I'm never towing with this device again...

[Captain Ledd]

Hands down one of the scariest things I've ever towed, despite never exceeding 20MPH.

A very good friend of mine bought a 1979 Jeep J10 pickup a few towns over from me. Drove great for the test drive, drove great the way to my house, then after I showed him to the major highway by my house, it died maybe a mile down the road... It turned out all it was, was a wire fell off the alternator (diagnosed some while later). But the tow back to my house was hair raising.

This is a tow bar meant for back when vehicles had the real kind of bumpers, thick chunks of steel. Some relative gave it to my dad 35+ years ago, who knows how old it actually is.

The problem was, it didn't have ANY means of compensating for height between the 2 vehicles (I realized this once we tried hooking it up). It ONLY pivots on the towed vehicle. So since the J10 is alot larger then my little 2wd Ranger, it actually lifted the back end up making it even lighter.

We took the back roads home and I didn't think I was going to make it up some of the hills, they weren't even that steep. Also since I had no traction on the rear either, he basically had to steer (in the J-10) the rear end of my truck around the turns to keep it from jack-knifing. All the while pulling me everywhere from the bumps.

I think this thing is going to go right back on the shelf, kept around only for nostalgia.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

sounds like to had someone manning the jeep.. wouldn't it have been easier to just pull it with a tow rope/chain?

 

[Captain Ledd]

sounds like to had someone manning the jeep.. wouldn't it have been easier to just pull it with a tow rope/chain?

Probably, but my dad picked up a tow rope with hooks on it and not loops like I specifically told him. The hooks don't have latches on them either, so they're constantly falling off. We actually tied some twine around these to keep them on the truck.

But yeah, I had my friend in the Jeep. My initial thought was to simply help with braking, that became a somewhat minor concern (as opposed to being pushed into traffic). He thought I was swerving all over the place at first lol.

The mile down the road was a mile down the main road to the highway, it actually was a few miles from my house in terms of towed distance.

*edit:

Towing with just a chain/rope is technically illegal I believe (at least in Michigan). And since the truck didn't have plates/insurance yet, I figured I'd best not push my luck.

 

[Will]

I've preached against those things because your experience is similar to mine--except I went from Virginia Beach to Nashvill, Indiana. On the interstate, no problem. On ramps or in town, it pushes the back end of the truck around and I DID jack-knife underneath an overpass. Very embarrassing. I use it still, but only with my big truck.

 

[TRX501RYAN]

we used a tow bar on a samurai to my lifted ranger.... lol... it was quite the opposite... but still had a weird feeling towing it


Ry

 

[bandit]

davisburg, i was just up there for a swap meet the other week

 

[Daniel_187]

I know its a Jeep but those J10 are cool

 

[BlackBII]

I used one to tow my Fiat from Texas to Wyoming...couldn't have been a smoother ride. It towed awesome!

 

[Captain Ledd]

I know its a Jeep but those J10 are cool

It is indeed a cool truck. I realized the alternator issue after I took it to get it tested and saw that there were 2 wires out of the clip, instead of just one (which seemed odd at first, but I never noticed the other wire hanging below the alternator).

We ended doing alot to it over the weekend. New cam, lifters, full round of gaskets and seals, pulled the head completely apart and cleaned it all. Very simple engine to work on (258 I6).

It actually still has a factory T15 3 speed, reverse is where 1st gear normally is. Talk about old school.

I used one to tow my Fiat from Texas to Wyoming...couldn't have been a smoother ride. It towed awesome!

Well, if it had a way to adjust for height differences on the towed vehicle too it would have probably been a much different story. I could have had the full rear weight (as much as there is) on my rear wheels and had a lot more stable drive. Like if it had a conventional 2" ball instead of a block that slid into a receiver. I had to back the truck into it to get it to slide in.

 

[1badexplorer]

I've been there too. We used to use tow bars and chains also. After a few close calls I now own a trailer. I will never tow anything again without it. Trailers may towing sooooo much nicer.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Well, if it had a way to adjust for height differences on the towed vehicle too it would have probably been a much different story. I could have had the full rear weight (as much as there is) on my rear wheels and had a lot more stable drive. Like if it had a conventional 2" ball instead of a block that slid into a receiver. I had to back the truck into it to get it to slide in.

When you start taking weight OFF the towing vehicle, you are in for an interesting trip.

Dad has a hay cart that does that, a little 2k bale will throw a half ton around with ease.

 

[Will]

He's saying that they were past the limits of the joints in the towbar and had to force the drawbar in to hook it up, which took weight off of the Ranger.

Personally speaking, those things are bad anyway. The back end of a Ranger is maybe #1,200. When you use a zero tongue weight towing device--and add to that the fact that steering boxes are very resistant to being turned from the wrong end, it's a receipe for bad luck. It takes time for the front tires of the towed vehicle to figure out which way you want them to go, and then for them to get there. A 3,500# towed vehicle pushing laterally on a 1,200# set of tires is bad. Add some rain and you can't control it. There's always someone that has spent their entire life doing 90 passing the Ice ROad Truckers pulling a paving machine on a towbar behind their Ford Courier, carving their girlfriends initials into the ice with some beautifully artistic spins of the wheel, and never even noticed it was back there. But my experience is, it's a bad idea. Behind a motorhome or even a big pickup, it's a lot different.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

There's always someone that has spent their entire life doing 90 passing the Ice ROad Truckers pulling a paving machine on a towbar behind their Ford Courier, carving their girlfriends initials into the ice with some beautifully artistic spins of the wheel, and never even noticed it was back there.

I wish I had room in my siggy for that one

later,
Dustin

 

[AllanD]

There's always someone that has spent their entire life doing 90 passing the Ice ROad Truckers pulling a paving machine on a towbar behind their Ford Courier, carving their girlfriends initials into the ice with some beautifully artistic spins of the wheel, and never even noticed it was back there. But my experience is, it's a bad idea. Behind a motorhome or even a big pickup, it's a lot different.

Will... ?

Have you been following me around again?

AD

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I've used tow bars before and haven't really had an issue to speak of. But the tow bars I've used are the old U-haul style which are somewhat adjustable. I had no problems pulling my choptop behind my Ranger with it. There was a height difference, but it wasn't terrible, and I always threw some extra weight in the bed of my Ranger to compensate for the lack of tongue weight.

Recently I tried towing my choptop behind my F-150 and was appalled that it wanted to push my F-150 around to a minor degree. After thinking about it, I realized what might have been the main problem... the hitch for my F-150 sits near shin level, the hitch for my Ranger sits at kneecap level. Those couple inches must make a bit of difference. (I really need to get off my arse and get my new springs on my F-150).