>I had planned to attach the tow bar to the brackets on which the
>bumper is mounted on the vehicle. The Reese tow bar (rated at 5000
>lbs) uses a single 5/8" bolt to mount each hinged tow bar bracket to
>the vehicle. When I examine the bumper mounting bracket on the
>vehicle I see that it really fabricated to withstand a push rather
>than a pull force from the front of the car. Does anyone have any
>experience in using these single points as a tow bar mounting point?
No, and I am not a "by-the-book" mechanic, but I have towed my 79
MGB about 200 miles using a tow bar attached to the two (2) tow points
underneath the front end on the frame. I did not remove the BUMPER, but I
did remove the air dam so that the tow bar would reach. I used the standard
"V" shaped tow bar (purchased from Pep Boys automotive part store ~$100)
Had to bend the tow points inward slightly so that the bolts of the tow bar
could slide through. This also allowed me to tighten down on the bolts and
get a very snug and sturdy towing arrangement. The Ford Explorer+MGB
handled very nicely at speeds up to 75mph.
My motto is (politically incorrect): Safety {??} FAST!!
>Should I overlay and mount a channel iron over the bumper mounts and
>connect it to the brackets using all four bolts (and then mount the
>tow bar to the channel iron with a spread of 26 to 28" (see below))?
>The channel iron and four bolts would definitely spread the pulling
>forces. Or this channel iron idea bordering on the edge of overkill?
>I will be towing this vehicle from Colorado Springs to Halifax Nova
>Scotia - about 3200 miles.
>
>A second point. Reese says that the bar's points of contact with the
>towed vehicle must be between 26 and 40 inches. Using the existing
>holes on the towed vehicle's bumper brackets the max spread I can
>reach is 24". Since the towed vehicle weighs less than one half the
>rated weight of the bar, do you think the 2" deficit would be a
>problem?
Probably not. I like your point about the vehicle weight, which is
why I was not reluctant to bend the tow points slightly inward. But then
again, MY MGB IS NOT (currently) in SHOWROOM CONDITION. I would not
recommend the above approach if your MG is in very nice condition.
Instead, I would recommend that you weld an "adapter" connection to
the __tow points__ of the MG so that the car can be pulled using the strong
points of the frame intended (and quite possibly designed) for towing.
Alternatively, you could just get 2 steel plates approx 2"x8" and drill 5/8"
holes in either end. Attach one end to the tow point and the other to the
tow bar. Kind of like an extender. Make sure the bolts are very snug and
use lock washers.
TTFN !
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Tim Moses, Esq. U.S.N.A. 1986 www.csra.net/moses
Live from Augusta, Georgia - the 77th largest city in the USA
We're a Hole in One !
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