Nissan X-Terra Recovery Point

[Hardik Mody]

During a recent drive - I have damaged the Front recovery Point on my 2010' X-terra.

Fortunately the Metal Hook was attached to the Radiator Guard & was blocked by the skid plate. Else the damage would have been more severe.

On close examination, I understand that during fixing the Skid Plate + Radiator Guard (at one of the famous Garage in Al Quoz). They had welded the Nut to the chassis with few spot welds. That could not take the load during this recovery & came out.

According to the mechanic: This nut was weak on my pre-owned car. So while fixing Radiator Protector he did this welding without keeping me informed.

:: Before – After ::

     

I have witnessed this happing to other X-terra during one of the Technical Challenge Drive. Thus, I was always cautious about my front recovery point. But now we have somewhat similar situation with my car.

 

 

 

@Chaitanya D@Gaurav @Foxtrot OscarSeek your advice on how to reinforce the chassis end. 

Once it is secured:  

Option A:  Will use the same stock Hook Type recovery Point  - or -

Option B:  Should I get something like this for front end, which has 3 bolting points (two from Bottom + One from Side).

 Thanks.

[Gaurav]

You were really lucky enough that no damage happen to the recovery car and caused any injury, which is a biggest nightmare for any tow point failure.

Just curious if it happened on soft or medium or harder tug, just to understand the intensity. If its hard tug, the tow rope was secured with support rope or dampers....?

I am not an Xterra expert so will that Xterra point for other Xterra owners to add.

From my side I can only say that all tow points (front and back) for any vehicle should have the minimum 3 bolts placement, 4 is awesome like in pintle hook of LC and Patrols.

 

[Zed]

@Hardik Mody definitely 3-hole is stronger, the 3rd vertical square hole will hold while the 2 horizontal holes get pulled and rotated (from the bolts):

 

If you have friends in Fabrication shop, hand them this 3D design file so they can fabricate it for you:

 

The resulting product:

 

 

 

[Lawrence_Chehimi]

2 bolts won't take the load.

The rear recovery point on my patrol is fixed to 5 bolts for a reason! Some on the side and some on the buttom of the ladder frame.

[M.Seidam]

Generally the front tow hook in Xterra  is inherently weak due to 2 bolts points of attachment. And I recommend to install a minimum of three bolt attachment tow hook since this has happened. However periodic inspection to the integrity of the tow hooks be it front or back for rust, bend, loosening … etc is extremely important especially after being recovered or you were the recovery car in your last drive . 

[Chaitanya D]

Stock Xterra tow hook is inherently weak and some older models had a wierd open D type hook which used to slip at some angle while pulling

Three bolt is way safer than the stock, and make two instead of one at the front . And use Grade 10 bolts which are stronger. ( or if you can find Nissan sells the bolts separately for the tow hooks)

Periodic inspection is very important to avoid failure as one can pick up rust/bends before they break.

Use harness rope/safety rope while pulling especially from front , to protect in an unfortunate tow hook failure situation.

 

[JamesThorn]

I can't comment on the design of the X-terra tow hook design, but from the above looks, it is a weak design.

I would question the quality of the welding performed on the bolt. Looking at the photos, there are only a few points where the weld made contact with the nut, even though most of the circumference of the nut has weld residue around it.

[Hardik Mody]

On 7/6/2021 at 6:33 PM, Zed said:

@Hardik Mody definitely 3-hole is stronger, the 3rd vertical square hole will hold while the 2 horizontal holes get pulled and rotated (from the bolts):

 

If you have friends in Fabrication shop, hand them this 3D design file so they can fabricate it for you:

 

The resulting product:

 

 

 

@Zed I have downloaded the drawings and will get the Brackets fabricated. 

But to repair the Chassis end - I have approached few mechanics.  They are not ready to take responsibility of welding. And I don't want to take chance on this where in for next RTA passing I will have problems.

Can Any one suggest a Garage who can help me on this.?

Edited July 13, 2021 by Hardik Mody

[Hardik Mody]

On 7/7/2021 at 11:04 AM, JamesThorn said:

I can't comment on the design of the X-terra tow hook design, but from the above looks, it is a weak design.

I would question the quality of the welding performed on the bolt. Looking at the photos, there are only a few points where the weld made contact with the nut, even though most of the circumference of the nut has weld residue around it.

Exactly, That welder did a pathetic job. He fixed the nut considering it needs to hold just the Radiator bracket in place.

Not thinking that the same bolt is also holding the recovery hook. And it will have much more load coming on it.

[Gaurav]

27 minutes ago, Hardik Mody said:

@Zed I have downloaded the drawings and will get the Brackets fabricated. 

But to repair the Chassis end - I have approached few mechanics.  They are not ready to take responsibility of welding. And I don't want to take chance on this where in for next RTA passing I will have problems.

Can Any one suggest a Garage who can help me on this.?

Any garage doing MIG welding is totally acceptable for RTA test.

Secondly you can freely weld the chassis where tow point ripped off and RTA will not cause any trouble.

I have gone to this point in greater depth in 2019 and RTA senior inspector explanation was Chassis welding on load bearing area is mostly not acceptable. Anywhere else to recover the rusted part due to AC water dripping, tow point area which are not disturbing the vehicle structural integrity are completely fine with MIG welding.

Then I have got MIG welding on front tow point mount on ladder frame as original was cracked due to regular use. After the welding that guy grind that area and spray coat with black paint. After that I have passed twice without any headache.