[Tigers] Trailers

[Douglas Lyle]

I remember seeing him on the side of the road on northbound highway 5.   I was
going the other direction towards Disneyland.   


Doug Lyle
________________________________
 From: Lynn <cars at wt-inc.com>
To: 'H B Elam'
<harryb at elams.org>; Tigers at autox.team.net 
Sent: Thursday, May 8, 2014 12:43
PM
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Trailers
 

Here is the typical story about a friend
of a friend.  Except this was my
best friend and it happened only a couple
years ago towing back from the
Queen Mary Tigers United, I think.  If not it
was the one that was put on in
southern California before the Queen Mary one. 
Many of the people on this
list know exactly who I am talking about.

He flat
towed his car down to the TU from San Jose  there was no problem at
all. 
Drove it all around while down there.  No oil leaks, tranny worked
perfectly. 
Had a great time.

Towing back his tranny exploded (literally like a grenade)
about 100 miles
from home.  Blew the tunnel out.  Caught the car on fire,
started several
grass fires along the site of the freeway.  Truckers stopped
to put out the
fire with their fire extinguishers.  Firemen, traffic
snarls.... you get the
picture.  The drive shaft was bent.  Bell housing
destroyed, all fuel lines
were okay, thankfully but the brake lines were
destroyed

It appears that when the drive shaft turns in the bronze bushing in
the
tailshaft it depends on oil that is sprayed up from the cluster gear in
the
bottom of the tranny (the one that is submerged in oil).  However since it
was in neutral that gear was not spinning so no oil was flung up to
lubricate
any of the other bearings, gears etc.  Conjecture is that the heat
finally
built up that the bushing seized on the driveshaft but cine it was
spinning
the forces just could not be contained.  It was amazing.  The point
of failure
was the tranny and nothing else.  The only thing that was
different was the
fact that it was being towed at the time.  Since it was
about 350 miles down
to the TU and he got about 250 miles back he too could
say he has done it for
hundreds and hundreds of miles.

Flat towing is a great idea and it worked
really well until.......  Just
remember that it would be best if the
driveshaft were removed.  Short
distances are probably another story and don't
represent the risk that long
distance towing presents.

Good luck,

Lynn
-----Original Message-----
From: tigers-bounces at autox.team.net
[mailto:tigers-bounces at autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of H B Elam
Sent: Thursday,
May 08, 2014 1:20 PM
To: Tigers at autox.team.net
Subject: [Tigers] Trailers
Gents, My solution is a tad different. I flat tow my Tiger behind my 09
F150.
Years ago I had a specialty shop make a rig that fits into the front jack
holes. Two cross bolts per side and it works great. Soon after, I had Scott
Woerth reinforce the front arches, just it be safe. If you tow without the
front bumper you will need a long threaded dowel the keep the front arches
parallel. Lights are not an issue as all of the required connections are
already under the bonnet. The rig has been towed 100's + miles over the past
30 years.  I also have a rear tow bar. But that is a different story. When
towing at 60 mph I get about the same gas mileage as driving the Tiger at 60
mph. Was not able to come close to that with an enclosed trailer.
Harry Elam
_______________________________________________