What do you racers do for a tow hook on the front of your car. I have been working on getting as much open track time as I can this year with aspirations of starting T1 competition next year. One of the local promoters of the track days, www.speedventures.net, is now asking that we have tow hooks to facilitate easier removal of the cars without damage caused by the towing. With all the rain we got in So. California this year, the off-track excursions are requiring a tow to get back onto the track/pits.
I was hoping to be able to hide some sort of mount for a hook behind the license plate cover on the front or some other inconspicuous not body damaging fashion.
Oli, Bob,
Phoenix installed front and rear tow hooks on my car as part of my full SCCA T1 preps. Phoenix now welds them to the front and rear bumpers. However, mine was and is still bolted to the front and rear bumpers.
In the front, it sticks out the front driver's side air intake screen. I took off the front facia this winter, replaced the three bolts with new grade 8 bolts and then JB welded the thing to the bumper. Same setup on the rear, but it comes out the muffler vent in the back of the rear facia.
Phoenix may sell you the plate which you can bolt to your own bumper if you dare to take off the front and rear facia's...
I was successful getting mine on and off without too much heartache.
You can see where they come out in the front on David Pintaric's car, right under the Valvoline decal:
The SCCA requirements are that it
- have an ID of 2" minimum
- be painted or anodized RED
- have an arrow pointing to it
- have one front and one in rear
- cannot be removable, temporary or used from inside the cockpit (as in how formula cars use their roll hoop)*.
- may serve no other purpose
- may be Ferrous, Aluminum or Titanium but must note deform when used and be able to support full weight of car.
Most often these are fabbed from billet Aluminum plate or 3/8" rod and bent to form a 2" minimum ID loop. and eitherbolt or welded to the front and rear bumper cross member.
* The reason this is NOT allowed in sedan type cars is due to increased weight and the increased likelyhood of the cable breaking.
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F1 Technology, Parts and Preparation for Competition Corvettes AMSOIL Online Store
If you make such a tow plate for a 3000lb car that looks like a "grain silo" shape (or the shape of a .45 caliber bullet) from aluminium plate with a 2" inner diameter how can you calculate the thickness of the plate and outer diameter of the silo's roof? I do not know how to do the math on this. Can you help?
If Aluminum I use a 1/2" thick Aluminum plate, 4" wide with a 2 1/2" ID hole. This leaves 3/4" around the hole.
If Titanium I use 3/8" thick Titanium plate, 3 1/2" wide with a 2 1/2" ID hole. This leaves 1/2" around the hole.
If steel I use 1/4" thick steel plate, 3 1/2" wide with a 2 1/2" ID hole. This leaves 1/2" around the whole.
I always use the strongest alloy I can find. I weld the steel onto the frame and bolt the Aluminum and Titanium tabs.
However with the C6 Z06 Aluminum will be the metal of choice; welding it to the Aluminum bumper cross piece. Beveling the inside and outside edges helps with strength and stress risers.
I am not sure what you mean by a Grain Silo. Please describe further. WTFAYTA??
Well one reason to not buy the phoenix while it is easy is for us who compromise our race/streetcar.
For example, I tow a racecar and it is a pain in the A. I am considering a compromise for my Z to use it as a street/DE car. The hot ticket for the rear would be to cut a hole in the rear license plate area fascia to access the bumper and weld in a 2" reciever. I have not fully researched this yet but By cutting the hole you can make a smaller lighter 2" reciever mount than you could with the typical tow set-up rig. With a 2" reciever of light duty design you could build a tire carrier that could hold your race tires but not touch the ground. That means in Kalifornia you can drive 65mph and not be restricted to 55mph on the freeway when making that long drive from so cal to laguna seca or sears point etc... The license plate could jus be attached anywhere else to be legal for the trip. The whole set-up would be perhaps 200-300lbs hanging off your bumper so that makes easy light duty. Then at the track your rear tow eye hook could be a " 2" tube with 1/4" mild steel eye" per DJ's dimensions hooked right into your 2" reciever. Wehn you drive to work monday the license plate totally covers the 2" reciever hidden behind. How clean is that? I've been meaning to weld it up but I have to make my harness bar first. Yes I know you can buy them for 300 bucks but I like 2" DOM 0.120 wall tubing as a minimum (some harness bars for sale are a bit less than this and even ERW tube) and the 4ft of the good stuff only costs $35 bucks, a little welding and some AN bolts and you have a bolt-in harness bar system that allows the use of the OEM 3 points when you want them. So yeah Oli...I'll do speed ventures if I get my car ready in time. I need some personal minimum stuff for DE which is to mount a 5 hole race bucket and harness bar and 6 point harness. I'm a chicken for what I like as minimum safety gear. I've been around tracks for a while and have seen unnecessary injury. Even in DE bad things happen and they happen more to guys like me who have wheel to wheel raced and know how to get higher speeds in a fully protected racecar only to go out confidently in DE and biff in a lightly modified streetcar and pay the price.
Agreed DJ. Not putting down pheonix infact 75 bucks is cheap for no effort product. My point was to make a rear tow that clipped into the future rear reciever. This is not for T-1 but for guys like me who plan the Street/Track compromise. DE/time trial is a game. Racing is a sport and gives the biggest smiles you can get with your cloths on!
They just bolt in the bumper? I have the rear facsia off now I should do it now in the rear. I am afraid when I bought a trailer my car blew up the first time. If I put hooks I may crash.
Joe brought me a set of them while we were down in FLA. You don't even have to take the front and rear facia off to weld them in place...although it's easier. The rear one goes where the mufflers used to be and the front can slide in just above the air screens and then weld to the frame. On the front, just take off the underside rubber pieces and the horns and you can get to the weld area. I put both mine on the right side since the RF and RR are the lightest anyway.
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Chris W. Ingle, Instructor: Chin/TracQuest, Car Guys...
2006, 05, and 03 Southeast Division T1 National Champ
2001 White Z06 SCCA T1 Racer #7
Pheonix / Joe A. will have some for me next week 95 + shipping. Doubt I'll take the front apart but I may to get it in.
May drive over to see the place if I have time.
Pheonix / Joe A. will have some for me next week 95 + shipping. Doubt I'll take the front apart but I may to get it in.
May drive over to see the place if I have time.
I suspected you could weld them in without taking either facia off, but I couldn't bolt them in... or replace the bolts in my case. To get my hands inside the 0 shapped front and rear bumper to get to the top of the bolt required removing the facia's. Welding is something I'd like to learn. Still on the to do list.
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