Recovery Points or Tie down points?

[4Tuner]

Hi all

Can anyone tell me whether the tie down points on the newFortuner are strong enough to be recovery points?

My original understanding was that they were tie down points only and therefore recovery points needed to be fitted, however the below article states "There are front and rear recovery points"

https://practicalmotoring.com.au/car...manual-review/

I asked the guy at ARB when i was down there and he said the current points looked strong but couldn't be sure so would recommend fitting the recovery points. I suppose that is the default response.

I have a tow bar fitted.

Thank you !

[pointlowly]

Tie down points are just take. Tie down points used to ship the vehicle. Do not use them under any circumstances to recover your vehicle. I believe either TJM or ARB are designing rated recovery points for the Fortuner. Only time will tell if other companies will jump on board.

I once saw a fellow 4WDriver try to recover his Patrol using the tie down points and its ended horribly. Let's just say that it was a lesson learned worth out bad consequences.

For recovering backwards, yes I would use the tow bar to drag you out. But in regards to forwards, please never use the tie points.

[4Tuner]

OK thanks - it was the review and comments by Robert Pepper/Practical motoring that had me questioning

[davidd]

Mate, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but for me those tie down points are probably stronger than any recovery hooks on the market. To start with there is a bit of double thickness hollow section chassis. That has holes drilled right through both sides of the hollow section. A huge diameter U-bolt is then pushed through the hole till it protrudes from the back of the chassis and is then welded in place on both sides of the chassis section.. If you connect your snatch strap via the short load equalising strap in your snatch kit the load is halved. No load will ever break the U-bolt or the welds holding it which means you would have to physically tear the U-bolt out of the chassis tube and the thing is welded on both sides of the tube, or rip the chassis protusion off the vehicle. Almost impossible. The points we are talking about are even stronger than the ones on the previous (2014) hilux and these were commonly used as recovery points. To me it doesn't matter how strong an aftermarket hook is it is just bolted through the chassis while these U-bolts are held on by 4 welds to the chassis. If these things were to be rated by an engineer I would expect they would be rated more than strong enough for recovery work as it is necessary to break the chassis to tear the U-bolt out. They are stronger than the chassis. I intend to use them as recovery points, but what you do is entirely your decision mate. Further to that I was only talking about the front tow points. Now take a look at the back ones just under the rear bumper. Huge section Steel U-bolt welded to a massive piece of steel which is then bolted in four places to the chassis and appears to be also welded to the chassis. If you can show me a recovery hook which is as strong as that after it is installed on the chassis I would be surprised. These things are massive and are every bit suitable as recovery points. Geez, four bolts and welded as well. You could hang the car off them if you wanted to. Toyota have a habit of doing it right and i reckon they have here as well.

[4Tuner]

Thanks for posting.

They sure do look solid to me

[Kiat]

Agree with Davidd, Decided to inspect the tie-down points this afternoon & as David mentioned, the U bolt is huge and much stronger than previous models. They are properly welded through the chassis on both sides. It's not the typical tie downs points that we see on normal cars.

Don't mean to say "rated" recovery points are useless, but I don't see how this tie-down point is inferior. I think bolt-on "rated" recovery points to specific loads are just as subjective, depends how the linkages are done, only as strong as its weakest link and that could even be the hook or D-shackle itself. But that is just my opinion anyway,

[Two89w]

I had a look at them over the weekend, they look very worthy of a recovery point to me. That being said I am not an engineer nor am I in marketing.

[bugeye]

Question being, are they actually rated? Don't get me wrong they look the business and if used properly I'm sure they are safe but when it comes to insurance claims I'm sure the question of "rated recovery point" will come into play

[Kiat]

Good point on insurance thing.. Perhaps to be safe, use both, or use more than one as contingency ?

But really.. how would one tell if a rated load are correct? I wonder if there is a regulating body in Australia that tests, approve and audit these numbers regularly for every single manufacturer, to make sure they're manufactured properly & safe to use before being sold to public? and how about imported ones

[Marti]

I apologise if it has already been mentioned but are the tie down points that we are talking about actually the emergency towing hooks mentioned in the owners manual under emergency towing. If they are then the manual stipulates conditions for their use.

[bladelle]

I contacted Toyota and they advised the four underbody loops are recovery points, be aware that if you get a tow bar the rear two are removed. In the cars manual they are used for towing. Next week I pick up my new Fortuner I will get more clarification from there service department.

[bugeye]

They might be called recovery points (shouldn't) but they are NOT rated, just keep that in mind.

[Kiat]

I plan to install a aftermarket recovery point (considering ARB/TJM), then piggyback on the original as backup in case one breaks.

[4Tuner]

Thanks Bladelle. Good wrap up ..

Let us know if you found out anymore on pickup of your new wheels

[Larrco]

I know this was posted in April last year but I am looking at recovery points to fit to my Fortuner. I belong to a 4WD club that is quite adamant in regard to recovery points, however, I somehow agree with what has been said in the forum that the tie downs on the car seem adequate and I don't want to pay ARB $196.00 each for a recovery point that has been scientifically engineered to be the best that there is available. For that price I would expect them to be gold plated. Has anyone purchased or had fitted recovery points to the front of their cars?

[4Tuner]

I have an arb bar and if you have the bar fitted and want to fit the recovery points later the bar needs to come back off first.. a fair hassle and cost.

I put recovery points on at the same time as the bar. I didnt appreciate the extra cost at the time but decided not to skimp on recovery. The investment may pay off one day when i really need it. Didn't come to a conclusion whether the factory emergency tow points would do the job so just installed the points. The arb ones strong enough with just one point so you could only install one if you wanted to cust costs a.bit.

A few trips later and haven't needed them yet.. yet to get bogged even on soft sand and through mud.