RS Factory Stage Tow Hook Review

RS Factory Stage front tow hook

I have desired an angled front tow hook like this for many a moon now. Since around December of 2009. I’ve searched high and low. I’ve haunted classifieds. I’ve begged parts manufacturers to make me one. And for months I’ve had no luck. And then, I thought about asking my buddy Max at Rev9 if he could get me this rare one from the Japanese parts house RS Factory Stage.

He said “no problem!” And then he started selling them as a regular item in his store. Awesome! (It’s good to have buddies.)

Here it is. On velvet. My long-hunted hunk of Japanese aluminum.

Hot Rod hangs 10

Of course, my tasteful parts shoot was quickly besieged by small robots. Hot Rod thought it looked like a perfect surf board. I snapped this before shooing him away and running out to install it.

Installation: Cake. If you have the stock tie-down hook installed still, you just remove the three bolts and swap in this part. If you don’t, you have to find three bolts that fit and bolt it in. You can easily reach the bolts with your hands, even with an intercooler in the mouth. A Gearwrench with a flexible head makes this about a 5 minute job.

Installation was so easy, that I neglected to take a single photo. It’s three bolts. If you have a hard time with this, you might want to reconsider cars as a hobby. Installation gets an A+

Tow hook from the right

Tow hook from the left

You can now begin to see why I wanted a hook with a bend in it. Flat tow hooks hang down and look a bit out of place. From just the wrong angle, they look like the car is sticking its tongue out at you. That is no good. A hook with a bend comes out of the mouth more parallel to the ground. That is what I wanted.

Build Quality: Very nice. There’s not much to say about a machined piece of aluminum. It’s nicely machined and nicely anodized. It is strong without being overly heavy. Rating: A

Style: This is one of the very few angled tow hooks you can currently buy. I would have preferred it to be perfectly parallel to the ground, but I’m not complaining too much. I think it looks great. It gets a B+ for style.

Usability: It is strong enough to tow the car and it sticks out enough that no damage will come to the nose if you happen to use it for the intended purpose. A+

Overall: It’s what I wanted. And it looks great next to the intercooler. Rating: A

Ready for a tow.

Thanks again to Max at Rev9. I always enjoy giving him my business.

Update!

I recently got the chance to test my RS Factory tow hook. It carried Sharka up a flatbed without incident. And back down! This little hook performed flawlessly. I’d recommend it to anyone.