Trailer Hitch for a model A?

Ok guys, I am going to take my tudor to bonneville speedweek and my wife just picked up this 10ft canned ham trailer. I was thinking of towing it with the model a. The trailer is very light but does not have trailer brakes.

questions
1: should i?
2: has anyone towed a camp trailer with a small hot rod?
3: any one built a hitch for a model a?
4: Any thing else i should consider?

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458605

 

I should probably mention that I have a bbc/th400.42-48 ford front brakes and a 9" rear end.

 

I've got one on my A pickup to tow a bike trailer. Iused a front bumper for the rear and went from there. Sorry, no picture.
Butch

 

how about putting trailer brakes on the trailer?

 

From a retired trailer mfg.---------Don't even try this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A utility light wt. trailer behind a Model A is one thing, but any travel trailer is a no,no!!
The first thing you will encounter is when stopping fast, that "HAM" will push that light A around into a jack knife position & then a rollover is imminent!!!!!
Adding brakes will NOT help you in that situation!--------Don

 

The trailer has to really outweigh the A to push it around, a little single axle camper behind it, say in the 1500 lb range, should be doable, but trailer brakes would be a good idea.

 

i just put a hitch on my model A pickup. i wont pull anything the size of that canned ham camper but a tear drop camper is what i wanna pull. truck has parallel leaf springs with front disc brakes and plan on building a trailor with brakes aswell.

 

I can't tell from the pix what you have for rear suspension, but in our 31 I made a hitch from piece of 3/8" thick 3" flat bar stock bent in a "Z" shape tied to two of the four bolts securing the transverse cross spring to the cross member and two drop down 1/4"X2" bars from the stock bumper brackets to just behind the ball.
We never pulled a trailer like you describe but we did the nats in MN in 82 & 85 from San Diego pulling a heavy loaded luggage trailer, and several shorter runs to within a couple states many times. Until I sold it a couple years ago we pulled our 4X10' teardrop, also heavy loaded with crap to over night type runs.
Neither of these trailers weighed anything near what that canned ham must weigh. I'd build a hitch and give it a try locally around your neighborhood to see how it pulls and more importantly how it stops.

 

Thanks for your input everybody! Some have told me that im crazy and there probably right. But my brakes are 48 ford and late 70's in the rear, if I had a 48 ford towing the trailer no one would even think about it. But I put the same brakes on a model A and now some folks thinks im nuts. Anyone have pics of their set ups? Ive seen some built off the bumper but I dont have one.

 

Brakes are one thing, but the weight is another. Your A weighs about 2500 lbs? The spring rate is insufficient for another. I'd say no on this one.

 

The Model A should weight more that what it is pulling. My 30 pickup weights 2380. check the weight of the trailer.

 

It can be done safely...

 

how was your hitch built hotrod31?

 

Dont have pics but it is done with 1 -1/2" sq. tube. my car also has a 9" rear & 4 wheel disc I imagine my camper is lighter than yours also

Later, Mark

 

Lets look at a couple of load considerations. The BBC & TH400 weigh how much? And are on the front half of the chassis. The rear of your car looks cartoon-ishly light in weight. If you had 2 large batteries and a full fuel tank back there, I'd say maybe..., AND a full toolbox?
Yep, depends upon the trailer's weight, and a planned out tongue weight to stabilize it. If the heavy loads can be within the car, and the trailer done empty, then the cards look a little better.

 

I got a 10' Shasta compact ( <1000 lbs EASY !!) You can pull the trailer with NO PROBLEM.
I made a "Reese" Hitch... Sort of. HERE GOES:
2" square tubing welded and braced to rear of frame VERTICA, with two pins.
Reese type insert, "L" shaped, goes UP into reciever. When not towing, it's invisible. Sorry, no pics, got rid of the car. Never took any....

 

I will say (as above ) my Shasta's tongue wieght is almost NOTHING !! SOooo...put some weight on it ! The tongue that is... I don't have a fridge or stove , or propane bottles up there either, so that's why mine is soooo light.

 

10% or 150 lbs?
And the HAMB should remain a "no-jacknife" site.
Duece Daddy Don is right. In Utility vs travel trailer types.

 

I've got a half dozen friends who have pulled trailers that size behind pre 1935 cars for years without issues.

Definitely build a frame mounted hitch. You can usually pick up A Reese or Valley hitch at a yard sale or flea market for less than the cost of the steel tubing to make one and modify it to fit the A's frame.
Keep the load in the trailer balanced and don't overload it.

 

ive seen a couple pictures of hitches made out of front axles, way back when....

 

I think I would take D.D. Don's advice and NOT DO IT!! Seems like the weight ratio would be to close to the model A and sounds like the formula for $&*&(&$$$*().....

 

People pulled trailers all over the country, in the 20s and 30s, with "T"s, "A's, old Chevys and every other make of car, with puny 4 bangers, mechanical brakes, marginal cooling systems and so forth.

 

Uh huh, with multi-tasking perm-hair-chemically induced distracted texting SUV-ed unstable platforms on un-patrolled interstates.
I know...too many bars in the above.
And I thought the cell-phone lobbiests were our friends?

 

Ok guys I figured I would post what I did in just in case someone else is crazy enough to want to do this. A friend of mine gave me a bumper-mount style hitch and I went from there. The trailer pulls nice behind the tudor. Not very much tongue weight on the 1200lb trailer. I think I will get trailer brakes in the near future.

 

And there it is

 

That would scare the s*** out of me. It is one thing if the roads are smooth and no crosswinds, but every time a trailer truck would blow by me I would be holding my breath. A low profile tear drop is one thing, but look at the profile of that trailer vs the car.

And yes, people did tow trailers with similar weight and sized cars in the 20's and 30's, but there were hardly any cars on the road and they went about 30-40 mph.

Good luck and stay safe.

Don

 

I got some long ugly peep mirrors and some stiff shocks and hit the freeway today. I was pleased with how well the car did with the trailer . Off to Billetproof Friday with the camper!

 

X 2 for me.
Is your frame boxed.
That hitch looks sturdy but sure aint pretty.
Is the hitch also attached to the rear of the body subframe?

 

Have you ever seen a "pretty" trailer hitch?