2004 Sprinter front recovery points?

James86004

Expedition Leader
Any ideas on how to install front recovery points to this? I can already tell it needs two, and during recovery a bridle should be used.IMG_20180911_184412356.jpg
 

luthj

Engineer In Residence
Do you see the factory pull hoop on the passenger side? I would cut a steel plate to wrap under the front bumper structure to the "frame" rail. Bolt through with bolts and anti-crush spacers with a backing plate. For serious pulls, I would add another plate extending to the suspension subframe and attach there with a right angle bracket of some kind. Obviously the existing metal loop would need to be upgraded or superseded.

If you anticipate kinetic recovery, especially at an angle, I would consider adding some gussets/corner braces between the rails and the front bumper structure.

Adding a brace between the subframe the the rails where they meet the bumper may be a good idea. You could make this part of a skid plate or similar.

The subframe has control arm plates on the bottom of both sides. You could tie to these plates to make a triangulated structure that could handle a serious pull.

On my van I have a steel bumper that is tied to the front factory bumper support in the middle with through bolts. I then tied to the frame rails just below near the factory recovery points. I will be making a plate the ties back farther on the rails, and probably adding a gusset behind the factory bumper support to prevent racking on side pulls.
 
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luthj

Engineer In Residence
Yeah, lots of crumple zone on the front. It makes for a very safe crash but not for very safe recovery. If you don't want to do a lot of fabrication is safe to recover even kinetically from the subframe. A strap wrapped around the control arm on either side or a heavy steel loop attached to several bolts would do it.
 

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