Fred,
I think the
trailer rental companies intentionally underrate their trailer
capacities. This is probably to keep inexperienced people from getting
in over their heads when towing. If it is a tandem axle trailer with a
16’ to 18’ deck it should be rated by the manufacturer around 7000 lbs.
Personally,
I would prefer the car be on a trailer for that many miles.
If you go
the trailer route, always make sure you collapse the vehicle suspension
as much as possible when chaining it down. Don’t chain to the axle,
chain to the frame. This will help keep the cargo and trailer as one.
If you have the vehicle suspension and the trailer suspension working
at the same time it can feel like you’re towing a 5000 lb water bed.
Just my .02
on the subject.
Ken
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.
