cucv tow bar $35

[richingalveston]

here are some pics of my towbar, works on both of my M1009, not sure about any other CUVC's

if you have access to a welder, all you have to purchase is a hitch from your local trailer shop and two heavy duty pieces of angle. and one set of spare shackles. I had the angle and the shackes so i only had to purchase the 2" ball reciever. going to add some more metal and safety chains to it in the future but so far i have used it for over 600 miles with no issues.

 

[davey8943]

I admire your ingenuity. That is definitely one way to get-er-dun!

But consider this post a subscription to see what WM, and some of the other gray hairs -P) have to say!

Dave

 

[cfish]

pretty slick. Beats the heck out of 600.00!

 

[hndrsonj]

I don't know what to think of how it's mounted. Doesn't look that strong to me. For the $450 I paid for my medium bar, the liability of a homebuilt just isn't worth it to me.

 

[KsM715]

Have you done a brake check with it yet? Get your tow rig up to 60 and stand on them, then report back with your results.

 

[cucv1833]

Good ingenuity, glad it works for you. would like to see more pics after you beef it up and add the safety chains. it does look a little weak at the welds and side loading the shackles. whats your tow rig. i towed my M1008 twice with a homemade towbar 30 mile total and i was pretty worried the whole time.

 

[wallew]

I gotta go with hndrsonj on this one.

While I DO appreciate the ingenuity involved, I could never consider pulling anything I own with a home made tow bar . I just waited until one of our club members bought a pallet of tow bar parts and started selling them after getting missing pieces installed. Not cheap and by no means is it light, but it does work well.

I have about the same amount of coin in mine. I do want to sand blast and repaint them one day. But I DO KNOW they will do the job I need them to do.

Though to be honest, while I figure they could handle a panic stop, I wouldn't want to try it unless very necessary. That's why I leave LOADS of room when I'm towing ANYTHING with my medium military tow bar.

 

[ABN173]

I like the idea/concept beef it up some more and you have may have a workable solution.

If I tow my CUCV it will most likely be with a M35 (when I get one) so I am looking for medium tow bar.

 

[colelkhunter]

I just towbar recovered a 1009 behind a 2500 suburban in the rain for 12 hours. Round trip from tennessee to fort polk La. No way I would trust that light weight of a towbar. I have a military medium. You can't look at it and say yeas that will get the job done today, you have to look at it and say will this hold up to anything that I can throw at it. will this survive if someone rear ends the vehicle I am towing? Will this take anything I can throw at it and ask for seconds. It may be your life or someone elses life that depends on it. Don't want to be harsh here, but that looks like a poorly constructed (Good Concept) towbar that will certainly at some point break. Think 5 times that strong and you have a good start. My advice is to invest in REALLY GOOD safety chains, because you will need them.

 

[MuleMac01]

wonder what a Dot cop would say about it

 

[CARNAC]

A real light/medium towbar for a CUCV--yes
A real medium towbar for a CUCV--absolutely
That thing--Nope

Sorry, too much liability on that one.

 

[doghead]

I'm with the others, NO WAY.

 

[OLDCHEV4X4]

Sorry, but it looks like you wasted some good shackles. The welds look like bird poop.

 

[maddawg308]

I'd rather have a medium tow bar rated for 38,000 lbs towing the CUCV than that. I believe in overkill.

 

[Westech]

if you do tow with a non DOT aproved system and it fails.. you are at 100% fault for anything that happens...

 

[dstang97]

Is 30 dollars worth chancing someones life?

 

[maddawg308]

Rich, hate to be the person to say that is so wrong on so many levels, but we live in a world where the many get punished for the actions of a few. Looking at that attempt at making your own towbar will almost certainly end in mechanical failure of the weld, and leave you stranded at the very least, or at the most end up killing a vanload of kids on the highway. All that we need is some do-gooder to point a finger at that and say "See? Those surplus fanatics are a hazard to society, why do we allow these trucks to get surplussed out at all if they are going to use them in such a dangerous manner and kill innocent people?" Then the surplus junkies like us are put in a bad light, and the surplus system might get shut down.

Is it possible? Sure. Ask any lawyer who has dealt in firearm laws and see where that ends up. The powers that be are looking for any sane excuse to shut the surplus system down, and an episode like this could do it.

We, as Steel Soldiers, are also about taking old vehicles that have been bubba-fied over the years and bringing them back to a usable, but original condition. Not making them more bubba-fied, like that towbar is doing.

Do it right, do it strong, DO IT SAFE. Or don't do it at all. A $300-400 towbar is worth the money.

If you can't do it right, I suggest you go here, where the rest of the bubbas end up:

Pirate4x4.Com - The largest off roading website in the world.

 

[Recovry4x4]

I'm not totally against fabricated towbars. Is there a risk? Sure there is. Lots of us (not me anymore) use the dual foot adapters. Why? The Gov't deemed them unsafe and sold them all off. Are we risking just as much? Lets look at another fabricated towbar. USMC6062 did one that was absolutley a work of art, I mean any one of us would like to own it. He assumes the same liability risk as this OP. I don't recall anyone pointing out liability in that thread. In my opinion its the skills and fabrication design that make a towbar a work of art or a $35 towbar. USMC6062 spent weeks, cutting, grinding, and welding to come up with a first class design not 35 minutes to come up with a quick but temporary fix.
If we are going to bring problems (critisizms) to the table we should be prepared to bring solutions as well. Lets guide this member in the right direction, not belittle him.

 

[crasheej]

Nice try but go back to drawing table and start over!

 

[hndrsonj]

Kenny,
Do you have a link to that build? I can't find it. It was great work but with the amount of time involved, it would have been cheaper to get a medium.