Im helping a friend move his car collection from here (near Seattle) to south of Denver. Were planning to take one of the cars using a tow bar. Tonight we put the tow bar on the front of the 55 Chevy and connected the tow car in front of it and started to pull it. The tow car needed to go left to avoid one of my immovable projects. As we pulled the 55 to the left, the front wheels turned toward the right. That cant be right! The 55 has a motor, but it has not been a driver in more than 10 years. Gene, my friend, has never driven the car, so we dont really have any idea how well it worked when it was last driven. Anyone have some tow bar experience and some suggestions what we need to look for? Id sure appreciate some ideas The rest of the story: Gene is a blind guy with a passion for cars. Its amazing to see what he can do without help. One day he asked me if maybe the points weren't opening and closing when we could not get a car to run. It was dusk and I turned to find a flashlight. When I turned back he had the distributor cap off, and was already feeling the poing to see what the problem was. It made me wonder which one of us is disabled... I quit working when it gets dark, he can work in any light. He has I think 8 '55-57 Chevy cars. This trip we'll be trailering a yellow '55 that's a 327 with a muncie 4-speed. He has had that car since the 70's. We'll have a 2-door '57 wagon (235/3-spd) sitting on a car dolly behind my '72 Chevy pickup and a '57 Chevy wagon pulling this '55 Chevy using the tow bar. We're leaving here Monday morning, taking I-5 south to Portland, where we will catch I-84 headed toward Salt Lake. We'll take I-80 across to I-25 (I think), where we'll head through Denver to a little town the far side of Colorado Springs. We should make quite a sight going down the road. If you see us please wave. If you see us parked long side the road, please stop and let us know where to find whatever part it is we need to replace... If you know what I need to do to fix this tow bar problem I'm sure eager to learn. Thanks!
can't help with any tow bars hints. But sound slike a real adventure. I hope it all goes well for you guys. Yes seeing what people can do who may have a disability can be a very humbling things.
Oldsub - When you tow a car with a tow bar, you need to make wider turns. If you try to make a sharp turn, there is a risk of "dragging" the towed car's front wheels. The result is what you experienced as front wheels turning in the opposite direction. Before you start your trip, make sure the tow bar is mounted correctly and tightly. The towed car's tires should be properly inflated and its front end thoroughly checked for excessive wear. Re-greasing the front end is a big help. Don't forget to hook up some safety chains, too. Tow bars can be Instruments of Terror, so be careful and check your set-up often during the trip.
I have had the same problem, my coupe towed flat out like a dream but the stock '35 Dodge was damn near impossible. same bar same mounts, cross steer parralel leaf suspension and radials on both towed rigs. similar tow vehicles.. the geometry must have been different causing one to track but not the other. Paul
I think frt. end design/geometry and tow-bar attaching points has alot to do with a flat-tow set up. Years ago I welded up a sq. tube tow bar to pull our little chevette behind my Uncle's motor home-pulled like a dream.When I towed my 46 Ford coupe with it it was a nightmare at slow speeds,but smoothed out on the interstate. Pulled plenty of later model pick-ups & Jeeps O.K. too.
yeah i have towed cj 2's all over and never a problem, some people i have seen towing will bungy cord or tie the wheel straight ,leads to a very hard scrub on the front tires and can push the tow vehicle if it is similar in size or weight,not an exact science,go push on a old car tire and you can turn the wheel because of the mechaniacl ratio they built intot the geometry, try turning a newer car and harder to do so less road induced turning ,what are you gonna tow the 55 with a 57? well about the same then, just watch the tight turns, practice around the nieghbor hood i guess is best info
OldSub: Back in my racing days when we towed the racers we ran "towing tires" on the front; bias ply snow tires of equal size inflated to 30 pounds. We also slightly backed off the sector adjustment on the steering box when towing. Worked like a charm on the '52 and '55 Chevs we ran. Hope this helps! Best of luck! Regards, Dave.
I towed my '56 Chevy drag car several thousand miles back in the '60s without a problem. The tow bar should be level when hooked up, and the longer the better. You cannot turn sharp corners though, and the drive shaft should be pulled for long tows. Good luck, Frank
tow bars are too risky with a car that has not been driven in a long time, two brothers were pulling a 53 chevy pickup near were I live and something came loose in the steering linkage and caused the tow vehicle to loose control and flip it killed one of the brothers, very sad, just trailer it and be safe.
It is probably too late now but the front end of the tow car must be well lubed and free. Manual steering cars work best because of steering effort and if all else fails give them a bunch more caster ,that will get them to follow the tow car around corners.
[ QUOTE ] Stay out of denver during rush hour. I-25 is a mess on the South end of town with construction. [/ QUOTE ] We left on the 5th, so I didn't see your response till now, when I've finally been able to catch up.... We went straight down I-25 because none of us know Denver well enough to navigate an alternative. Took a very tense 60 minutes to get all the way through. On the return trip Salt Lake took almost two hours. 3,200 miles in six days. Only breakdowns were lights and the rope holding the hood down on one of the towed cars. The '57 Chevy wagon with stock 235 averaged 20 mpg and easily kept up with everything else. Of couse it wasn't towing anything, because the owner decided not to use the tow bar, and the car attached to it is still sitting here near Seattle.
Period perfect would be an old wishbone. For safety, get a Reese adjustable tow bars. About $100 new with all the brackets.
Wow, thanks for the update. Sure hope they got it figured out 7 1/2 years ago... Welcome to the HAMB. It's customary to do an intro in the welcome forum. You'll get no end of crap around here if you don't...
I'm right there beside you but at least we both read the whole thing. Google will get these FNG's in trouble every time especially when they sign up to comment on a 7-1/2 year old thread.
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