Flat towing with tow tabs
 

Is anybody actually doing it, even locally for short distances?


https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics...7-img_0616.png

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

I flat towed to a local 100ft drags just for fun

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h3...psb7e0c138.jpg

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

I had so much fun I did it the next year

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h3...psrbgkoup1.jpg

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: day2killa</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had so much fun I did it the next year

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h3...psrbgkoup1.jpg </div></div>

Awesome!

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: day2killa</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had so much fun I did it the next year

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h3...psrbgkoup1.jpg </div></div>


John, what's your towbar set-up?
Where is the 100' drags on Long Island?

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/pics...0-img_0722.png


Almost done with the tow vehicle for Nova

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

----I once flat towed a 1960 Corvette behind a 1966 El Camino from San Jose to Cape Cod. Got caught in a bad snow storm in Indiana along the way with almost bald tires on the El Camino. It was so long ago that I didn't have a credit card and ran out of money in Ohio. Luckily, I had family in Ohio and one kind relative lent me $100. Not my best trip!.....Bill S

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

The 100 ft drags, was at riverhead raceway, NMW tow tabs, and a home made tow bar that I bought off of craigslist a while back

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

I know back in the day it was readily done, but is it safe towing that way these days?

Bill, great story.

If I was towing a couple hundred miles, is a two wheel tow dolly OK to use?

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

Looks cool but the problem is that you have a 4,000 &quot;trailer&quot; behind you with no brakes. That's a helluva lot of stress on the braking system of the rig you are pulling it with.

It would be kinda like &quot;bump drafting&quot; for a couple hundred miles on your way to the show. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/eek.gif[/img]

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

I towed with a tow bar...once...when I was 18. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

Looks cool but I would never do it again.

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

I used to flat tow my 57 Chevy and 67 Caprice Junior Stockers everywhere I went racing. Even towed the Caprice all the way to Bristol Tennessee. Only trouble was backing the 57 up a slight hill and into a garage, but it did get done. Sand (most everything is paved at dragstrips now, but it wasn't then) gets to be a problem too if you aren't ready for it. To tow through sand, you need to let the pressure in the front tires down on the towed vehicle so the tires will follow the tow vehicle. My tow bar was pretty long. It was a factory tow bar that originally came with a 64 Thunderbolt. I made my own brackets for the cars so they would fit the tow bar without having to modify it. Used NMW towing hubs and 54 Chevy wheels to get the right offset for clearance. Towed fine at legal highway speeds using a 69 Catalina with the 57, and a 73 Impala with the Caprice.

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: olredalert</div><div class="ubbcode-body">----I once flat towed a 1960 Corvette behind a 1966 El Camino from San Jose to Cape Cod. Got caught in a bad snow storm in Indiana along the way with almost bald tires on the El Camino. It was so long ago that I didn't have a credit card and ran out of money in Ohio. Luckily, I had family in Ohio and one kind relative lent me $100. Not my best trip!.....Bill S </div></div>

Hey Bill......remember flat towing the 409 from Cousin Eddie's garage?

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

I used to tow my '62 09 to the track all the time with no problems. Used my '69 Road Runner to tow. However once going to a show, I had to pull off for some reason and the edge of the driveway I pulled into had a dip and a lip next to the pavement. When the front wheels of the '62 hit it, they decided to go the wrong way and bent the tow bar.
Also, if you were stopped at an intersection and needed to turn, you needed to start rolling straight before you turned in order for the towed vehicle's wheels to follow. If you started by turning the tow vehicle, the towed vehicle wheels wouldn't know how to follow.
I also used the bar to tow a couple parts cars with no engines. The front wheels just would not track with no weight on them. I pumped up the front tires to 60lbs and tied the steering wheel to the vent window post and just dragged the tires around on the turns.

Verne

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

&quot;tied the steering wheel to the vent window post and just dragged the tires around on the turns&quot; Been there -- done that and wanted to say it earlier -- but I kept my trap shut ... HeHeHe TAZ [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/haha.gif[/img]

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

That's why tow truck drivers use to wear belts!

BIG

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

----Sure do, Jake! The 1st time I saw it I coildnt believe you were actually going to restore it......Bill S

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

I wouldn't do it these days. Too many other crazy drivers on the road.

I retained the setup just for display purposes.

K

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSC00641.jpg

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/...2/DSC00654.jpg

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

Same tow bar:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...1/63Covair.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...1/64LeMans.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...8GTOresize.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3.../GTO/69GMC.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...001/towbar.jpg

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

Love those pictures Keith

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: markinnaples</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Love those pictures Keith </div></div>

Thank you -

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: njsteve</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Looks cool but the problem is that you have a 4,000 &quot;trailer&quot; behind you with no brakes. That's a helluva lot of stress on the braking system of the rig you are pulling it with. </div></div>

One problem is that if you hit some sand while turning the wheels of the towed vehicle will kick the wrong way. You have to hop out mid turn and crank the steering wheel in the direction you intended to go.

The other problem is that you don't have any brake lights, unless you do something extra-ordinary...

...which I did, with the Chevelle. I created a jumper between the tow vehicle and car, with a connector under the front bumper. The connector was tied to the brake lights on the car in an attempt to keep other folks from running in to me.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: njsteve</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It would be kinda like &quot;bump drafting&quot; for a couple hundred miles on your way to the show. eek </div></div>

My sister and I used to claim that &quot;Casper the Friendly Ghost&quot; was driving the GTO...

(lol)

Re: Flat towing with tow tabs
 

Thanks Keith, love those pictures and good info. Hoping to get a video of the suburban towing the nova for Sam before it changes hands.
[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/burnout.gif[/img]