Tow hooks for '04 Cobra

[pkwest]

I sent the above pic to maximum motorsports. I mis understood where he told me. here is his reply.
The tow hook on our race car is located on the inner fender support near the firewall. I would not suggest towing the vehicle from the location pictured as you may damage the unibody by doing so. The only place strong enough to properly distribute towing loads that far forward is the frame rail. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Thanks for your interest in Maximum Motorsports products.

 

[Maynor]

Thanks for the clarification... makes sense. The placement of the hook on the MM car is a very interesting idea... hmmm..

 

[gcassidy]

Thanks for the clarification... makes sense. The placement of the hook on the MM car is a very interesting idea... hmmm..

Cuts down on doing Bo Duke slides, though.

 

[David Hester]

remember you need to decide which direction your tug is going.

shear is to the rear. that ring could easily snap. had a buddy snap a ring off his GT-1 car that was in the wrong orientation. figure 6,000 lb sling shot. the snapped off piece becomes a missle. the ring ended up across track, stuck in the dirt. Not Good!

 

[cobrakidz]

If you go to the 2000 Cobra R section Powershift has a thread with his tow hooks, they look good and work well.

 

[gcassidy]

If you go to the 2000 Cobra R section Powershift has a thread with his tow hooks, they look good and work well.

I went through the Cobra R forum and couldn't find it. I even searched through all of Powershift03 (the only Powershift that's posted in the Cobra R forum) posts. Still nothing.

Could you link to the thread, please? Thanks.

 

[Maynor]

Found the post: http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=527325

 

[brkntrxn]

From what I see in the link, Powershift welded tow hooks to the middle of the front and rear bumper support. That is the weakest place according to what I have been reading on here. Or am I wrong?

 

[gcassidy]

You are not wrong.

But then, I thought I had looked through all of that guy's posts, and I must have missed it, so don't go by me. :bash:

 

[Maynor]

I popped my intercooler again (3rd time) at my last event so I'll be replacing it this weekend and will attempt to make another run at bolting up a tow hook since the bumper will be off. With some reinforcement, I'm going to try to pull the car onto my trailer with a winch to see how effective it is assuming the weather holds out.

Damn intercooler. The very weird thing is all 3 times its popped, its been coming out of Oak Tree in 2nd gear at WOT at VIR. Doesn't do it at any other track. Bah, just another "joy" of racing weirdness. It was mighty interesting being a "momentum" car again. Finished two laps then pulled in figuring the extra richness wasn't' good for the cylinder sidewalls.

John

 

[Maynor]

I gave up on the bolt-up tow hook. I'm getting a roll cage put in and asked the welder to use that Corvette tow hook I already had and weld up a simple mount.

I am happy with the result. These aren't the greatest pics and besides the car being filthy, the tow hook was a used one and will be repainted. I'll clean it up and snap real pictures with better paint later.

He welded a 1' section of steel to the bottom face and front face of the bumper. The rear of the bumper wouldn't work like others have shown in this thread since the A-A intercooler wouldn't have enough clearance.

The hinged tow hook was welded to the of bottom of the bumper so the hook, when flapped down, is flush with the bumper cover face. No banging my shins into it while working under the hood. The hook is also mechanically limited from swing back into the lower part of the bumper cover so at speed, its not going to hurt the paint.

He added a diagonal from the front face of the bumper down to the tow hook to triangulate the whole set-up. Its drop dead solid.

Besides the car now looking like a panting dog with its red tongue hanging out, I'm happy with it.

John

 

[02silverstang]

Here's what I did.

Main - Picture 075
Main - Picture 069
Main - DK8

man youre car is bad ass how much did the whole set up on the cage and suspension run you look awsome .

 

[brkntrxn]

Damn intercooler. The very weird thing is all 3 times its popped, its been coming out of Oak Tree in 2nd gear at WOT at VIR.

John,

The hook looks good. As for the intercooler popping at Oak Tree, the one and only time I had my intercooler piping pop loose was coming out of Oak Tree as well.


Kevin

 

[Maynor]

LOL Kevin. Apparently, Oak Tree is bad karma for intercoolers. Perhaps a new name is in order?

 

[David Hester]

Outer coolers?

 

[racer]

man youre car is bad ass how much did the whole set up on the cage and suspension run you look awsome .

Thanks, not sure how much it cost and dont really want to add it up. The car is pretty much being re-built at the moment tho. New cage etc.

 

[gcassidy]

Wow, this thread has been dormant for a while. And many of us are still going to the track just hoping and praying we never see the wrong end of an EV hooking up to us.

But I've taken care of the rear of my car at least.

Will it hold? I know the trailer hitch will. Will a flat tow rig's hook fit it? I hope I never find out, but the ones I saw at VIR will.

Now to keep after the front. Still lots of great ideas in this thread, and a friend of mine just put a fold down one on his Cobra, through the bumper. I may need to resign myself to that. :shrug:

 

[David Hester]

That should work fine for dragging you out of gravel traps.
Not sure I would want to be towed backwards for very far, anyway. :uh oh:

 

[Maynor]

Yep, that'll work and David is right.. you wouldn't want to get towed all the way back to the paddock backwards but at least you can get unstuck first and work from there.

 

[steve121]

I fabricated my own from blanks purchased from Rennenmetal.com and had them welded in place.