Home Made Tow Bar

[niferous]

Ok as I've mentioned I'm trying to make my own tow bar to go get my M1009 in Alabama. I have a 3/4 ton truck to pull the thing so that should provide enough power. First below is the design for a tow bar. Please feel free to pick it apart.

Ok I'm going to be making this thing out of 2" x 1/4" A36 steel square tubing. The ends that come off the rear and slide over the sides of the d-ring shackle attachment point are cut from 2" x 1/4" A36 steel flat bar. I will use a 7/8" x 2-1/2" Grade 8 bolt to secure the tow bar to the M1009. The hitch is a 2-5/16" ball mount and the specs and a picture can be seen here. It has a rating of 7,000 lbs. Other than that I think the picure says it all. I don't know the angle of the longer pieces that extend from the hitch to the mounting bar but when we get welding I will let everyone know.

The tow bar will articulate up and down to meet the hight of the truck and I will probably use an adjustable tow ball like this one. That way we can get the tow bar on an as even plain as possible.

Lastly I'm looking for options on safety chains but thos should be a simple part. More than likely I will just use some shackles with the chains and attach them to the frame. Also I haven't forgotten about lights. I'm probably just going to get a trailer light kit at Tractor Supply and run the wires back attaching where I can with zip ties. Maybe even go under the truck and along the frame. More than likely I'll just take some angle iron and mount the lights to about a 3' section. Then just lay the angle iron on the bumper and zip tie it with some heavy duty ties.

So how does this sound to everyone? How squirley do these things get while towing? Should I be worried about fish tailing?

 

[niferous]

Also I noticed for some reason it won't open the picture of the tow bar up larger. I will try a different approach when I get home.

 

[BFR]

SNIP..... I don't know the angle of the longer pieces that extend from the hitch to the mounting bar but when we get welding I will let everyone know.

If I were doing this I would want the legs angled and long enough that with the whole setup turned as tight as possible backing up the front edge of the cucv misses your trucks quarter panel. I think that tounge might have too wide of an angle, but I'm sure that can be overcome. My biggest concern (if this is a truck from GL) would be if the tires on the cucv will survive the tow.

 

[BFR]

...............

 

[niferous]

I've given a lot of thought to the tire issue as well. I might actually bring a set with me that I have purchased before hand. Maybe even have them mounted on rims ready to go should I need them. I know I can purchase some tires online but where would I get CUCV rims? Right now the trucks will have about 5 ft of clearance from bumper to bumper. That includes the amount of hitch sticking off the back of the truck. The other option is just to save up and stop at a tire store just outside Redstone Arsenal. There is a NTB within 5 miles of the front gate. However they are much higher than I can get at Discount tire here in Houston. If the thing starts and runs I would probably just bring the tires and then drive the truck to Wal-Mart un-hook it, have them instal the tires I bought down here at Discount Tire and then hook it back up. I might even drive it for a while after that to see how it runs.

 

[jrou111]

If you've got a 3/4 ton, why don't you just rent a car hauler trailer?

 

[davo727]

Hey, I have a towbar that I made. Your welcome to borrow it. I work at IAH airport and live near Porter right now. Give me a call 2 81 7 4 4 , 455 7 .

 

[davo727]

And I have a light kit that has the magnetic stick on lights you can use also.

 

[niferous]

I will give you a call tonight. Thanks a lot.

 

[jag7720]

...............

Can we get a bigger picture so we can see the dimensions?

 

[Westex]

Picking up this towbar thread again....I ask if anyone has some dimensions in spec for the construction of a towbar for one Deuce to haul another Deuce. Having never done this, I assume you need a towbar that connects to the rear pintle of the towing Deuce to the front "D" rings on the front bumper of the Deuce to be towed. I weld as a hobby and any dimensions/measurements would be great.

 

[kc5mzd]

I had a friend make a m35 - m35 tow bar for me. It looked good until you started to drive. I guess it wasn't aligned exactly right. It made the steer tires on the towed m35 turn all the way to the left and drag. I went to a local trailer supply store bought one for about $115.00. It was only rates for 5,000lbs but made the 500 miles home at 60+ mph with no problems. I did have to use a different truck to tow it with a 2" ball.

 

[12vctd]

I dont know how much a military tow bar goes for price wise, the large bar for the m35. But i would imagine unless you had alot of steel laying around to properly build one you would spend as much if not more in materials.

 

[Westex]

I've got access to lots of steel. And yes, I'd prefer just to buy one 'cause I've got plenty of other stuff to work on. But I'm not going to go mickey mouse. A Deuce weighs somewhere in the vicinity of 7 tons, so I want to tow it right. A nice diagram of how the tow bar hooks up would be beautiful.

 

[clinto]

A nice diagram of how the tow bar hooks up would be beautiful.

There is an entire TM devoted just to the medium towbar in the TM section under resources. It shows hookup points, pins, etc.