Technical Towing racecar with old car.

http://www.73-87.com/7387garage/ch***is_suspension/lbs.htm Give this component some thought.

 

Tow bars and tow dollies are great until some azz cop decides to save his community at your expense. In many states, a flat towed vehicle has to be road worthy, licensed, and insured. Most race cars don't fit under those restrictions, and they can impound your tow vehicle, the towed vehicle, and you. You may be subjected to a safety inspection (which you probably are not going to p***) and a hefty fine.
Years ago, a couple buddies and i were tow baring our dirt track cars to a track 20 miles across the state line. We were within sight of the track when all 3 of us got pulled over together. The options we were given was to turn around and go home, or he would do a safety inspection of the tow vehicles and the race cars. He got pretty mad when one of the guys suggested maybe since we were so close to the track, we could race and then go home. He pointed to the next field entrance, and told us we could drive far enough to turn around there and head home, or he was calling for reinforcements.. We all wisely elected to turn around. All of us sold our tow bars the next week and eventually we all invested in trailers. My tow bar was a real nice bolt on, fully adjustable unit.

Later I ask a local cop about the tow bar deal, and he told me IL was the same way. to flat tow anything, it is suppose to be a street legal vehicle. That is suppose to include everything towed on those tow dollies as well. Race cars need to have all 4 wheels off the ground to be legally towed. Gene

 

Cops always don't know the law. Just because they pin a badge on don't make then suddenly knowledgable about the laws. If something is legal in your home state its legal in another state. I knew a woman from Arkansas given a ticket in ill for having a baby in her lap. at that time it was legal in Arkansas. She was ticketed but it was dropped with one phone call from her lawyer. Ok I was driving one of those large cab international bob trucks. We where getting off work from the railroad near Benton Ill. Came up on a state police road block. I pulled up and the cop stepped up on the running board. He exclaimed theres five men in there you all cant be wearing a seatbelt. I replied none of us are wearing seatbelts. Where from Arkansas and Arkansas don't have a seat belt law. He conferred with two other LEOS and waved us by. The guys riding with me where sweating bullets. It was a single axle dump truck with three ft sides. And there where three guys riding in the bed & drinking beer. I got stopped in Oklahoma flat towing. The trooper was fixing to write a ticket when I informed him I would see him in court because its legal in Arkansas. And gave him a card with my lawyers info. The Layer has the same name as me because he is my eldest son. Now having stated all this. Its your choice ? Just because a ticket is written does not mean your guilty. You are en***led to your day in court and en***led to as many appeals as you want. You just have to be ready willing & able to afford it.

 

its a little off topic. When I was a teen the cops in our town always wrote tickets for loud exhaust. you couldn't run a gl***pack or even have a donut gasket or hedder gasket leak. 1968 a local guy buys a brand new Plymouth Roadrunner. first weekend he gets a ticket for loud exhaust. he went to local kangaroo court tells the judge it a brand new car with the factory mufflers & exhaust. Guilty. So he went back to the dealer and tells then he wants quieter mufflers and for them to pay the ticket. The dealer called Chrysler headquarters. Chrysler paid for a team of lawyers to descend on the case. They tore the cops up at appeals court. In order for a loud exhaust ticket to be wrote a Decibel meter has to be used and the cop trained in its use. the law didn't state the decibel allowed and a lot of other things. After that you could run open hedders and the LEOS would turn there heads to avoid seeing you.

 

Now that is funny!

 

The car you have pictured looks pretty low, make sure the suspension is up to the task of towing, air shocks may help, but make sure your springs will handle the load. Rear sway bar will help of you don't have one.
make sure your tires are heavy enough as well.

 

Towed my Corvette with a Packard, and homemade tow bar.
Just used shoe polish CAR IN TOW on the back window

 

You need to remember, times have changed, it seems now that many of the police departments are out to make money off of you any way they can (has nothing to do with safety) and most of the drivers today have their head stuck so far up their *** or their cell phones they couldn't see you if they tried! It was a lot simpler in the 60's & 70's, remember going to California in the 60's with our fuel dragster on an open single axle trailer pulled by a 56 Ford station wagon and thinking nothing about it..

Bill

 

It sure is nice to have trailer brakes

 

I guess I am not understanding what you are saying, in some states it is against the law to tow with an old car or??????

 

been rolling with this for about 12 years. drum brakes on car and no brakes on trailer. not that there hasn't been some white knuckle times though.
[/URL]

 

Man I love that.

 

Really!
Do you actually think these things improve braking by delaying the rears? This works the wrong way round.
The rears could do with more bias initially !
Then, as weight is being transferred to the front wheels the pressure should be limited [or backed off].
By delaying the initial pressure to the rear ,is risking a front wheel lock up [before weight is transferred]

These things are a joke in road racing circles [ a sport where p***ing is done with brakes ]

 

Don't forget some real good safety chains from the trailer to the tow vehicle. I once flipped a Bomb Transport trailer because of a defect the tongue broke clean off and the safety braking system failed (manufacturer defect along with the tongue and they ended up giving us a new bomb transporter for free).

But the worst part was the safety chains ends straightened right out and the next thing I knew I felt a slight bump and when I looked in my mirror and the huge bomb transporter was rolling down the interstate at 70 plus all by it's lonesome. Not a fun day for some construction workers rebuilding a bridge when they saw this huge trailer roll up on some jersey barriers then the tongue, what was left of it, dropped down and stuck in the road surface which launched that several ton transporter end over end right At the bridge guys. Nobody was hurt but some had to jump into the safety nets and change their chivvies.

Good chains may have prevented the whole nightmare.

 

Reminds me of this [ it actually travels straighter than some drivers I know ]

 

Boy that is it. It was going pretty straight and I slowed down and let it bump the truck but then the road slightly curved and it hit the jersey barriers. I was sweating bullets and the first thing I thought was OH **** I know I checked the ball and it was attached when I pulled out but what if......... then I breathed a sight of relief when I saw the tongue was still attached to the ball but had broken off the rest of the transporter..

 

This rig belongs to my friend David, (Impala Dave) on the HAMB. He uses it to tow to local strips and the HAMB Drags. He has a conventional trailer and truck for longer runs. David built the trailer and the tow car so that he would have a period appropriate vehicle. He has told me that it tows great.

John

 

1952 Culver City Speedway. The oval track jalopy of "Steady Eddie" Gray being towed through the pits.