DIY Towbar: what a drag

[TomsBeast]

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

Damn, your wife's welds are as good as any of mine, and I've been welding for most of my life.

We don't watch much TV, but she's become addicted to "Forged in Fire", and wants to learn how to do that stuff. We started by heating and bending some 1/4" steel for my bumper, then a little weld here and there. As a motorcycle race instructor friend of mine says "Unlike men, who already know it all, teaching women is easy... if they want to learn, they listen, and do exactly what you tell them..." He had this total novice gal, dragging her knee around the Sonoma corkscrew in less than 24hrs. My bride is figuring out how to move and join metal

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

Nice set up, but now that you have it, you will never need it (assuming you bring it along).

You've been at this too long Jeff, you know that owning a well sorted out emergency tool like a towbar, virtually guarantees that I'll never have to use it!

[TomsBeast]

Originally Posted by carringb

...I threw the welder in the van, and built a tow bar from scratch, knowing that was unlikely to be the first breakdown for that motor.

One thing I learned from the 800 miles tow: If the bus doesn't steer well on its own, it's not going to track well when being towed. So make sure you keep everything aligned well!

That's a pretty ambitious adventure. What's a bus like that weigh?




Whenever I've done these long distance VW Rally Races, or offroad VW Bus adventures, we always have a vehicle set up w/tow bar, either shadowing us or sitting at home in the driveway, tow bar in the back at the ready, tool box, $60 in cash in the ashtray (for gas), keys stashed somewhere nearby.

[carringb]

Originally Posted by TomsBeast

That's a pretty ambitious adventure. What's a bus like that weigh?

.

I think it scaled around 13,000 pounds because it was already loaded up with equipment for a soundstage. Driveline was easy to pull, so likely wasn't the first time it had been towed.

[TomsBeast]

Originally Posted by carringb

I think it scaled around 13,000 pounds because it was already loaded up with equipment for a soundstage. Driveline was easy to pull, so likely wasn't the first time it had been towed.

I promise no Sammy Safety safety speech, did you have remote brakes?


A friend's son is building out a 1960's Greyhound bus so he and his girl can "Go see this wonderful country of ours" 1-1/2yr long life adventure. He's on his second bus (the first one was an engine disaster), they built out bus #2, who's engine also took a dump within 300 miles... both GMC 2-stroke Diesels. They are delaying their trip until he can transplant in a more modern Cummins



"Hey kid, need a towbar?"

[carringb]

Originally Posted by TomsBeast

I promise no Sammy Safety safety speech, did you have remote brakes?

No. Besides those systems being expensive, they either had complicated installs, or wouldn't be powerful enough for dead hydro-boost brakes. Or both. There's more options now, but at the time only the air-powered rams like the original pneumatic Brake-Buddy would worked. And honestly still probably the best option. But then you need braking air, and a compressor and relay valve isn't cheap either...

And the reality is... I've towed heavier without brakes, although not usually planned. RV-grade electric brake systems just don't work reliability.

I just left lots of space in front, and took it slow on the downgrades. Downshifting into 2nd would hold me around 50 MPH, even on long grades like Cabbage Hill on I-84. Oregon's towed-vehicle braking laws are performance-based (35 feet from 20 MPH without leaving the lane), not weight-based, so I was legal.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by TomsBeast

bus #2, who's engine also took a dump within 300 miles... both GMC 2-stroke Diesels. They are delaying their trip until he can transplant in a more modern Cummins

Why not just install another Detroit and be done with it, those engines are everywhere in the marine industry and probably the truck and bus industry too. Their relatively cheap, fairly reliable and not hard to fix. They could be on the road for Xmas. Then again, I understand the allure of a Cummins, but it just seems too easy to postpone adventure until everything is just right. The kids are out of the house, the mortgage is paid off, we need a bigger (insert transportation device of choice here), we retire, we save just a little more money, and suddenly.............it never happens. It happens a lot in the boat world, but lots of folks take off in what ever they can afford and sail the world. I bought a cheap sail boat from a friend who outfitted it for a circumnavigation, but the time was never right for him. Ok, I'll get off my soap box. Oh, and thanks, I don't need a tow bar at the moment, but it's sure nice to know that one might work. As for towing with a rope, my 7.3, as a diesel, pretty much won't have any brakes if it doesn't run, so a rope tow would be a real adventure. I wonder if a 12v vacuum pump would be a good back-up?

[SierraHawk]

My only problem with towing has been when I am on dirt. I dropped AAA just for their refusal to tow me 2 miles on a graded county maintained road. In the past I have been towed by a D4 track layer, friends 40 year old jeep and several other vehicles over the years. Last time I used my 12,000# Warn to hook to a cowboy's pickup as he was driving to town on a Saturday night. Cost me $40 for a 2 mile tow. Winch is not the best solution for long hauls but for short trips it is a good option.

[Vanimal]

Very stout! My issue with a fixed tow bar is the solo hooking up of these. I have two tow flat bed trailers but sometimes I jus want to flat tow for a quick local trip. The issue is hooking up all alone sometimes this can take some doing. This is why I probably would have made then with square tubing as you did but also with smaller tubing that would fit inside the bigger tubing and slide pins or bolts it easy to push back and forth once it is hitched than trying to hitch it with a fixed tow bar!

[TomsBeast]

Originally Posted by Vanimal

Very stout! My issue with a fixed tow bar is the solo hooking up of these. I have two tow flat bed trailers but sometimes I jus want to flat tow for a quick local trip. The issue is hooking up all alone sometimes this can take some doing. This is why I probably would have made then with square tubing as you did but also with smaller tubing that would fit inside the bigger tubing and slide pins or bolts it easy to push back and forth once it is hitched than trying to hitch it with a fixed tow bar!

The 'tube inside a tube' type are very popular, I've never used one. It still seems connecting it solo would have a guy trying to line up the shear pin holes. Maybe the commercial ones like Blue Ox have spring loaded pin that drops in after pulling forward a foot or so, when 'the planets align', then you put in the safety pin. Those are over $1k, so there's that.



With other tow bars I've used, flat towing my Samurai, my MR2, I typically support the coupler end of the tow bar with a motorcycle tie down strap, so the coupler is hovering a couple inches above the ball. Then it's just as easy as solo hitching any trailer coupler. Works for me.

[Vanimal]

That is how I hook the jeep up but because I can rock it back and forth and side to side but the van is another kind of beast.