Got an idea the other day after a safety meeting.  Biggest failure point I've seen on a EJ car is the front tow hooks.  They were never designed as a recovery point but The more I've looked at mine wagon, I think I've found a way to reinforce that part of the car to where it'd be rigid enough to pull on and not worry about ripping off hooks or the bottom of the core support.

 

 

roughly a 10"x15" plate 1/8" thick.  A SRS sensor will have to be unbolted and can be relocated (I like the idea of keeping my airbag system intact)  Underneath the headlight is a single layer piece of body metal, that I guess protects the bottom of the headlight.  This will be removed.  From there the plate will be trimmed to fit over the outside of the unibody directly over the part where the tow hook is sandwiched between the front clip.  Plate gets welded from there 15 inches back.  It will almost end up at the crossmember mount bolts.  

 

From there, a piece of 1/4" 2 wide flat stock gets welded to teh bottom of the core support (where the holes for a skid plate sit)  

 

So basically with bolt outer sides plated up and the bottom of the core support, that just leaves the engine bay side of the unibody.  I need to get into the shop and take measurements, but I think 2x2 angle iron will go on the inside, allowing holes to be drilled to bolt the 2 welded on plates together.  This will sandwich the "frame" around the tow hooks.

 

 

Kind of a half assed write up, but I will get more detailed and take pictures as I go.

What failures have you seen on the EJ front hooks? I've put the EA ones through hell and they look to be the exact same design as the EJ ones.

The EJ hooks that got sawed off flush with the frame were due to a recall for airbags going off when the hooks would catch a curb.

I've ripped EJ ones completely out of the car.  not to mention a lot of surrounding metals

Straight pulls they do okay, but the stock points dont much care for lateral pressure. Oh, i know. And straight pulls arent always possible, so yeah. Good idea torxxx!

After that, tie the two sides together, and build a good sturdy winch mount.

Tie them together with the bumper and they do pretty good. I've done that to both my front and back

Edited April 8, 201312 yr by Gloyale