Talk about being prepared...

[bmerr98]

I saw this in the Wal-Mart parking lot this morning and thought, "Guess he figured he'd need a tow sooner or later!" I know the rig is for hauling it, just thought it'd be good for a laugh

View attachment 13526

Got a mechanic coming!

 

[SFox]

As a GM guy normally, I believe that I should at least get to say: That should have been a factory standard option!

 

[bmerr98]

Yup, no matter the brand, everyone gets it right some times, wrong other times. I've had good service and headaches from GM and Ford, as well as a few Japanese vehicles.

 

[wildbill23c]

How do you flat tow one of them? Last I knew you can't unless it happens to have a manual transmission which isn't very popular.

 

[SFox]

By the time you need to tow it, the transmission breaking more is probably the least of your worries!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

How do you flat tow one of them? Last I knew you can't unless it happens to have a manual transmission which isn't very popular.

They make disconnect kits for the powertrain.

 

[wildbill23c]

They make disconnect kits for the powertrain.

Heard about those at one point and people having mixed results with them.

There's a guy here in town where I live, that has an 80's Chevy 3/4 ton truck with a tow bar on the front of it as well, he didn't install it, and he hasn't removed the tow bar, it belonged to the power company who would tow the truck behind their lift truck so they had a run around truck when they were at remote sites. But if I remember correctly it is a 6.2L Diesel, and a manual transmission so no axle or drive-line disconnect needed there.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Heard about those at one point and people having mixed results with them.

There's a guy here in town where I live, that has an 80's Chevy 3/4 ton truck with a tow bar on the front of it as well, he didn't install it, and he hasn't removed the tow bar, it belonged to the power company who would tow the truck behind their lift truck so they had a run around truck when they were at remote sites. But if I remember correctly it is a 6.2L Diesel, and a manual transmission so no axle or drive-line disconnect needed there.

My brother had to put one in a F-150 at work, he thought it was pretty cheesy.

I have never been around one because:

A: Both my trucks have a manual t-case
B: I would never buy a motorhome.

Tow bars used to be really common on farm trucks, made it really easy to move tractors around when you could take your truck with you.

 

[wildbill23c]

Or many people just buy a Jeep Cherokee or Grand Cherokee...at least the older ones anyhow, you could flat tow them with a tow-bar setup and not have to deal with disconnecting drive-shafts, manual or automatic transmission were setup this way. Simply shift the transmission to neutral, transfer case to neutral, transmission back into park and it was ready to tow.

 

[AllanD]

I have one of those for my 4x4 Ranger,

After re-assembling the truck from a frame-off rebuild, conversion to 4x4 (cross-member swap) AND converting to a 4.0 engine from a 2.9 I had a grand total of 78.2 miles of "Test mileage" on my Ranger before I mounted the tow bar and dragged it to Casper Wyoming behind a friend's F-250 (He was driving his F-450 and a trailer)

My Ranger was my ride home from Wyoming, all 1820 miles.

The ONLY issue I had was that somewhere real close to home one of the
caliper pin bolts (1995-up two-piston calipers) vibrated off I had a spare
in my spares kit and didn't even need to pull the wheel to put a new one on.

I had another use for that tow-bar, when I snapped off the output shaft
in my trans in 2009 rboyer was able to tow me home... With HIS F-250
after he drove me home in his truck to retrieve the tow-bar.

(Thanks again Rob!)

 

[ridgerunner]

I suggest U follow him and get a photo of his motorhome. I'd be much more interested in that than the pick up truck he hauls.

 

[a31ford]

I suggest U follow him and get a photo of his motorhome. I'd be much more interested in that than the pick up truck he hauls.

+1 rep for that

Greg

 

[tmcalavy]

Reckon that hitch will fit the ball on the back of my mule? Gotta chain, so I've got that part covered.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Or many people just buy a Jeep Cherokee or Grand Cherokee...at least the older ones anyhow, you could flat tow them with a tow-bar setup and not have to deal with disconnecting drive-shafts, manual or automatic transmission were setup this way. Simply shift the transmission to neutral, transfer case to neutral, transmission back into park and it was ready to tow.

No, most people get something Liberty/Excape sized if not a car.

Nobody could figure out why they needed a brand new F-150 drug behind their big bus motorhome aside from showing off that their big bus motorhome could pull an F-150.