TOW POINTS, What I Did For The Front. 99 AWD Lifted

[Smiliesafari]

Very nice. The gasket idea was pretty slick.

[photo_van]

Finally mounted the ebay hooks. One on each side.

[T.Low]

[Herbie]

Very cool, but we're going to need a bit more info than that!

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Yeah really! Looks awesome!

[T.Low]

I took it to Jonni Jonasen Motorsports and had Jonni do it for me.


Mike, my ALS has gotten to the point where I can barely pick up and hold a wrench, and my left arm won't supinate and twist to reach nuts and bolts. (Took me over ten minutes to change a fuse the other day--and I had to use a pair of medium sized channel locks to do it)


My lights have been mounted behind my grill and I like that my van looks stock...well, to the vast majority of people anyway. I like to come and go without people noticing. The problem is, we often leave Friday after work and then get to the trailhead in the dark. In the time it takes me to get to my favorite camp spot up Fortune Creek Trail, the lights are burning and melting the grill.

I bought this http://www.rockymountainwesty.com/Grill ... gw-np1.htm a couple months ago off http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewforum.php?f=20
A guy never installed it and was selling for $100. I like the diameter and shape and the brackets could be reworked to fit the Astro. I was unsure how the facia could be finished cleanly once the bar is installed...

I've noticed since I can't ride or paddle anymore, I've been pushing the van a little bit harder than ever before...and the odds to git 'er stuck have risen exponentially.

I sold a carbon fiber racing kayak this weekend for $2,000, so I said fuck it, and took the van to Jonni Jonassen, owner of http://belloffroad.com/g-6928-bell-off-road-shop.html and nephew of http://www.masterpull.com. Both companies are about 10-15 minutes up the road from me. Jonni is the off road section of PNW Customs (hot road shop). http://youtu.be/rIXhhlgFOJU
And has built a couple trucks for Duck Dynasty.

I pull in at 3 pm Friday and they are all washing their monster trucks that they had at SEMA this year. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bell-Off ... 5377060662

They were such unbelievably cool guys. They stop what theyre doing and start walking around my van pointing and asking questions and genuinely digging it.

Jonni himself crawled under the van and said recovery points were pretty straight forward and then asked how high i wanted the light bar. Well, i thought the mounting brackets were made for the top edge of the bumper, so its kind of predetermined...right? He looked at me and said , "Ill get the lights under the bar while trying to show as much Bowtie as possible".

Wow, this dude gets it.

But ive never dropped off the van to let someone else modify without me there.

So I had a bit of anxiety going to look at the finished product, not being there for any test fits and what not.

I have to admit, it turned out even better than I visualized.

[Slicky]

Nice looking mods TLow, you have one of my favorite Astros.

[T.Low]

Nice looking mods TLow, you have one of my favorite Astros.

Thanks, Slick, much appreciated. Most of my "inspiration" came from the pioneers on this site.

[Stroverlander]

T.Low, that is nicely integrated - just like the rest of the mods on your van, well done! =D>

[97CargoCrawler]

I would weld that to the OV bumper brackets, drill out the holes and install 1/2" high grade (better than 8) bolts through the brackets. That would be good enough for most recovery situations.

I'm using that same hitch on the rear of my van: