Recovery points on D40

[acko13]

OK.....I have an ARB winch bar fitted to my D40. This does not have recovery points on it. I see that there is what looks like a recovery point as fitted by Nissan on the front passengers side. Can anyone confirm if this is a recovery point or just a tie down hitch. It looks pretty substantial, but the Nissan people don't seem to know. Has anybody fitted aftermarket hooks to the front chassis rails on a D40, and if so whose and where did you get them?

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Don't recover (snatch) from bulbar as you can set your airbag off and you'll feel like a dickhead.
ARB have recovery points off the shelf that replace the Nissan point, come in sets of 2 so you can put one both sides. You'll need longer bolts than the ones on the nissan point (can't remember the size, it has a very fine thread though) and if you have a Thai built truck you'll only have threads on your passenger side (where original Nissan point is), Spanish have on both sides hence why ARB sell them in pairs.
Think they cost me around $50 for the pair.
If you have a thai built truck i'd just use the nissan point, its pretty strong looking and you can only fit one anyway

 

[Old.Tony]

The manual insists that it's a TOWING point:

TOWING POINT
CAUTION:
Never tow the vehicle using only the towing points. To avoid
damaging the vehicle body, use proper towing equipment when
towing.

+1 on no snatching from the bullbar. You can winch from it of course, but if you ever want to be snatched, Rich is right - fit proper recovery points under the chassis rails at the front (one on each side).

Personally I don't like the idea of being snatched, I'd rather do it the hard way but that's me.

 

[Scubamurph]

I replaced mine with the Outback Ideas Recovery points from EBay.
Can't remember the cost but it replaces the factory towing point with no issues.
I have the STX D40 so I had the threaded nuts on the driver side as well. Fitted
both. The bolts are 12mm x 1.25 thread, can't remember the length.

Biggest thing to be careful about is threading the bolts trying to get the existing
ones out. I ended up replacing all the bolts and had to run a die through the captive
nuts to clean up the threads (on 3 anyway, I buggered one up completely and had
to put a helicoil in to repair it).

Regards Murph

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Just had a look at mine supplied by ARB, they have Macquarie 4x4 stickers on them so guessing thats who makes em if ARB don't have em in stock

 

[Conman D40]

So these points are ok to winch off if fitted with a decent recovery point from ARB etc...?

 

[FatBoy89]

I snatch off my bullbat points with an equalizing strap. All fine .
But it's probably not the safest idea I guess.

 

[Old.Tony]

So these points are ok to winch off if fitted with a decent recovery point from ARB etc...?

You can WINCH from any rated point. That means if you have a winch attached to your bullbar, you can use that. If you have recovery points fitted to the chassis, you can hook up to those with another winch.

The important thing with these is to make sure they're attached using the proper high tensile bolts (8.8 from memory) and that fitting a hook to BOTH chassis rails then using an equalisation strap to share the load across both points is the best way to do it. The winch itself is bolted to a framework that is bolted to both chassis rails and therefore spreads the load already.

The recovery hooks from ARB are not going to be under-rated. Some of ARB's equipment is chosen for use in 4x4 comps in Australia and although you'll pay more in an ARB store, you're getting the goods that will do the job.

I'm not sure how long recovery hooks are supposed to last. Snatch straps have a finite lifespan - they lose elasticity over time. Recovery hooks, being a piece of metal that is bent into shape, could deform through usage. If you're needing recovery so much that your recovery hooks are bending, you're either driving a TOYota, or doing something crazily wrong, or in desperate need of your own winch.

 

[Conman D40]

Thanks for that.