Anyone out there flat towing these days. I'm thinking about flat towing my 56 chevy H/Gasser to Nostalgia drag races. Thanks JT
you are sure to get a lot of negative imput. other than a flat tire once 30 years ago. I've never had a problem and a car tows so much nicer than a trailer see a lot of cars being towed behind motor homes. my brother towed front wheel drive toyota and had some adapter that free wheeled and lubed. I've always tied the steering wheel and pulled the drive shaft on automatic cars.
There is some extra wear and tear by flat towing but it has been done for years. Sometimes when setting up the front end of a straight axle gasser the caster is more positive than you would want on a street driven car. The extra caster can cause tracking problems when flat towing like when turning a sharp corner and the wheels of the towed car go to full lock and stay there.
AAggie...the 56 is not a straight axle front end. Stock front suspension less front bumper. Planning on making my own tow bar. Thanks JT
I flat towed a lot of cars for a lot of years, but would never do it again. The biggest problem is on dirt or gravel roads the tires of the towed car do not track right and will flip sideways on you. On pavement it is ok, but still a trailer is just so much better and easier on the towed car as far as wear and tear. Plus, if you blow an axle at the drags you are screwed. Don
Agree with Don I get night mares thinking about flat towing. Did it years ago but wouldn't want the punishment now. I can think of quite a few instances that towed car went full lock going around a corner or was slow to come back o center making things real uncomfortable.
i agree with don also, i used to rent a trailer you still can from uhaul, but broke down and bought a car hauler, yes it was hard to part with the money but it had other uses also. i now got in the habit of taking it along with me to all swap meets so i can get the good deal home. the best feature of the trailer it will have brakes, the flat towed car will not, we drive faster than 30 years ago so tow vehicle brakes are not enough. there are plenty of used trailers on craigs list
I have flat towed a lot.....Only trouble I find is that you have no brakes on the towed vehicle. Its Ok if you have a big tow vehicle, but if the car behind weighs the same as the towing car, its hard on the brakes.....
Depends on what state you are towing in, the towed vehicle might need to have brakes. A lot of motorhome guys have add on brake units, brake buddy or similar to comply with the law. Not much to install and the unit can be easily removed or transferred to another vehicle but they aren't cheap, new almost as much as a good deal on a used trailer. IMO. Tiim
I flat towed our Model A from St.Paul, MN to O'side, CA back in 72 behind my 70 1/2 Z28, not the ideal towing car. The motor tranny was out of the A so no problem with the drive train. Had to fab some radius rod lowering brkts since without the motor/tranny the front came up and the caster went neutral. Just me and my 8 yr old son, a memorable experience and we met/talked to a lot of friendly folks along the way.
I still flat tow my A coupe sometimes behind my DD pick up. I've done it as far as 350 miles or so but the bigger the car being towed the more hairy it can get.
Back in the early 60's we saw photos of Grumpy and other racers flat towing from one side of the country to the other to race all the time and almost every serious SS drag car in the early 60's had tow brackets sticking out in front of them in photos. I'd have to agree 100% with Stroker in post 8 in that your tow rig has to be up to the task. not only good brakes but it has to be big enough and stout enough to handle the rig you are towing. But that goes for rigs pulling cars on trailers too, I see way too many undersize suv's towing cars on trailers around here and have seen the WSP have a couple pulled over because they were towing too much for the tow rig. With state regs the way they are it would be prudent to check into what the laws are now too as 51504bat mentioned in post 9. I've still got my buddy's clamp to the towed rig tow bar out in the shed that I use about once a year to tow something (usually my daily when it breaks) and have lost count of the rigs I have flat towed or the miles I have flat towed in the past 40 years. I would suggest having a strong well built tow bar and well built and attached brackets on the towed rig though.
Towed a V8 vega that way for a while. Not ideal. If you break an axle or something severe at the track you may have a hard time getting it home. Or in my case some prick stole my tow bar at the track in Tulsa and I had to drive my race car home.
I flat towed my '60 Corvette all up and down the East coast........behind a '56 Ford with a home designed and home made tow bar.......bolted in place of the "Vette bumpers on the frame. Took off the drive shaft and put a yoke in the trans. Never had a bit of trouble. You need a much heavier tow vehicle when using a trailer ........combined weight of the two can be too high for most.......
I went to a local car show a few miles from my home. I drove my 32 Roadster with my 58 Blown 392 Chrysler Dragster on a tow dolly. It got more than a few looks, and got me in to the car show with only one entrance fee!
Tow bar and tow hubs worked for me back in the late 60's. Had to have the tow hubs, in case I broke an axle. Which happened back then.
Head over to Moab this afternoon and check out the numbers of flat towed Jeeps heading home today. Flat towed a CJ-8 from San Diego to Telluride several times a year with an F-250. Still use a tow bar on the Zipper when I have to take the truck in for service so that I don't inconvenience my wife.
Last time I was in Little Rock I saw some guy abusing his ford explorer sport trac flat towing a jeep cherokee and some sort of Honda( I know all 3 off topic). This was on 430. I wonder how much over GVWR he was. I guess my point if I have one is just make sure you aren't pulling too much weight and you should be fine. It is a bigger problem with autos than with a manual, but you probably know that.
I've flat towed a vehicle from detroit area to the West coast, and another one back from there at different times. Only had to change my underware once when the car being towed, blew a front tire. The main thing to remember is diving more defencively, and don't slow down going around a curve. Have at it.
I flat towed a bunch of cars from Va and Nc in the early 80's to where I lived in Pa. Most were projects with no motors and I tied the steering wheel straight, Usually the front tires were worn out by the time I got home. They usually towed pretty good up to 60 when the speed limit was 55. I stopped doing it when the wheel studs broke off a 57 chevy and the left front tire went across the PA turnpike and hit a new Dodge Omni and my car insurance would not cover it. A trailer is covered on my insurance but not a flat towed car, especially a car with an open title, (yes it was a bad day)
I see hundreds of Mexican "used car dealers" flat towing all kinds of stuff south on the interstates from import shit boxes to 1 ton pick ups. They can hardly go the speed limit but they manage to plug along.
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. a little off topic but the same goes for trailers. I see all kinds of triple axle toy haulers loaded to the max being towed by 1/2 ton jacked up 4x4's on the way to the dunes at 70+ in the hammer lane every weekend during buggy season. Scares the bjesus out of me.
I dont tie the wheel, it needs to be free to follow the tow car otherwise it will scrub the front tires.
The advantage of youth is that you just do it. We towed a Caddy powered Henry J all over Florida behind a 49 Caddy Limo and the only problem was the slow corners could throw the J's wheels full lock as others have mentioned. Many miles through the Okefenokee Swamp heading to Miami for the drags. Drove through the Mid-swamp town called Yeehaw Junction.
Years ago. Everything was a slower pace and the streets wernt so crowded. Now the streets are packed every ones in a hurry. No time to wait for some one doing 45 with their hazzards on.Your gonna spend more time looking over your shoulder for ass holes in a hurry and letten people pass. Thats its just gonna be nerv racking the hole time. If your going a few miles in the country. I would do it. But along trip. Its just seems smarter safer to use a trailer. But in the end your gonna do what you want any way. So you mise well start builden the tow bar.
ive done it, this was an interesting ride home, this chassis pushed the ass end of the camry all over the place. but we made it home lol
I've flat towed 3 cars from the CA/Mexican border to Portland OR. The only problems I've had are trying to back up or making too tight of a turn and have the towed car's wheels get stuck at full lock. Slightly exceded the speed limit most of the trip. Used a 72 Jimmy for the tow vehicle.
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