safety of nissan factory towpoints

Roachie, I can never understand why people dont like using the towbar tongue (without ball) as a recovery point. They even sell aftermarket recovery 'tongues' with an eye or hook on the end & they are certainly easier to get your snatch strap etc onto when you're bogged.

The only negative from my perspective is that it adds another shackle, but if its a properly rated one then i still see no problem

Drew,
I wouldn't have any worries about using one of the aftermarket units that goes into the Hayman-Reece type hitch with either a strong eye-bolt or, preferrably, the other one that has a recovery hook bolted to it. I reckon the latter would be better because it would negate the use of a shackle, cos you could just slip the snatch strap over the hook.
The reason I would be VERY wary of using a typical tow-bar tongue with the tow ball removed, is that you are now relying on the weld strength of the gooseneck/box-section. It might be okay, but my philosophy is to take out as many of the "nasties" from the equation as possible.
Cheers
Roachie

Why would you carry the tongue without a ball on it?
First thing I do offroad is remove the tongue and put it in the car. Why reintroduce it for a recovery? And go through the hassle of removing the ball/treg receiver.

my 2c (+GST)

Andrew,
I'm with you.....WHY would they do that, I ask?
But then you see the response from Brian (Gold Coast), below and find that he specifically carries a ball-less tongue for recovery purposes. Go figure!!
Cheers mate
Roachie

Guys, I never take a trailer out bush, so for me the tongue (without ball) is just there all the time & has the added advantage of adding a bit more rear protection when sliding over the larger bumps/dropoffs. The tongue is also much much easier to connect to when bogged. And yet another consideration is that it is also used for attaching winch cable eyes to, which cant fit into the 50mm towbar receiver.

Bonz,
I'd be VERY careful if I was you, mate. It's okay for me cos I live in SA and even he got the chits up big time with me for saying something derogatory on here about him; by the time he drove all the way over here to give me a good seeing-to, he'd have forgotten why he came...hahahaha
However, as the Rt Hon Member for Terang, you are just down the road and he "might" just be able to keep his thoughts about him long enough to remember why he has driven down to sort you out!!! hehehe
The only 'lugs' he'd be interested in would be the ones held apart by your skull!!!!!
I despair that even though I have given him impartial advice aplenty, he is a lost cause and is doomed to spend the rest of his days chasing a sense of euphoria which is bound to elude him......the old chinese saying springs to mind......
"you can lead a yota owner to a Nissan dealer, but can't make him wise"
oh dear....time for my medication.

hahahahahah

Lucy quote "I've always been a Toyota man"

By the time he got here Roachie he would have long forgotten about detaching parts of my body as he laughed his way up the drivewauy to see what I had broken/cut/scratched/deflated/punctured or learned. The mere sight of a Patrol makes his mind spin into a frazzle of Nissanificational nomenclature somewhat derigatory but always perfunctory.

I reiterate: hahahahahah

I wouldn't use a snatch strap or be snatched by anyone.

I rely on my own efforts to get myself out of trouble

Snatchpoints, snatchstraps and snatching, are downright dangerous.

correct

Don't confuse the two places where a shackle can be used with the tie down points used to strap the truck down on the boat on the way over here....... a shackle will slice through that thin bit of metal easily and then it's missile time........ DUCK!!!!!!