Has anyone installed tow hooks, loops or shackles on the rear frame rails?

[21st Century Truck]

I want to add tow loops on the rear frame rail ends to match the front bumper tow loops. I am looking for functionality here more than styling.

I heard today that an OEM Ford Raptor or Tremor rear hitch assembly with its welded tow loops might work on the Lightning (this was an experienced F150 owner's untested opinion).

Has anyone added such tow loops to the Lightning's rear frame rails, other than via the OEM hitch shackle insert?

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[21st Century Truck]

So today I am convinced that adding OEM rear bumper tow loops (yes I know most everyone calls them "hooks" and perhaps in the distant past they were indeed hooks) is likely possible by reusing a Raptor OEM horizontal rear hitch behind-the-bumper bar. I spent about 25 minutes comparing the setup under a new Raptor parked right next to my Lightning and this looks doable.

However, it seems the Lightning bumper will need two notches to be cut from the bottom to allow the tow loops to nestle into place and show enough to be usable. Alternately, I guess I can find a Raptor / Tremor bumper as well... then I'll face a choice to paint, or to not paint to match.

Now let's see what the wrecker / breaker yards have available, and what the price for a used assembly will be.

 

[21st Century Truck]

For what it's worth and after doing some hands-on research, I am convinced that either the late-model Raptor rear bumper horizontal hitch draw bar or the late model Tremor rear bumper horizontal hitch draw bar would work on our Lightnings. Both these horizontal bars with OEM welded-on tow loops appear to be a bolt-on item. However (there usually is a "however", right?):

The Tremor bar will cause the loss of the full-size spare tire underneath, although its welded tow loops will fit just fine under our Lightnings' rear bumpers without modifications. Part # is ML3Z-17D826-D. Details are in the next section below.

The Raptor bar will allow the retention of the full-size spare tire underneath, but its welded recovery tow loops will force either cuts in the Lightning OEM rear bumper end cap casings, or will necessitate the addition of Raptor end cap rear bumper casings. Part # is ML3Z-17D826-G. Details are immediately below.

WHY: on the Tremor rear horizontal tow hitch draw bar, its OEM recovery tow loops are welded onto the bottom of the bar, and furthermore angle downward from there, therefore, they will clear the Lightning's bumper end cap casings. Unfortunately, this horizontal hitch draw bar is straight all across (see picture #1). The Tremor's full-size spare tire allows this when nestled underneath the bed in its spot... likely because the Tremor doesn't carry a humongous axle-to-axle battery and motor down there to push the spare tire location further back, and also perhaps because the Tremor's rear suspension is old-style leaf springs and not the Lightning's huge independent rear suspension cast arms and so its mountings take up less front - to back space. And so, the center section of a straight horizontal tow draw bar from the Tremor's will simply not fit under the Lightning if our spare tire is nestled underneath. This might work for some but it wouldn't work for me.

On the other hand, the Raptor's horizontal hitch draw bar will fit just fine with the spare tire in place, because its center section has a nice rearward bulge shape just like the same bar on our Lightnings (see picture #2).

Maybe it's designed this way because the Raptor also has an independent rear suspension with its huge cast arms? Unfortunately, even though this horizontal hitch draw bar will fit, its OEM recovery tow loops are welded onto the top of this bar, vice on the bottom like the Tremor's... and so once bolted on, this bar's recovery tow loops will prevent the Lightning's end cap casings from getting bolted back into place (unlike the Tremor's recovery tow loops which would definitely fit under the bumper end caps with room to spare) unless the Lightning's end cap casing bottoms themselves are trimmed up about two inches in their centers... or unless we swap them out for Raptor end cap bumper casings, with the subsequent issues of different colors etc. See Tremor recovery rear tow loops welded under the bar (pictures #3, #4 and #5)

and Raptor recovery rear tow loops welded on top of the bar (pictures #6 and #7).

I personally will prefer to keep my full-size, full-function spare tire right there underneath the truck bed, so I'm now leaning toward trimming my rear bumper end cap casings where needed, with radiused cuts on every turn and corrosion protection on the cut steel etc. Too bad that Ford chose to weld one set of recovery tow loops onto the top and another set onto the bottom of practically identical tow bar components.

Again, there are perfectly fine aftermarket 2-inch hitch receiver inserts with a shackle instead of a tow ball to give our Lightnings one solid recovery anchor point in the rear. I just know from other past experiences that when towing someone out of a stuck spot, or when being towed out of a hole, it is always better to use two mount points instead of one, certainly if snatch blocks multiply the pulling force, and especially if the pulling force is applied at a wider horizontal angle, as can happen depending on the space and surface available. TBC...

I hope this information helps other Lightning owners here who are also looking to add rear recovery tow loops.

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