There's a few points on my Discovery 1, but none of them really inspire a lot of confidence. Which of these would be good for recovery? Short of a full aftermarket bumper, what is my best option? On the rear, I'll probably use a hitch with a shackle but Class III is only 5000 pounds. What about the front? Am I better off using a tree strap as a sling around the frame member?

 

middle picture. orange arrow on the left. you can get JATE rings to go in there.

 

I read about JATE rings. I understand the forged ones are hard to find. I do not know of a source, but if you can tell me that would help.

Also, I can put JATE rings on both frame members in the back, but on the front the steering attaches to the driver side. So I could attach three total.

 

Do not pull off the two rings on the back, those are only meant for tying the disco down for transport, ie: tow truck rides.

JATE rings will work great, but I'd recommend the rear shackle that goes into the receiver hitch as having to dig shoulder deep into nasty water and/or mud to fumble around and find the rings is not fun. As for the front, look into aftermarket bumpers as you can also use it as a jack point if needed.

EE sells JATE rings: http://www.expeditionexchange.com/ca...9&cat=0&page=6

 

Right... this is what I'm asking about. I agree those sheet metal tabs on the rear end are not for pulling, just tie down, but I could pull the bolts out and use JATE rings. I could use a shackle on the JATE ring or just a choker sling... but I could just choke the whole frame with a sling, so the JATE ring is not that wonderful, because like you say, it's way down in there.

The receiver hitch, I'll do that... it's too easy not to, but I'm skeptical about how strong it is... although it's easily as good as a JATE ring or the way the ring would be welded onto the frame anyway.

On the front, I'm trying to avoid an aftermarket bumper. It looks like my best bet would be to sling the frame member.

 

Two JATE rings in the rear with a bridle pre-rigged.
For the front, a proper bumper.
You should probably be looking at winch anyway, unless all your off-roading is in rocks as even with lockers, which you say you're buying, you'll still get stuck.

 

By pre-rigged, would you leave the bridle on the truck? Because if I ran the JATE rings through the loop ends before I bolted them, then I wouldn't need shackles, but I would need to leave the bridle on the truck. Would you use strap, sheathed synthetic rope, or chain? It seems like chain would be the only thing I wouldn't care about leaving down there in the crud but it's what I'd want to use the least. Also, if I didn't run the bridle through the rigging line loop first, then I'd need to clip onto it with something, a shackle or rig the line's loop end as a tight choker sling.

Anyway, still having trouble finding forged JATE rings actually in stock.

 

most places don't carry them in the US... look to the UK.