I recently installed the Cusco tow hooks on my A90 Supra.
This install can be extremely simple. Since these are tow hooks, they attach to the pre-tapped female threading already on the Supra. These are hidden behind the plastic covers in the front and rear bumper. To remove these covers, we just have to press the bottom of the cover and slip the top out. The cover is held in place by a plastic tether and this can be removed by giving it a little tug.
Once the cover is off, all there’s to do is screw the tow hook into place. The Cusco tow hooks come in two pieces, the main shaft which screws into the Supra and the hook itself which screws into the shaft.
If you’re satisfied with this look then the install is complete. I personally don’t like installing the tow hook this way because, without the original cover, you can see through the bumper and see the metal behind it where the tow hook installs. So, I cut out a hole in the original covers to give these tow hooks a more factory look.
To do this, I had to use some tape to find my drilling location. The goal here is to use the tape to indicate the center of the tow hook hole. Make one piece of tape run vertically down the middle of the hole. Then use another piece of tape to run horizontally across the middle of the hole. Where the tape intersects is going to be the center of the hole. Now, cut the tape on three sides and create a flap. Do your best to not lift the tape too much and make it move out of position. Now, reinstall the tow hook cover. Lay the tape back down and align the tape flap with the other pieces. At this point, you can mark the intersection or cut the final side of the tape to attach the tape intersection solely on the cover.
Remove the cover again and drill a hole where you indicated the center of the tow hook hole. This is where things get a little tricky. I drilled out a one-inch hole and this fits the shaft of the Cusco tow hook perfectly. However, I forgot that although the shaft installs parallel to the ground, this part of the bumper sits at an angle. More importantly, the tow hook cover installs at an angle. So, unless you drill out a large enough hole in the cover for the shaft to clear while reinstalling it, you’ll have to go back and forth, trimming the sides of the hole and checking fitment until everything is correct. Personally, I would recommend doing it this way anyway because drilling out a single hole would mean drilling a pretty large hole so that kind of defeats the purpose of doing this in the first place. The most precise hole is going to be more of an oval so, get your pilot hole then trim to perfect fitment.
The main difference is going to be tightening the tow hook into place. As mentioned earlier, the Cusco tow hooks come in two pieces. We first have to install the main shaft and tighten it down. At the front, there is a lot of clearance room so you can use a variety of different tools to get this done. Once it’s locked down, we screw the actual hook into the shaft. Take note of the jam nut which will allow you to adjust the spacing between the hook and the shaft. Once everything is in positioned how you want it, lock the jam nut into place. An adjustable wrench is going to be a good tool for this part of the install.
However, at the rear bumper, there is very little clearance room. An adjustable wrench is not going to fit here without damaging the bumper. To install the shaft at the rear, you pretty much have to use a six-point 24mm socket. When installing the hook into the shaft, because we can’t use an adjustable wrench to lock the jam nut down, you’ll essentially have to find a way to muscle the hook and jam it into place. I wrapped a towel around my wrench, put it in the tow hook, and just turned the entire thing. There was a lot of going back and forth, guessing and checking. This made it a bit difficult to level out the hook. Eventually, I did complete the install and the tow took was leveled enough for me to be happy with it.
And there you have it, the Cusco tow hooks installed with the OEM tow hook covers. This is a small product that adds a lot to the looks of the Supra. If you’re interested in this product, I can recommend it with a caveat. I had to order these hooks multiple times. The first time around, there were small paint chips on both hooks and the rear looked like it wasn’t prepped properly and the painter painted over something. The second set was exchanged for another and the exact same thing was present. The paint chips were still there but this time, it looked like the painter painted over some small hair fibers. So, what I’m getting at is that quality control doesn’t seem to be all that great with these tow hooks. Luckily, I ordered the hooks from Speed Industry and they were very good about making the best of the situation and getting the hooks exchanged out for me. Think about this when you go to buy the Cusco tow hooks. Can you live with some minor imperfections? If not, look elsewhere.
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