On the front bumper there's a spot to pop the cover off to put in a tow hook, but nothing there is behind it. Is there a way that the OEM tow hooks could be made to fit if ever needed? I think it's a great idea to have a place to thread in a tow hook if ever needed, but dumb to have the pop out with no where to thread. It appears that the newer 7th gens don't have the threaded location behind the cover. Is there any way to make the OEM hooks work?

 

This feature was discontinued during the 09/10 model year. Some cars had the threaded bumper but most do not. Those of you that have the hook and threaded bumper are lucky. My 09 SV Sport have neither.

 

To making the OEM hooks work, you would have to drill and tap a hole in the bumper frame, making sure there is enough material thickness in the frame to accomplish this. Since Nissan no longer uses the same bumper frame as it did when the threaded hole was built in place you would think that the new frame would not have the extra backing plate. If the frame does not have the extra backing plate then I don't believe there would be enough material to thread in a bolt and have it hold under the strain it would take to pull you out of a ditch.

 

My early 09 does not have the hook or threads for it, but does have the cover plate.
Very annoying.