Flat towing... anyone do it??

Like most have said, build a sturdy bar and leave the steering free. I've flat towed my '34 pickup hundreds of miles over the last few years(no not because I don't drive it!). Take it slow and leave plenty of room to stop and you'll have no problems.

 

I tow my Tee with my 56 truck using a reworked VW tow bar. It hooks on the the axle. I don't tie the steering wheel. I leave it in netural. I have only gone about 100 miles or so one way. I have done it several times. You brakes wont work as well. Donn

 

please don't. small block chevys that dont rev past 4,000 really annoy me. besides i wont even be there, i'll be a the OCCA show in costa mesa. gonna try to make it back for dan's party. whatever you end up doing have a safe trip. i still say drive it!

 

I remeber last year about this time for the VERY same show, Another guy asked about towing a Bike to the Primer Nats Cus he was on a trip with his bike in Tow with his Family i believe.

Every Self Proclaimed Official here Kicked the guys teeth in for TOWING said bike, Even though He was not on his way to this show he just wanted to stop in and be apart of the Day.

Then I had a WHOLE Shit pot of Knuckle heads Flinging Shit at me on the same thread for TOWING in an Unfinished "T" Roadster to display in a SHOPS SPACE along with the shop owners TOWED in '28 Roadster.

Here we are a year later .... Same Question ~~ Whole new attitude

Just an Observation on my part of the "CONFORMITY" of the American Attitude .... Dont Rock The Boat !

Jason, You may want to call John or Jenny as its stated if you enter its supposed to be driven in.. But you could prolly tow it in & display it in your area No Prob.

 

just take your time or it will be a big disaster,ask me how i know.

 

I am driving it into the show.. I just need to get two cars and some stuff down to Ventura.. This is a running, driving, registered car...I just can't drive both at the same time... My wife will drive the 38 once in Ventura and I will drive the roadster...Jason.

 

For many years we flat towed all over the Southeast states for dirt oval racing. Tow bar was always hooked to the frame, whether it be back in the days of straight axles or early IFS oval cars. Steering wheel always left to follow freely. In the early days this was with welded spider gears or spools with Ford tapered and keyed axles. One tire or the other had to slide around sharp turns. Made it a lot easier with "floater rears", just pull the axles and let it freewheel.
All this frigging around with R&R axles and the fact that the front wheel alignment had to be readjusted to race and again to pull it home, plus changing to different tires for pulling vs racing really gave you an incentive to build a trailer! Especially when you were doing this 3 or 4 nights a week!
Dave

 

What are you talking about? That thing has plenty of room for extras. The seats even reclined when I sat in it!

 

You mean, when you sat on it..... Only that little lady of yours fits comfortably in that car. We will be through your area on the way down to Ventura about 11:00 on Friday..Gonna get lunch in Santa Barbara then onto Ventura....Have a couple cars going with us.. Jason.

 

She and I both work till after midnight on Friday. Were deading out in her modified saturday morning for the day. See ya there...

 

I've flat towed all kinds of cars hundreds of miles, I find it more comfortable and easier on the tow vehicle than using a trailer, so I don't use the trailer unless I need to move a real POS.

As long as your Plymouth pickup weighs 3500 lbs or so, it should be fine towing that. I normally use a full size pickup, suburban or we used to use a big GM sedan to tow with. If the tow car is an auto trans it needs an auxillary cooler on. Don't forget some magnetic stick on lights (and wire them on if possible).

I find some cars tow better than others... a couple step-down Hudsons I could do 65 with before they wanted to start to whip... others I could only do 45 with. If you're running the pickup empty, a couple sandbags in the back won't hurt to help get some weight over the axle - the idea is to keep from locking up the wheels under hard braking.

Beyond that it's just common sense, leave extra room to stop, take it slow and easy, and if you can make the drive during a time when traffic is light, do it.

 

quick question flat tow towing say my roadster do you have to disconect any thing? it has 40 tork tube 39 trans. do you just put it in neutral ?billy

 

Unless the shifter is really large, or lop-sided, and could possibly shake into a gear position, just put it in neutral.

 

Yup.... the plymouth wouldn't drag it down.. Had to change plans a last minute and use the new truck....Once we got it down there, We had a blast tearing around in it.. I only get about 7 mpg with a 5 gallon tank and would have to stop at every gas station on the way down.. Jason.

 

Towed my roadster behind the Coupe using a home made A frame bolted to removable brackets fitted to the dropped tube axle. Removed the drive shaft to preserve the auto box.

Bolted on a light board on the roadster behind the seats

 

A looong 5'to 6' tow bar and towing hubs if your running a spool and a heavier tow car than the car bring towed it's hard to back up and turn on a loose surface

 

hahaha just rousting you a little. you should put a blown hemi in that thing, you'd get better mileage!

 

Did you try flat-towing the roadster with an A frame with your plymouth?
or was the plan to trailer it?
That thing looks light enough by itself but you got 2 monster hills goin back to SLO
TP

 

I was going to flat tow it but.... We couldn't get the 3x2 set up on the truck we just installed tuned in time and didn't want to risk a group of us sitting on the side of the road..Jason

 

Damn trailer queens........... saw the roadster at San Miguel , missed Primer Nats and Santa Maria , looks real good.

 

It is getting better a little bit at a time... I now have front brakes instead of the spindle mount wheels, louvers in the deck lid, leaks all fixed, gonna mock up some sort of windshield now.. Once that is done it will get painted..I have a couple magazines waiting for the paint to do a full feature on it..There are also a couple magazines that aren't into the shiney cars that want to do a feature on it... Jason.

 

Im happy you didnt flat tow it the 101 is to jacked up .... I saw that roadster jump all over that trailer on the way down .. You would of fucked it up pretty bad!!!

 

What happens when the unlocked steering on the car being towed hits a bump or pot hole?