If you already have a tow hitch, it is relatively easy to make rear recovery points. You make two new brackets and replace the original mounting brackets for the tow hitch. My tow hitch is a Sawiko MT054.
The brackets are made from straight 10 mm steel plate, so there is no welding involved. However, you are working with fairly substantial pieces of steel.
The easiest solution is to buy a 110 cm length of 10 × 120 mm flat bar and cut the brackets from that. I could not get hold of one, so I had to cut the brackets from a 70 cm long, 10 × 200 mm plate instead.
For cutting steel this thick, a plasma cutter would normally be the most efficient option. I have a 40 A plasma cutter, but it could not cut all the way through, so I used a large angle grinder with a 230 mm disc instead. Surprisingly, it worked very well.
Remove the original tow-hitch brackets and use them as templates. Cut the new brackets to shape. The square opening for the shackle is 30 mm wide and 60 mm high. I made it by drilling four 12 mm holes in the corners and cutting out as much of the material between them as possible with a small angle grinder. The remaining material was cut with an ordinary jigsaw fitted with a metal-cutting blade.
Round off all sharp edges with a file, preferably an air-powered one if you have one. Otherwise, be prepared for some serious elbow grease. If you are using soft shackles this is highly important as sharp edges can cut the fibres.
When drilling the mounting holes, use the original bracket as a template. Clamp the two brackets together, drill a couple of holes and insert bolts to hold everything securely in place. All holes are 12.5 mm in diameter. For the best and quickest results, a pillar drill is almost essential.
All the original bolts are M12, grade 10.9. This means a tightening torque of 120 Nm when installing the new plates. Make sure to install the reinforcing flat bar on the inside of the chassis when bolting the brackets in place. It drops down inside the frame and becomes practically invisible once the original brackets have been removed.
Disclaimer:
I only present this construction as a possible solution and do not have any responsibility for failure or accidents of any kind if you build something based on this design.
A note about strength
I asked ChatGPT to do a strength analysis of the tow bar:
The recovery points are made from 10 mm steel plate. Since I do not know the exact grade of the steel, the calculations have been made assuming S235, which is a conservative assumption for ordinary structural steel.
A simple calculation of the plate gives a surprisingly high strength. The net section through the 30 mm wide shackle opening is 90 × 10 mm, giving a theoretical yield load of about 21.6 metric tonnes for S235.
That is not the load I would use, however. A recovery point is a real mechanical connection, and the load is concentrated where the shackle contacts the plate.
With a conventional steel shackle using a 20 mm pin, the Eurocode pin-connection calculation gives a plate bearing resistance of approximately 70 kN, or 7.2 metric tonnes for each tow point.
A soft shackle distributes the load differently and avoids the concentrated contact from a 20 mm steel pin. The capacity of the recovery point can therefore be higher, provided that the contact edges are properly rounded and smooth. The soft shackle itself must of course have a suitable rated capacity.
The four M12 grade 10.9 bolts connect the recovery point to the substantial crossmember, which connects to the corresponding recovery point on the opposite side.
The two other M12 bolts attach the bracket to the chassis. The chassis attachment has not been included in these calculations, and its strength must therefore be considered separately. They will probably be the weakest points.
These figures are engineering estimates for this particular construction, not a certification or guarantee. I would use the recovery points for controlled, steady pulling only, and not for dynamic snatch recovery.
