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Made tow bar mount for flat towing

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Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#1
ghettosled Avatar
ghettosled andrew marvin
Lakewood, OH, USA   USA
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I've been lurking on here for many years. 99% of my questions have been answered with searching, and with many knowledgeable people on here, there hasn't been much for me to add. But there was one thing I could not find. I typically drive the B within a 20-mile radius of my house. Having a '65 without overdrive and only 2 seats (married with 2 kids) limits where to go, but always have the urge to drive this in other areas (IE when visiting the in-laws 40 miles away). Since I've owned the car, I've been wanting to option to dinghy tow the car but couldn't find too much information on how to attach a tow bar. And knowing who I am, I wanted it to be easy (not remove bumper) so I would likely use it more frequently. Attached is what I ended up crafting, made from 1/4" steel and bolting to where the bumper mounts. Please let me know your honest opinion and concerns. I finished this last Sunday but haven't tested it yet.


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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#2
MG14611 Avatar
MG14611 Robert P
NY, NY, USA   USA
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1963 MG MGB MkI "Born To Run"
1963 MG MGB MkI "Potential"
Nice work!

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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#3
Factor Avatar
Factor Steve Williams
Clayton, NC, USA   USA
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1964 MG MGB MkI
I like your drive to get more time in the seat. 1/4" plate certainly is stout enough so I wouldn't worry about the unit you made. I think the issue would be where/how it's attached to the car. I can see the bumper mount points, but where are the attachment points for those large flanges? In existing bolt holes or new ones? Got a pic of them?

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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#4
dhcoleago Avatar
dhcoleago David Cole
Magnolia, AR, USA   USA
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1975 Triumph TR6
1977 MG MGB
That looks like a nice job. I have been toying with the same idea for my rubber bumpered B so I may try and pick your brain about it

David

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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#5
ghettosled Avatar
ghettosled andrew marvin
Lakewood, OH, USA   USA
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Attached a photo, but the bar is viewed from a weird side. A bolt will pass through the rear bumper bracket and into threaded fitting in the frame, and the front will use the nut and bolt with the frame sandwiched in the middle. This mounting plates are sandwiched between the bumper bracket and the frame rails. This base mount attaches to a removable tow bar assembly. I should take a photo of this all assembled/connected.


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towbar 1a.jpg    81.7 KB
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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#6
MGBGM1977 Avatar
MGBGM1977 Anthony Piper
Heaven in the woods, FL, USA   USA
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1974 MG MGB
1977 MG MGB V6 Conversion
You asked for honest responses. Your design is nice. Hard to tell for sure, but some of the welds look too cold. I would be concerned with the depth of penetration. I could be wrong.

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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#7
Cabin Boy Avatar
Cabin Boy Bill Kortum
Arlington, WA, USA   USA
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1970 MG MGB "Buttercup"
1980 Harley-Davidson Touring
1988 Suzuki Samurai "Old Blue"
1998 Chevrolet Commodore "Beam'n'Water"    & more
In reply to # 4786376 by MGBGM1977 You asked for honest responses. Your design is nice. Hard to tell for sure, but some of the welds look too cold. I would be concerned with the depth of penetration. I could be wrong.


I have to agree with Anthony , the welds appear to not have full penetration .

Now , making that judgement from a photo is based on welding certification and experience history .

At times , we might tow a toad behind our Motorhome or our B on a trailer .

The base plate is as critical as the towbar when flat towing .

Have you determined the auxillary brake system you will be using ? This is also a critical Safety feature .

Here's a pic of how we tow the B .


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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#8
ghettosled Avatar
ghettosled andrew marvin
Lakewood, OH, USA   USA
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I appreciate the honesty. I think the welds flowed better than they appear in the photos. They do come across as looking rather bulbous in the photo. For the brake question, this is what I am starting to re research. Any recommendations?

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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#9
mgv8glen Avatar
mgv8glen Glenn Towery
Dover, DE, USA   USA
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1974 MG MGB GT
Do what?


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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#10
LesT21 Avatar
LesT21 Gold Member Everett Thompson
Costa Mesa, CA, USA   USA
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1952 MG TD
1965 MG MGB
Looks good to me.

Towed my Twin Cam back to California from Virginia in 1970 behind my new bride's 1966 six cylinder Mustang. Bought a VW tow bar and bolted it to a piece of u-channel bolted to the MGA's bumper mounts. Did have the requisite safety chains.

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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#11
Cabin Boy Avatar
Cabin Boy Bill Kortum
Arlington, WA, USA   USA
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1970 MG MGB "Buttercup"
1980 Harley-Davidson Touring
1988 Suzuki Samurai "Old Blue"
1998 Chevrolet Commodore "Beam'n'Water"    & more
In reply to # 4786421 by ghettosled I appreciate the honesty. I think the welds flowed better than they appear in the photos. They do come across as looking rather bulbous in the photo. For the brake question, this is what I am starting to re research. Any recommendations?


If you are purchasing a new towbar , you should look at the NSA towbars .
They work similar to surge brakes , but use the cars brakes . They have proportional braking , plus they require no power to operate .

We have a Roadmaster towbar and have a Brake Buddy brake system . It is a unit that sits on the floor in front of the driver's seat and connects to the brake pedal . It requires 12v to operate . It also has to be removed in order to drive the vehicle , the NSA towbars have nothing inside the vehicle and require no power .

What's important is the brake system has to have an emergency breakaway feature that will stop the car if the towbar were to fail and release the car .

Several different systems available at e-trailer.com with detailed information .

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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#12
Windmill Jeroen G
Penang, Malaysia   MYS
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This video shows an alternative way of creating a tow bar:
[url=?si=AVIuId6ORf7_61mD][/url]

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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#13
saanich2006 Avatar
saanich2006 Robert Browning
Atlanta, GA, USA   USA
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1968 Chevrolet Corvette
1973 MG MGB
So, I know this has been brought up before, but in towing the car, what has to be done to the transmission?

Will you disconnect the drive shaft?


Oil leak?? What oil leak? That puddle under the car is just sweat from all that horsepower!!

Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will itch and you'll have to pee.



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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#14
BH Davis Avatar
BH Davis Gold Member
Grosvenordale, CT &, Warren, VT, USA   USA
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1968 MG MGB GT "Primrose"
1973 MG MGB
Nice job. But I have two questions:

1) Why not just somehow incorporate the shipping tie-down eyelets below the bumper?

2) Why not just pick up a tow-dolly trailer? More money of course.

BH

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Re: Made tow bar mount for flat towing
#15
scudrunner Avatar
scudrunner Jay Nichols
La Marque, TX, USA   USA
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1952 MG TD "Lost To Hurricane Ike"
1967 MG MGB "Let Go For MGTD In 1974"
1973 MG MGB "A Work In Progress"
1974 MG MGB "Jay's 74 MGB"
I added a tow bar to my 52 TD by unbolting the bumper and bolting in an angle iron with the tow bar bolted to it. Towed that TD all over the country, but it came in real handy when my big car wouldn't start at the movie theater. Got a ride home, next morning I drove the TD to the car with the tow bar attached and my tool box. Turned out the alternator had gone out, dead battery. Drove the TD to the parts store, new alternator. Installed, used the TD to jump the big car. While it was charging the battery, I hooked up the TD and towed it home.
This set up looks pretty good. Unfortunately I don't have the equipment to fabricate it.


Jay in La Marque, Galveston Texas.
In God we Trust. All others bring data.
Trust, but Verify

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