How to tow like a soon to be fatality

[porridgehead]

I don't know where to begin.


Hmmm.... something seems amiss... tongue weight off a tad?



Wait a sec... that trailer needs a fifth wheel... don'it? Well lookie here, they've got it covered...


Ya know, I don't think them chains with the 'S' hooks is gonna hold all that thar weight. It's done gonna snap that tailgait right off... less'n you braced it... Well hell's bell's Jim-Bob, you done thought of everthang!


Yer' good ta go, good buddy! When you see the devil, tell him you ain't bad, yer just really, really dumb.

[Ultra]

Wow!

Just wow.

[Boxer2500]

Only in Utah...

[fill in whichever Mormon joke you like]

[Ultra]

Only in Utah...

[fill in whichever Mormon joke you like]

Well, I got me a lot of wives to haul, you know.

[Stephen M]

Do my eyes deceive me, or is that 4x4 post / tailgate brace actually lathed down to fit through the hole in the hitch where the ball would go?

The engineering term for that is "Attention to detail in all the wrong places" 

[porridgehead]

Yep, that's exactly what you see. The finest redneck engineering known to mankind. I love the retaining chains hooked through the sheetmetal too. There was serious planning involved, right after all the beer, yet before the whiskey consumed during the construction.

I am deeply impressed.

[lynxd67]

Thought you'd like to see my rig. The Mk1 I bought from the first owner with 18,000 miles and added a towbar. Just seemed the right car for the job!Didn,t change the springs or shocks, but it tows well just the same.

[Stephen M]

Thought you'd like to see my rig. The Mk1 I bought from the first owner with 18,000 miles and added a towbar. Just seemed the right car for the job!Didn,t change the springs or shocks, but it tows well just the same.

Nice! Two questions:

1) What's the weight of trailer with car loaded?

2) Is that one of those two piece tilting trailers? Do you have to add ramps to avoid scraping when loading or unloading?

[Ultra]

2) Is that one of those two piece tilting trailers?

I think it is. 

[lynxd67]

Questions questions! The rig weighs 1.5 tons with the car on (1 ton car and 1/2 ton trailer) and the trailer is a Brian James (look up their web site - they specialise in racing rigs) and is hydraulic tilting. Easy peasy! The trailer is rated for 2.5 tons and the tyres are inflated at 90psi (and yes you did read that right - they are called bullet tyres).

[Arthur Dent]

Now that is a tow rig - love the it.

[porridgehead]

That there is the finest looking hillbilly backwoods tow rig that I have ever cast my eyes upon. You Europeans sure have a different way of doing things half-arsed than us Americans: you do them right!

Seriously, that is very, very cool.

[lynxd67]

If you are wondering what the front part of the rig is for, it is for the extra wheels and tyres. You can see the wire that goes across that is used to thread through them and lock off on the other side to stop light fingered people wandering off with them. If I don't need that, then I undo four bolts and it comes off. The rig is galvanised and very strong. I've towed a Jaguar V12 sedan on it with no problems. Also, being a hydraulic tilt trailer, it is so easy to lower it and drive up on. Movable plates on the deck to put the front wheels against to equalise the weight on the trailer for the tow bar too. They aren't cheap, but when I bought the car that's on it in the picture the trailer came as part of the deal.