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Towing An MGA

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rikhogan Avatar
rikhogan Rik Holeman
Madison, Alabama, USA   USA
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I tried searching this but had no luck finding an answer. A lady friend of mine is moving to another state and wants to tow her
MGA behind a moving truck. Does anyone know if the width between the tires will fit on the rental trailers. The one my neighbor used several years ago had tracks for the tires to fit in and looked to wide for my Midget. Just asking if anyone knows if an MGA will fit. Thanks
Rik

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rkassed Avatar
rkassed randy kassed
Baton Rouge, LA, USA   USA
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yes the mga will fit on the u-haul trailer, just barely. The computer will say that it wont, it will though. Use a different car for when they question you, try a miata.

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rikhogan Avatar
rikhogan Rik Holeman
Madison, Alabama, USA   USA
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That's great news. Thanks Randy, appreciate the info.
Rik

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matchlessman Avatar
matchlessman Ken M
Eastern Ontario, ON, Canada   CAN
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A word of caution about U-Haul car carriers. Last year I rented one to pick up a recently purchased coupe. The rails on the trailer are just close enough to accommodate the track width of an MGA - barely - but it does fit. That's not the problem. The ramps to the trailer rails are slightly wider apart than the rails on the trailer. Be prepared to come up with some sort of system that will allow the car to be "ramped" up to the trailer. I used 2 x 8 x8 feet as ramps. They bent plenty but the did hold the weight. I'd suggest using doubled-up 2 x 8 x 8 for safety sake. The other reason for the longer ramps is that the U-Haul ramps may be too short for the car's ground clearance. Like I said - a word to the wise. Check out a U-Haul car carrier to see what I mean.

Ken

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JimNH Avatar
JimNH Jim Mail
Nashua, New Hampshire, USA   USA
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1957 MG MGA "Camilla (the Other Woman)"
don't tow it backwards or the knock offs will unscrew.

Barney says you don't need to remove the prop shaft if towing with the rear wheels on the ground.

Good luck!

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barneymg Avatar
barneymg Barney Gaylord
Somewhere in North America, Throw a dart., USA   USA
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1958 MG MGA "MGA With An Attitude"
For short loading ramps, crank the trailer tongue jack up in front to tilt the trailer back (while it is still connected to the tow vehicle). This lowers the tail of the trailer, increasing angle of the trailer and decreasing angle of the ramps. I did this a lot in years past when towing a stock car on a flat bed trailer.



Barney Gaylord - 1958 MGA with an attitude - http://MGAguru.com - barneymg@mgaguru.com - Ph: 630-946-3841
(Please email me direct, do not leave a PM on the public server).

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Gary E Avatar
Gary E Gary Edwards
Kernersville, NC, USA   USA
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I have towed 2 MGAs on UHaul trailers with no problem on the ramps. I also towed one on a UHaul dolly with no problems.
I towed my car to Ottawa with a tow bar bolted to the bumper where the over riders bolt. No problems...



Gary

Murphy's law

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it, and he'll have to touch it to be sure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-07-30 11:57 AM by Gary E.

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rikhogan Avatar
rikhogan Rik Holeman
Madison, Alabama, USA   USA
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Thank you all for the info. I won't be there for the loading but will pass this info on to her.
Rik

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vdubmga Avatar
vdubmga v wasem
46N1165W, WA, USA   USA
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Can you flat-tow an A? It would be a great toad behind my RV. I notice the GT I just bought has attachment points for a tow bar, so it was apparently flat-towed at one point or another.

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Oxide Avatar
Oxide Del Rawlins (Disabled)
Disabled Account, Antarctica   ATA
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1959 MG MGA
Mine has been flat towed a couple times that I know of. Attachment points are kind of problematic if you are planning on making it a regular thing, and you want convenience. I'm not sure what my dad's attachment looked like, since it was long gone by the time I needed to tow it, but I still had his towbar. I removed the front valance and fabricated a mount that bolted to the frame in a couple of places, and was partially located by the bumper mounts:





That was kind of a quick and dirty fabrication job; I was up until the wee hours of the morning welding it together so I could make the next ferry out of town that weekend. But I was able to press it into service again, when I bought a parts car and had to move it across town. If I wanted to tow an MGA a lot I would probably invest in a trailer.

I suspect that the mount my dad made, just attached to the bumper mounts on the front extension. The extension had cracks there, that I had to weld up. Based on this, I would not recommend any tow mount that relies solely on the bumper mounts. The front extension is pretty fragile when it comes down to it.

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vdubmga Avatar
vdubmga v wasem
46N1165W, WA, USA   USA
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I should have said, I noticed one attachment point. Haven't looked close enough to see what happened to the other. I kind of figured it wouldn't be the best thing to do.

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rikhogan Avatar
rikhogan Rik Holeman
Madison, Alabama, USA   USA
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My friend told me she ended up renting a Budget truck and trailer. The MGA fit with about an inch on either side (inside track), but it was very close going from the ramps to the trailer and vice versa

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about 3 years and 10 months later...
olesoldier Steve A
Athens, AL, USA   USA
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Do you still have the dimensionsdrawings for the towing devise? I would like to fab one for my 61 MGA, and pull it 4 wheels down.

Thank you, Steve

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GILMGA Avatar
GILMGA Gil Dupre
CHATTANOOGA, TN, USA   USA
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1962 MG MGA
1974 MG MGB GT "TIGER"
Those are not tow attachment on the GT they are hold down brackets for shipment on ship to usa


In reply to # 2756184 by vdubmga Can you flat-tow an A? It would be a great toad behind my RV. I notice the GT I just bought has attachment points for a tow bar, so it was apparently flat-towed at one point or another.



Gil

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GILMGA Avatar
GILMGA Gil Dupre
CHATTANOOGA, TN, USA   USA
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1962 MG MGA
1974 MG MGB GT "TIGER"
I have towed my A many times flat with no problems. I remove the bumper and had a tow bar made to attached to the frame extentions.



Gil

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