New replica tow hooks!
 

New 69-71 tow hooks on e-bay. Close copies of the originals, the curves aren't quite right. (Not mine)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-1972-C...FaZCNI&vxp=mtr

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Still too high!!! Maybe when they start making them out of plastic I might be able to afford a set. Lol

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

420 for hooks that are cast iron... the originals are forged if I’m not mistaken. Maybe for 100, certainly not 400.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Those ought to be $40. I hope they don't sell any. That is ridiculous. Whoever is selling them doesn't even know there are 60-68 tow hooks and 69-72.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

-
I hope his liability insurance is paid up in case someone actually tries to use them as intended.....:crazy:

LockDoc

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

They better be stronger than the originals for $400

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Let's see ... "new reproduction" tow hooks listed by an ebay seller whose main items for sale are COMIC BOOKS ! Are they being made in his basement while Mom is upstairs making meatloaf ?

REALLY ? :smoke: I think from now on I'll be calling these the "FUNNY HOOKS" !

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

All he need to do is add a disclaimer "for decorative purposes only and not intended to be used for towing, pulling or connecting to any implement to be used for towing or pulling"

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Yep, I agree with the disclaimer. Cast iron...really?! At least they'll be easy to spot if some do get out - they'll be the broken ones!

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

In 5 languages.... :)

LockDoc

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

I wouldn't trust them but good luck going after "EBAY SELLER MRJ67" when it all goes bad :-)

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

As I understand, GM tested their hooks by picking up the vehicle...... The cast iron ones may/may not do this but I wonder how they handle an impact.

If not cast steel, I wonder if maleable iron would have been a better choice.

Curt tow hooks are forged heat treated steel.

Price is too high for even consideration.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

That's some insane pricing for those. I never understood the craze over tow hooks. Maybe it's like the same situation with original dog dish caps but even there the prices are crazy. If only all those custom wheel guys from more than a decade ago knew that they were throwing away pure gold when they tossed their stock caps!

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Putting grade 8 bolts on cast iron hooks is like putting a $5000.00 saddle on a $10.00 horse. :mm:

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

As I understand, GM tested their hooks by picking up the vehicle...... The cast iron ones may/may not do this but I wonder how they handle an impact.


Actually cast has as high or higher impact strength but forged is def better in all other areas :chevy:

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Maybe they should have hooked up Alibaba and had China make them in cast heat treated steel.


Cast iron can be tough stuff. I just wonder what the real comparison is before I call something junk. Any metal engineers on here?

This all has been kicked to death before --- most figure the frame would tear before the hooks/bolts would give on oem.

But $400 ...... wow.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

35 yrs in metal fab business

forged is stronger in every way except compression strength.:chevy:

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Coming from an mechanical engineering background...there is no way on this earth I would use cast stuff for any application that resembles towing, supporting or lifting...ever.

Casting is a pretty cheap way to achieve 'shape' in high volumes of manufacturing...fair enough for parts that have no targeted safety angle to them, like moldings, emblems, transmission case, engine blocks, etc.

Forging, which is the only way to go to combine strength and 'toughness', but is much more difficult and expensive due to the tooling and operational process to achieve a forged product.

He would have been better off to have these out of rubber or plastic...which would immediately bend of break away with an applied load....thus saving any event damage or injury.

Yikes....I just can't imagine what some people are thinking about sometimes.

Hopefully, he doesn't get into the scaffolding or crane/lift business....lol.

Adios to that idea......really, irresponsible.:dohh::
Remember as far as legal elements go in these circumstances....'You can't warn away stupidity, you have to account for it'....

(side note:....I get the same chills when I see a guy working under his truck with the frame or (yikes) axles supported on cindercrete blocks......all of this, without a full floor jack supporting the truck. That is a complete recipe for disaster, injury or death. Never do this guys.....use axle stands or wooden blocks 6x6, etc....NO cindercrete blocks)

My two bits.
Coley:chevy:

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Ok - you both qualify --- how much stonger in each way? 100% stonger? I just like numbers.

There is a guy on another thread trying/going to cut/make a pair of hooks from probably 1 " plate steel. Then grind a rounded look like oem. That is tough stuff. He could surface treat them if he can get them hot enough. Wonder how they would compare to forged heat treated.... 50%? 75%? Dunno

I know the forged heat treated steel is better. GM will not even give ratings on their hooks.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

:haha: They are just decoration, nobody really uses them anymore. Funny to see everyone get so worked up over it :haha:

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Forged parts had a 26% higher tensile strength

Cast iron only has 66% of the yield strength of forged

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

I used the ones on my '72 C30 a week or two ago. I had to pull the '93 Chevy PU backwards so I could get to it to work on it. I had to put a new fuel pump in it. Mine worked great.

LockDoc

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Yeah, now everyone is going to say they use them all the time :lol:

MOST are used for decoration...

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Haha, I do not think we are after an argument. But let's say GM builds them to twice capacity as needed -- even tho they will not say publicly. 66% may not look out of line to some.

I have worked on a plow crew, line crew, and coal miner. I have never seen a hook break -- tow or line - probably someone has. I have seen compression sleeves and cables break. Hooks were all probably steel. The pull loads sometimes exceeded the equipment weight --like a dozer stuck in mud with a teco cable plow 40" in the ground ---look out and go hide.


Agree most are for decoration now. I would use both my oem hooks for a pull just because I do not want to damage the frame.

So $400 ---wow -- $200 may be more in line --dunno.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Not worked up in the least. I use my cheap aftermarket hooks nearly every time I go woodcutting, which is several times a year. I have put as much strain on them as the K20 can manage, and have yet to bend or break one. Hooks are not all just for show. :chevy:

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

This is good stuff ----- we get knowledge and experience from many. Mostly the K10/20/30 guys want the hooks as it was an option --- factory and dealer I think.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

The prevailing issue for me is 'toughness'....with the strength being a strong second....and noting that steel is definitely a better choice than cast.

The toughness created by forging has to do with the shaping of the inherent grain structure within the steel. This 'shaping' is the forging or 'pounding' process put into a piece of steel through the impact of several 'dies' that bring the steel to its final shape.
Sort of like the way a tree branch develops its natural strength, despite its length, by forming itself over time....and that is why, by simple example... you can hang a swing on a tree branch 8-10 ft out...and you could never do that on a cantilevered 4x4 which would snap off at the mount point vs. 'flexing' like the tree branch.

here is quick informative youtube video of the way forging works on a piece of steel...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeSCjRaV9Og

This 'toughness' allows the steel to withstand 'impact' as well as load....unlike casting....and you could easily see 'impact' on a towing operation if you had slack in a tow chain that suddenly pulled tight and 'slammed' (or impacted) the towhook.
That cast one would instantly break off...with all sorts of damage occurring to possible both people and equipment.

As a result of these different processes, you can take a cast item and hit it with a hammer and it will literally explode....a piece of steel, particularly forged steel...will 'hang in there'. Just like if you hit a cast cylinder head or engine block with a 5lb sledge it will snap in half....but if that was a 3" or 4" square 'steel' bar....you would hit it all day and do nothing but wear your sledge hammer (and your arms lol) out.

Anything relating to lifting, towing, etc needs to have this inherent extra element in it....which a casting never has.

All good
Coley:chevy:

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

It is better to have them (forged originals) and not need them than the other way around.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Unfortunately, I know a person who works big rig recovery with those huge dual boom recovery units who had a hook give out while they were pulling a heavy loaded rig out of a ditch near Baltimore. The tension on the cable caused the cable to whip nastily when the hook gave out and nearly severed his right arm off just below the shoulder. Investigation revealed the cable slid in the hook during the pull to a thinner point in the hook body that caused the failure.
I am glad you have not seen that kind of failure...It doesn't happen often, but..
As murphy's law had it....

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

By the way the $400.00 is starting bid...

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

The biggest risk by far is that these get into circulation and resold and folks end up buying without knowing they are cast. I would not want to be on the other end of the tow rope/chain when they break. Will be a slingshot right back toward the vehicle or whatever is being pulled out. This is a safety risk and should not be allowed to be reproduced like this unless the disclaimer is ON THE PART so there is never any confusion.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

For what it is worth, the listing says they are made from A536 iron which looks to be different than simple gray iron used for things like engine blocks. One site defines it as ductile iron and describes it as this:

Ductile Iron
Standard Specifications Characteristics Applications
• ASTM A395 & ASME SA395: ferritic ductile iron pressure-retaining castings for
use at elevated temperatures
• ASTM A439: austenitic ductile iron castings
• ASTM A476 & ASME SA476: ductile iron castings for paper mill dryer rolls
• ASTM A536 & SAE J434: ductile iron castings
• ASTM A571 & ASME SA571: austenitic ductile iron castings for
pressure-containing parts suitable for low-temperature service
• ASTM A874: ferritic ductile iron castings suitable for low-temperature service
• ASTM A897: austempered ductile iron castings
Several grades for both
strength & ductility; high
strength, ductility & wear
resistance; contact fatigue
resistance; ability to
withstand thermal cycling;
and production of fracture critical
components.
Steering knuckles; plow
shares; gears; automotive &
truck suspension components;
brake components; valves;
pumps; linkages; hydraulic
components; and wind
turbine housings.

The whole document can be found here: http://www.afsinc.org/files/images/iron%20alloys.pdf

My point is that this lists this kind of iron as being used for things such as steering knuckles and brake components so it must be pretty tough and not entirely brittle like gray iron can be. The description specifically says it is used for fracture critical applications. Not making an argument for or against the tow hooks just offering this information for what it may be worth to add to the discussion.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Ductile has graphite to eliminate brittleness:chevy:

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

forum news travels fast :ito:

previous description;


current description updated this afternoon;

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

He must have been monitoring this thread. 8-)

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Probably a board member too :smoke:

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Will a warning in an ebay add protect the manufacturer when they fail, and there is NO WARNING LABEL ON THE PRODUCT?

Unless that warning is actually stamped into the hooks, I would say it is still a HUGE liability.

Whatever, I'm a "D" ring guy anyways.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

^^^ LoL, didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings but since you mentioned it first, d-rings and snap hooks are the only way to go! :metal:

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Finally got home, got a chance to look a little closer than on my tiny phone. Isn't it some sort of copyright infringement to leave the GM part # on them? Back to the "once they are in circulation" comment from one of our very keen members ;) - how would you even know what you have if you buy these 5 years down the road? How could you differentiate between original GM and these unless you could look at a stack of pictures of originals like we have at our disposal here on the board? Yes, many use them for decoration. Then again, many folks trucks are actually used as decoration (I don't get to drive mine nearly as much as I'd like to) but that's not the point - this really DOES kinda bug me the more I think about it. It is a safety hazard - or, at the very least, an unknown capability, when using these rather than a real set. If there are no specs associated/listed with them (and we'd need to know the original hook specs as well), there's no way to know what you're dealing with - that would be like Coker re-popping a 10 ply HD tire with all the original markings yet only making it with 4 plies... I'm glad I bought a set of hooks before the market was flooded with fakes! :) At least I know if I do use them I won't decapitate the gopher that crosses between my truck and whatever I'm pulling out of a ditch. I wouldn't hesitate to use mine if the need or opportunity popped up, it's what they are there for.

Re: New replica tow hooks!
 

Yep, Agree with Jocko. I too have a pair set back for my 67. But this is not just about the hooks, some are degrading the value (and the unique and rare parts) of these trucks for money only on reproductions. There will be a time there are very few of the originals left and it will be very difficult to know which ones are the real thing. VERY SAD!!! Russ