From: "Frederick Joslin" <fljoslin@xxxxxxxx>
Hi all: I wish to consult the enormous wisdom of this mailing list about
towing a 1969 Lebaron.I may need to move my cars across country and
towing the vehicle behind a large moving truck seems to be the most
feasible method at this time.The tow trailers available top out at about
4000 lbs weight limit. I used one of these trailers very successfully
with a 66 Newport at about 4500 lbs, but even with the generous
allowances due to the litigious nature of our society, I think a 5000 lb
car is pushing the limit. Also, the Newport was almost too long for the
trailer and the LeBaron certainly would be! Tow bars are available for
towing vehicles behind motor homes. U-Haul has a generic version rated at
5000 lbs in which two brackets bolt to the vehicle by some means. They
suggested bolting these brackets to the bumper. I do not like this
approach for two reasons. First I do not want to drill holes in the
bumper and secondly I am not sure that the bumper is the best
(strongest/safest) way to tow a vehicle. I could certainly very easily
mount the brackets to the bumper low and then put nice chrome plated
bolts in the resultant holes afterwards which would cosmetically hide the
holes very well. Has anyone towed a similar car using brackets bolted to
the bumper? I am interested in mounting some form of an adaptor
plate(s) to the "frame" and then mounting the tow bar brackets to the
adaptor plates(s). I was looking at the vehicle and there are two very
sturdy bumper mounting points more or less at each end of the radiator.
The mounting face is verticle and runs across the width of the car. There
appear to be 2 x 1/2" (or bigger) bolts at each location. Directly below
this there is a slot in the bumper on each side. I was thinking of
fabricating a piece of 1/2" steel plate probably about 4" wide which
would attach to the car by the two bolts and then come down through the
slot in the bumper where I could attach the brackets from the tow dolly.
I believe that the steel plates would require a slight bend forward to
actually go through the slots. Other options are larger plates which
attach to the "frame" farther back from the bumper. Also, there are
modifications to the vehicle. 1) I would have to remove the drive
shaft. What do I need to do to the end of the transmission to protect
it? 2) I assume that I need to lock the steering wheel. I was thinking of
fabricating an A-frame out of 2x2 wood which would clamp to the steering
wheel and rest against the floor. Does this sound adequate? I do not know
if this will happen yet, but it certainly does not hurt to be
prepared. Thanks in advance for all of the help. Fred Joslin
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