On my way home from work today I stopped by the closest hardware store. Hell Depot. They only had a 12mm bolt in 1.75 and I'm not sure that they were even Grade 8 it jsut said Zinc. The next closest place is a Lowes a couple cities over.

 

Matt,

I may be headed up to Big Bear tomorrow - if so I can stop by my local Ace and pick up these bolts for you if you want me to... how many do you need, 4?

 

Yes! I need four of them bad boys. I don't kow what length they need to be though. Slightly longer than stock from what I'm hearing since the recovery hooks are slightly thicker at the mouting point than the stock junk.

I'll be over at Toyota getting an alignment in the morning so I'm going to see if they can get those darn things off. I've been soaking the bolts and nuts inside the frame with WD-40 the past couple of days. Hopefully if they attempt it they don't break a nut loose. I already did that on one of my body mounts on the bed when I put on the RB BL.

 

Okay - I'll be on the lookout for them

 

how come your taking of your stock hook? are the stock hooks not strong enough to be pulled out by the front with?

 

I found they actually bend the frame a little if you pull something hard enough with them. I my honest opinion the frame is a little weak down there for extraction hooks they aren't meant for heavy duty use.

 

From what I understand it's just safer to have hooks for towing that are meant for it. I've read posts about the hooks "exploding" off the frame and then whatever was pulling it, winch rope, strap, etc. going flying all over.

These hooks were designed to withstand a lot of stress on them. I'm just playing it safe incase I have to be drug over a rock, pull someone off a rock, etc.

 

You can tell if a metric bolt is grade 8.8 because it will have "8.8" stamped on the head of the bolt. In my experience, only local ACE hardware stores have had these bolts. I've been unable to find them ant the large home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowes.

 

It's also really nice to have the keeper clips on the hooks. Then you don't have to worry about the strap slipping of the hook if there is slack.

 

Okay, here's a bit of an annoyance but makes sense.

My Taco on the passenger side has has a 2 1/2" long bolt, not including the head-not sure how you're supposed to measure them properly, that bolts on the stock hook.

The driver's side has a 1 3/8" long bolt that holds on the eye bracket.

The bolts that came with the kit are the proper length but wrong thread pattern. The stock driver's side bolts are too short to use with my new hooks, they'll get it on but there's just not enough thread to feel comfortable with up in there.

The bolts that Peter got me are the right everything but just too long at 3" as they wont thread up any further. I'll have to go to the closest Ace I can. Their store locator says "Star Builders Supply" in San Marcos. I guess they just aren't all called "Ace Hardware"?

Thx for the help everyone as I now know what I need to get the job done. Thanks Peter for picking these bolts up. I'll find a use for them someday I'm sure.

At least I have one on now!

 

Matt:
I can check out some other places to see if they have fully threaded bolts...
by how much are we missing out? A lot?

 

From left to right:

Stock passenger side hook/bolts New hook/bolts Your bolts

They're just too long. The stock ones are the right length for these new hooks as well. The ones you got are just too long in the unthreaded space.

 

Dang...
Sorry about the screw up. For some reason I remember the stock hooks being thicker :pat:
Let me check out ACE again in a few days... those were the shortest they had - the rest were all sold out. I'll be headed up past your way later this week and could probably drop this off in front of your door or something.

 

Some are authorized retail centers.... they may or may not have bolts. The auth. center closest to my house only sells lumber supplies. Call them first.

 

got a hacksaw? You could just cut off the extra part of the bolt. Just make it a nice clean cut...

EDIT: saw the new pictures...nix my idea if you need to cut off a lot

 

The new bolts aren't threaded beyond the first few inches. The unthreaded portion is just too long.

 

Alright they had the bolts and a few to choose from. I went 1/4" shorter since my new hooks are not as thick at the base as the stock shipping hook.

The perfect bolt for the "Explorer Procomp Tow Hook Kit" is a Metric Grade 8.8 12mm x1.25 pitch 2 1/4" long bolt. (at least for a 2001 Tacoma)

 

Maybe it's just me, but I'm finding this thread a bit funny. You are replacing the shipping loop, good idea. But you are also replacing the stock tow hook. The first reason I saw was so there was a strong tow point, but the Pro Comp hooks are not any stronger than the stock hook. Then it was mentioned to do it so you don't use the weak point in the frame (see above) but you are putting them in the same location as the stock hook. I'm just thinking the the second hook isn't a bad idea, but I'm not sure why you would go through the trouble of swapping the stock hook, unless you just wanted them to match. Guess I'm missing something....

 

I've never ehard of it being the weak part of the frame. The only reason I replaced the stock hooks was because I had read threads about the stock ones coming off, breaking, during load.

And because I wanted to.

 

I used SAE bolts on my '85, just ran a proper size drill bit up the existing holes and tapped for 1/2NF and used the 1/2" bolts that came with the tow hook kit. Otherwise, you'll need to find some longer M12-1.25mm bolts.