Towing Points

[stevew]

I'm doing what are the final few bits of preparation of the car for a Hillclimb 6&7 Sep and am looking for some simple, not too intrusive modifications for a tow point for both the front & rear of the car. Whilst there seems to be a pair of towing eyes either side of the front sub-frame, if either of these are used I'm sure the front bumper will get trashed as the tension comes on as the eyes are higher than the bottom of the bumper. Also can't see anything obvious at the rear. So for the front I'm considering a metal fabrication hanging off the sub-frame to one side with a shackle just below the bumper level, and for the rear bolting a towing eye through the chassis through to a load spreading plate. Has anyone any proven solutions or other suggestions?

[Rich]

I seem to remember Hans extended the tow points on his front subframe to clear the bodywork.

[kelvink]

He did indeed ....



Personally I think the steel in the u bolt looks a tad weak and would expect it to be bent if it were used to be towed, it's probably ok as a tie down point. Often the suspension arms are used to get a vehicle pulled off a track.

If you make towing points make sure they are sturdy enough, including what they are mounted to, to be used to pull the car sideways as well as simply forwards or backwards on it's wheels

[Hans Efde]

My towing eye is not for racing, it's just in case of problems on the street. I had to shorten it though, it's now about a half inch shorter than on the photo.
For racing tow ends Peter Hills had a good solution on his racing Gold convertible. He made a bracket that bolted on the front of the subframe and protruded through the slot in the bumper just below the indicator/city light. I'll see if I have a pic. of it somewhere.

[wolfie]

you could do like a lot of modern cars and add a screw in one. Go down the scrapyard or fleabay, buy one, find a nut that fits and weld it to the subframe then drill a hole to suit in the front and make a simple plug for it

[kelvink]

you could do like a lot of modern cars and add a screw in one. Go down the scrapyard or fleabay, buy one, find a nut that fits and weld it to the subframe then drill a hole to suit in the front and make a simple plug for it

It's not uncommon to find these pull out. Production cars have them fitted as restraining points for shipping, not for towing.

[DavidL]

you could do like a lot of modern cars and add a screw in one. Go down the scrapyard or fleabay, buy one, find a nut that fits and weld it to the subframe then drill a hole to suit in the front and make a simple plug for it

It's not uncommon to find these pull out. Production cars have them fitted as restraining points for shipping, not for towing.

Are you sure about that? My VW van has a screw-in point and a long eyebolt stored in the toolkit which I've used more than once to have it towed, including getting it winched onto a truck.

Also, it's a left hand thread (which I believe is fairly common in these) because (so I've been told) if you tow with a rope, its natural tendency to unravel when you pull on it means it tends to "untwist" in an anticlockwise direction - hence it would undo an eyebolt it's attached to if it was a right hand thread.

This is a mod I've been intending to do too. My van's towing bolt is a decent length - about 10 or 11 inches - which might well be long enough to clear a Midas's nosecone if it's attached to the front of the subframe. I haven't measured it exactly yet, though.

In addition, it's meant to take a force acting parallel (ish) to the long axis of the vehicle. Shipping tiedown points aren't...

[AllanH]

I've had exactly the same thoughts but don't want anything permanent that protrudes too low under the car with the grounding probems tahtit will bring, Am fabricating a bolt in tow bracket that engages in the existing subfraame tow-eye but with atongue that extends into the subframe itself with the tongue and one side of the bracket bracing against the subframe itself when under load. If needed it will need a bit of grovelling under the front of the car for a few minutes to secure in place but will ensure taht any tow line is well clear of the underside of the "bumper". I'll try to take a pic of the model I've made and will post

cheers

Allan

[philr]

Hi, have a look at somebody like Merlin motorsport, as they have a variety of towing eyes/ straps.
I've seen the strap type used here in Scotland at hillclimbs for road cars. May be a quicker and easier way to sort your issue.

Regards

Phil R

[stevew]

Many thanks for the responces. I'm going for the towing straps at this stage - looking at bolting a seat-belt mount to the front-subframe a few inches aft of one of the towing points, along with a 1" 'bridge' foward of it to the underside of the subframe cross member such that it takes the load that would compress the body-work. I'll make the straps out of seat-belt webing doubled up and sewn, and will cable tie to the bodywork to stop dragging along the road. For the rear will bolt another seat-belt mount to the right-hand side of the rear subframe with a longer strap again cable-tie to the bodywork ensuring clearnace with the exhaust. Think this will get me through the weekend race, and will look at a neater approach over the winter. Thanks again for all your advice.