Removing tow hooks on 2005 Silverado?

Mad Scotsman · 12-11-2006, 08:46 AM

Call me stupid, but don't call me Shirley.... ANYWHO, I am trying to remove the tow hooks on my 2005 1/2 ton Silverado. I am attempting to install a big heavy grille guard. Silly me, I thought it was just a matter of removing that big long bolt that goes through the tow hook & frame with an 18mm. From the looks of it, I figured it would just pop out once that bolt was removed. WRONG! That thing feels like it is welded in there. It will not come out. It will not budge! What am I missing here? Do you have to rip the whole freakin' bumpber off just to get these tow hooks off?

Any advice/tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

gmtech · 12-11-2006, 03:44 PM

Yep bad news the front bumper has to come off. There is a bolt up from the bottom and there is a long bolt that goes horizontal through the frame rail and tow hook.

mudseeker · 12-11-2006, 05:27 PM

i have a grille guard on my 97 and still have my tow hooks. with out looking at it i think the tow hooks are oppisite of the grille guard on the frame rail.

Mad Scotsman · 12-12-2006, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmtech

Yep bad news the front bumper has to come off. There is a bolt up from the bottom and there is a long bolt that goes horizontal through the frame rail and tow hook.

O.K., I wondered if the vertical bolt had something to do with that.

It wasn't intuitively obvious as I was laying on my back under the truck. Rather I was like, "WTF!?!" I may be 100% wrong, but I think then that these tow hooks will come out if I remove the second bolt without completely removing the front bumper. Is there some "gotcha" that will prevent this?

Aside from removing the tow hooks, I had another question regarding this brush guard install. The brush guard I have comes from Lone Star Truck Equipment (www.lonestartruckequipment.com) - their website seems to be down the moment. Anyway, it uses four brackets that bolt to the top of the frame rail where the vertical bolt goes through as well as utilizes the bolt for the tow hooks. I've read you can switch the tow hooks from one side to the other (to eliminate interference with the bottom brush guard brackets) so you can retain the tow hooks rather than take them off completely. Additionally, I've read that on other brands of brush guards it is sometimes necessary to trim out a small portion of either the plastic pocket surrounding the tow hook or the plastic bottom half of the bumper to allow adequate clearance for the bottom brush guard brackets. Since I have never had to install one of these before and I so foolishly assumed this would be an easy install (not quite so easy as I thought), I was wondering if anyone else had experience installing one of these and could offer a tip or two to keep me from ramming my head through a wall on this install?

This is the brush guard I have...well, minus the aftermarket bumper in the pic.

Russ Weaver · 02-15-2007, 07:29 PM

Nope. Don't have to pull the bumper. I dropped the skirt to get myself in and out easier and that involves about 8 (if memory serves) of those funny "peg-in-the-hole" type clips, where you have to push the peg out of the round insert and pull the insert out. A bit of a bear to get at the ones above the frame, but I got 'em out with the right vocabulary and some screwdrivers of the right size. You'll have to remove the plastic hook "tunnels", if you will, if you want to keep the hooks. You DO have to flip them side for side and I found that I had to ream the one hole out a bit to make them fit properly. Took me about three hours of grunting and cursing to "git 'er done, but the only help I needed was to lift and hold the bars in place while I put a few bolts in.

12-11-2006, 08:46 AM	#1
Mad Scotsman Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 2	Removing tow hooks on 2005 Silverado? Call me stupid, but don't call me Shirley.... ANYWHO, I am trying to remove the tow hooks on my 2005 1/2 ton Silverado. I am attempting to install a big heavy grille guard. Silly me, I thought it was just a matter of removing that big long bolt that goes through the tow hook & frame with an 18mm. From the looks of it, I figured it would just pop out once that bolt was removed. WRONG! That thing feels like it is welded in there. It will not come out. It will not budge! What am I missing here? Do you have to rip the whole freakin' bumpber off just to get these tow hooks off? Any advice/tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

12-11-2006, 05:27 PM	#3
mudseeker Senior Moderator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: michigan Posts: 6,376	i have a grille guard on my 97 and still have my tow hooks. with out looking at it i think the tow hooks are oppisite of the grille guard on the frame rail. __________________ i'd rather be hunting

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12-11-2006, 03:44 PM	#2
gmtech Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: farmville Va Posts: 348	Yep bad news the front bumper has to come off. There is a bolt up from the bottom and there is a long bolt that goes horizontal through the frame rail and tow hook.

02-15-2007, 07:29 PM	#5
Russ Weaver Full Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Burnaby,BC Posts: 20	Nope. Don't have to pull the bumper. I dropped the skirt to get myself in and out easier and that involves about 8 (if memory serves) of those funny "peg-in-the-hole" type clips, where you have to push the peg out of the round insert and pull the insert out. A bit of a bear to get at the ones above the frame, but I got 'em out with the right vocabulary and some screwdrivers of the right size. You'll have to remove the plastic hook "tunnels", if you will, if you want to keep the hooks. You DO have to flip them side for side and I found that I had to ream the one hole out a bit to make them fit properly. Took me about three hours of grunting and cursing to "git 'er done, but the only help I needed was to lift and hold the bars in place while I put a few bolts in.