondeo.

Demon Tweeks indeed...

Drill it larger at the back and use a spreader plate or repair washer to hold the sleeve in then screw a seat belt eye bolt in from the front. you could use a spreader plate both sides to distribute the load.

[Edited on 1/10/06 by Peteff]
Rescued attachment sleeve.jpg

Thats the neatest solution and I love the harness eye idea, but surely that means I will have to do something I was trying to avoid - drilling large holes in my main chassis rail (even larger with a sleeve) potentially weakening it


[Edited on 1-10-06 by RazMan]

I need to fit a towing eye to mine to make it easy to fit on the trailer winch as i am getting pi55ed off with pushing it on and off the trailer by hand. (its o.k. when I've had my three weetabix).
I hadnt thought of the nylon tie down strap idea, thanks guys I'll be fitting that this week.

skydivepaul

The straps I've seen have been very nicely done. All nicely bundled up and tucked away until needed. I did it on my Fury a few years ago and it was quite neat. It also means you can use quite a long strap and get over the problem if you have a lot of bodywork (not a 7 problem though!)

Wyn

[Edited on 1/10/06 by lsdweb]

Here in the colonies, most tend to replace the top front wishbone bolt (just below the headlight) with something a little longer, and fit a forged stainless steel eye (from a ships chandler) in place of the nut. Cheap and cheerful, and you put one on each side.