|
|
Posted by David Sherman [72.47.9.228] on Tuesday, November 02, 2010 at 02:02:33 :
In Reply to: 1970 Power Wagon Flat Tow Question posted by Luke [76.104.1.118] on Tuesday, November 02, 2010 at 00:20:09 :
I flat-towed my M37 400 miles from Everett to Wallace with no problem, using my grandpa's '67 Chevy 1/2 ton. Went when there wasn't much traffic, roads were bone dry, and I took it VERY easy on the downgrade curves coming down off of Stevens Pass. The thing that worried me was having enough traction on the Chevy to hold the combination on downgrades when braking. I loaded the Chevy up to 5800 lbs GVW with some heavy machinery in the back, which I think was the key to stability. I highly recommend making your towing vehicle as heavy as possible. Hill-climbing speed is not important in this situation.
I found I definitely needed to tie the steering wheel in place. That aspect is sneaky because you might go just fine around several corners with it not tied, and then you hit just a little bit of a hole or a bump that catches one of the front wheels of the towed vehicle and it spins it all the way to the stops and pushes your towing vehicle sideways. I experimented at slow speeds on city streets until I was sure it was working. I ended up tying the wheel rigidly with nylon rope. There was some give in the rope, but mostly I just took the corners wide. Bungies or a slack rope were too loosy-goosey in my opinion, and the tight rope caused no problems. I also disconnected the drivelines at the pumpkins, making sure to tie them up well. Also, make sure you have lights on the towed vehicle, either wired into its regular brake and turn signal lights, or jerry-rigged with a portable set clamped on somehow. I also added a binder chain that would be sure to hold things somewhat together if the tow bar came loose.
A lot of people would say flat-towing is too dangerous, but I think that like most dangerous things, it can be done safely if you're careful and take things easy. In this case that means towing when traffic is light and the weather is dry, during daylight hours only, and being sure that the towing vehicle is at least as heavy as the towed one. Go slowly on downhill curves, pull over often to let other people by, and stop and figure out what's going on whenever you suspect something isn't quite right. The biggest danger is that you do not have brakes on the towed vehicle and you can easily jacknife it or push your towing vehicle clean off the road and over the cliff. Go slow and get there quicker.