Mounts under front bumper

[rcb]

Greetings !!! I am puzzled, I've seen on some M880's (2) mounts installed
under the front bumper that resemble shackle mounts, plow mount, etc.
They are on one of my M880's and I installed shackles on them, but I
was curious what they were originally intended for. Anyone know ???

 

[NDT]

To attach the light or medium tow bar.

 

[Jeepsinker]

Yeah I have a set of these that came in the side box on my wrecker. They have 4 bolts holding each one on? Reason I ask is because the ones I have are labeled as such.

 

[rcb]

Many thanks... I must have a brain freeze !!! I never thought of the obvious, tow bar !

 

[maddawg308]

Are these the brackets you are referring to? If so, yes, they are towbar mounts.

 

[rcb]

Yep...

Are these the brackets you are referring to? If so, yes, they are towbar mounts.

 

[jonesal]

Can anyone post pictures of them mounted to the vehicle? I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
Al Jones

 

[Amer-team]

If you could, post a picture of the towbar attached to them too.

 

[zebedee]

I do not know if they are normally left on the vehicle - my M816 came with a bunch of those, mixed in with all the other tow bar feet, for attaching by the H8's at the motor pool or scene of wreck.

However, if they are not part of the wrecker kit and do in fact live with the 880, then that's more ballast I don't need to carry and can get rid of!!!

 

[Recovry4x4]

What I'm about to say is pure speculation. While they do work for towing and the mount is plenty sturdy, the way it's mounted is not robust at all. I'd bet dinner that somewhere in a PM Magazine or other, there is a directive to remove them after tow. Any use as a recovery tool could be fatal and I'll guarandamtee the Gov't figured that out.

 

[jonesal]

OK, that's all fine, but we'd still like to see some pictures of the setup. I think it would be useful to have the setup documented on SS. I searched for awhile on SS and the net and could not find any pictures.

Thanks,
Al Jones

 

[Bob H]

pictures have been posted on here somewhere, my search vu on here sucks tho......

 

[maddawg308]

Couple pics I found from years (and threads) back, might help a little.

 

[jbayer]

In GOOGLE books there's a draft copy of TM 9-2320-354-10, and in section 4-14 Towing, it shows and talks about these mounts for use in towing an M880.

 

[jonesal]

Lots of pics of the UNmounted bracket and plate. Maddawg, that second picture is rough - do you have a higher res view - I can't see what's going on? The cover page of the manual in post No. 14 is not for a M880 - I'm confused. The page from the TM shows it mounted as a cartoon. I'm still looking for actual pictures of actual mounted brackets and plates.

I've searched the site and can NOT find any pictures of them mounted. I was hoping doghead would jump in and embarrass me with his astounding search skills.

Al Jones
with lonely M880 tow brackets and plates...

 

[busbart]

Are these the pic's you're looking for?



good luck.

 

[jonesal]

Thanks! That helps a lot.

Al Jones

 

[M543A2]

Two of ours have had heavy angle irons with holes in the end mounted in that location. They angle inward a bit. I wondered if it was some kind of adaptation for tow bar?

 

[busbart]

Well, I noticed at my other frames, that at all frames I have, there were already all the holes predrilled in that location, which makes me wonder, if those brackets were to be carried by wreckers only, and to be mounted prior the towing/recovery and then removed, or if they were a modification of some sort?