Tow / Recovery Hooks

mcnwil · October 24, 2013

I work at a dealer, and just had the luxury of installing chrome tow hooks onto a new 2014 Silverado, it is a lil more diffucult than the previous versions, the front bumper doesn't have to be removed, as I was not getting paid to do that. The truck came with factory black hooks, the passenger side was the easier side, I installed the longer bolt first as this gave the hook some movement and it slipped right in. The drivers side was another story, after looking at my options, one considered was taking the bumper off, but again for free (I don't think so) I cut the head of the longer bolt off and slid the bolt out and when I reinstalled the new bolt I ran it from the outside in, it did take a few hits with a hammer but it went in as this is a thru the frame bolt doesn't matter which way it goes in, and run the short bolts in their original locations. The whole install took about 30 minutes to do, and I went in expecting it to be like the old truck. So it can be done easily

I just ran into the same issue today. Did you cut off both long bolts to remove the old hooks? I thought about that but did not know if I had enough room to get the new bolts in from the other side. I do not want to pull the front end apart!

silveradoprime · October 24, 2013

If I remember right I only had to cut the drivers side long bolt head off. The passenger side I was able to get out. I was only getting paid a half hour to install the hooks and was not about to pull the front end apart. I was taking black hooks out and installing the chrome ones. And there is room to get a grinder inside there with a cut off wheel on it.

mcnwil · October 25, 2013

Ok thanks, I will take another shot at it this weekend.

mcnwil · October 26, 2013

Gave it another shot using SilveradoPrime's method and it worked. I removed al lower bolts in the bumper bracket and loosened the corner support bar bolts. This allowed enough movement to remove and reinstall the passenger side tow hook with no problem, I cut off the driver side long bolt head and reinstalled the new bolt from the other side. This was much better than pulling the front bumper. Thanks to SilveradoPrime for the info.

towhooksa.bmp

sams819 · December 28, 2013

I installed my Christmas Chrome Tow Hooks today on my 2014 Silverado. I used the above mentioned posts and the install went fine. I will add this info FYI. The bolts that came with my kit were about 3/8 inch longer than the ones in the truck from factory. The passenger side went without a hitch reusing the factory bolt. The drivers side had to be cut at the head and removed. I then ran the nut up on one of the new bolts and cut it to 4 1/8 inch. I rounded the end of the bolt off with my grinder and then ran the nut back to restore the threads, The bolt went right in with no problem.

holen1 · December 28, 2013

I installed my Christmas Chrome Tow Hooks today on my 2014 Silverado. I used the above mentioned posts and the install went fine. I will add this info FYI. The bolts that came with my kit were about 3/8 inch longer than the ones in the truck from factory. The passenger side went without a hitch reusing the factory bolt. The drivers side had to be cut at the head and removed. I then ran the nut up on one of the new bolts and cut it to 4 1/8 inch. I rounded the end of the bolt off with my grinder and then ran the nut back to restore the threads, The bolt went right in with no problem.

Did your truck originally have hooks and you just replaced them with chrome? If not did you have the plastic cavity fill inserts and if so did you just cut out the center part in order to install the hooks?

sams819 · December 28, 2013

I had the original black hooks. I would think that you could just cut out the holes. There are a foam and plastic piece that slips over the hook and inside the cut out to fill the hole. You would have to get them from dealer as they do not come with the hook kit.

JT-IN-BAKO-CA · June 10, 2014

can anyone post pics of said bolt head that needs to be cut? a visual would give me much needed clarification. it may be obvious once I commence install but I would appreciate a pic. thanks in advance

Payton34 · June 30, 2014

Could someone post pics of which bumper bracket bolt to loosen or remove. I was under my Sierra today and I can get the driver side bolds loose but can't slide them out. I see a bumper bracket in the way I think but not sure which bolts to remove to move the bracket enough to slide the bolt out. I have a grinder but I don't see how there is enough room to get it in there to cut the bolt head.

Vmax08 · August 15, 2014

I just installed the chrome tow/recovery hooks on my sierra dbl cab 4x4. Using silveradoprime's advice, I did not have to remove the front bumper. I removed two outer bolts where the tubular brace bolts to the bumper ends and loosened the four inner bolts of the braces. Then removed the two vertical bumper mounting bolts just inside the frame rails when looking from underneath the truck. (These bolts have a greenish color) At this point you can pull the bottom of the bumper outward enough to allow the bolts to be removed without cutting them. I did not have help so I used a large screwdriver between the tabs of were I removed the vertical bumper mounting bolts. As the bumper pulls out the brace that is blocking the bolt moves downward allowing the bolts to be removed. Passenger side was easier than the driver side but I was to remove and install the new bolts without any cutting. Took about an hour by myself.

RobZ71LM7 · December 13, 2014

Just installed tow hooks on my 2014 4x2. I shortened the long driver's side bolt to 4.25" (you can shorten to as little as 4.125") and reversed it to be inserted from the driver's side. This worked great with no finagling and took 5 minutes. The passenger side can be installed unaltered as originally intended. I put cutouts into my factory plastic valence using a rotozip and it looks great. Later I'm going to put black rubber inside the valance to seal between it and the hooks like factory.

dbcooper748 · February 28, 2016

Just installed tow hooks on my 2014 4x2. I shortened the long driver's side bolt to 4.25" (you can shorten to as little as 4.125") and reversed it to be inserted from the driver's side. This worked great with no finagling and took 5 minutes. The passenger side can be installed unaltered as originally intended. I put cutouts into my factory plastic valence using a rotozip and it looks great. Later I'm going to put black rubber inside the valance to seal between it and the hooks like factory.

Im looking to do the same thing. Do u have any close up pics of the front end by chance? And what rubber did u use to go between the hooks and the valence to make it look like factory? Thanks!

toolmiser · February 28, 2016

Why are they called "hooks"? They aren't open ended, shouldn't they be called "loops". I found the ones on my 2001 (true hook) were a lot more useful with a strap since you could put the loop over it. I now have to carry something to connect the loop of the strap (clevis) to the so called tow hooks.