Currently, some work vehicles and/or off-road vehicles come from the manufacturer lacking tow hooksor even a strong point on the rear bumper assembly and/or the chassis to install a tow hook. A non-limiting example of this sort of vehicle is the Toyota Tundra. It is highly desirable for such a vehicle to be able to be towed by another vehicle and/or have connection points for recovery from stuck in a natural hazard like mud or water. A novel and improved sway bar bushing bracket with a tow hook design is disclosed. In particular, the manufacturer-installed sway bar bushing bracket may be replaced with a reinforced sway bar bushing bracket with an integrated tow hook that may serve as a more robust sway bar bushing bracket, as well as providing a strong connection point with a tow hook.

A method for making a crush can for a vehicle which has an internal moulded structure can include providing a crush can with a hole, filling the hole in the crush can with a fibre-reinforced material and compression moulding the fibre-reinforced material using the internal shape of the crush can as an outer shell of a split mould.

A tow hook includes a monolithic additively manufactured side wall defining a vehicle attachment member, a hollow main body extending from the vehicle attachment member, and a hollow towing member extending from the hollow main body. The vehicle attachment member is configured to rigidly attached to a vehicle and the hollow towing member is configured to securely attach to a towing machine such that the vehicle is towable via the tow hook. The vehicle attachment member can be a threaded shaft with a bore extending along a length of the threaded shaft. The side includes a chamfered plurality of apertures extending from an inner surface of the side wall to an outer surface of the side wall, and having with an inner dimension along a length direction of the hollow main body greater than an inner dimension along a circumferential direction of the hollow main body.

An adapter block for mounting accessory equipment to a tow hook. The adapter block comprises a top face and a bottom face disposed opposite the top face and lateral sides. The front side of the adapter block having uniform surfaces extending between the top and bottom faces, the lateral sides having a first thickness, wherein the bottom face includes a recess extending toward the top face, and the recess having a second thickness less than the first thickness and being contoured to receive at least a portion of the tow hook in a mating engagement. The first and second through-passages extend between the bottom face, and the top face are configured to receive a fastener that couples the tow hook within the recess.

A tow hook assembly includes a bracket and a tow loop carried on the bracket. The bracket includes a guide track. The tow loop is displaceable along the guide track between a retracted position and a deployed position. A method of deploying a tow loop is also disclosed.

An attachment plate and towing lug combination for a vehicle having a crush can and a bumper beam includes a plate and a towing lug. The plate has a central portion and a flange portion. The towing lug is attached to the central portion of the plate and extends from an outer surface of the central portion of the plate. The flange portion of the plate is attachable to an end portion of the crush can. The central portion of the plate is attachable to a first side portion of the bumper beam. The towing lug extends to at least an outer surface of a second side portion of the bumper beam when the flange portion of the plate is attached to the end portion of the crush can and the central portion of the plate is attached to the first side portion of the bumper beam.

A cover plate assembly for a vehicle, characterized in that it includes: a cover plate provided with a flat plate-like main body of the cover plate; anda counter-part provided with a plate-like main body of the counter-part, the counter-part main body having a through-hole matching with the shape of the cover plate main body, and two guide plates projecting in the through-hole area and supporting the cover plate main body thereunder; wherein the cover plate assembly is in drawer structure, the cover plate being configured to be assembled to the counter-part by sliding along the guide plates. The cover plate assembly in drawer structure is simply structured, low in cost and easy to operate.

A tow-hook assembly may include a vehicle frame and a bumper arranged thereon, and a tow-hook assembly configured to attach to the vehicle bumper and provide a tow-hook. The assembly may include a bracket defining an opening configured to receive the tow-hook, and a brace attached to a backside of the bracket and including a projection extending through the opening to the opposite side of the bracket.

A retractable tow-hook assembly may include a vehicle frame and a bumper arranged thereon, a cable attached to the vehicle frame, and a tow-hook arranged at an end of the cable and stored within the bumper during non-use and removed from the bumper and extendable via the cable during use.

The disclosed inventive concept provides a robust tow hook mounting structure for use with vehicles having curved frames in which the tow hook remains fixed to the vehicle during a front end impact event. The structure includes weld nuts aligned in a vehicle longitudinal direction. A frame reinforcement to which the tow hook is attached is welded to the front tip of the curved frame. Mounting bolts are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle to secure the tow hook and the tow hook reinforcement to the frame weld nuts. The shear capacity of the mounting bolts is higher than the towing capacity and the crash load during an impact event. The structure generates high bending moments that trigger favorable bending deformations in the kick down area of the frame in which the structure functions as a backup arrangement in an impact event and reduces high crash pulses.