[Houdini]

I'm new to the forum and just started posting. I posted a picture of my 31 Slant Windshield Fordor and one of the members noticed my tow bracket setup. So I thought I would start a thread on this subject, so anyone looking for a solution might be able to find this more easily.

My thought in doing this, was to have an easy way to tow the car, 4 flat on the ground, in case of a breakdown or if I wanted to transport the car some distance to get to the start of a tour. I already had a Blue OX Aventi II tow bar and bought just the loose brackets that they made.

After looking for a simple way to attach them, I came up with my solution. I didn't really want to modify the A, nor did I trust attaching directly to the bumper, so I fabricated a piece of heavy 2 x 2 steel and had tabs welded onto them. The welder only had 1/4 or 1/2 inch thick sheet steel, so we went with the 1/2 inch, as I felt 1/4 might bend. 3/8 would have been ideal in my opinion.

The tabs are about 4 x 5 inches, so the bar could be welded low enough for the brackets to be bolted so they protruded just below the bumper and wide enough so I could drill two sets of holes in each bracket, one in place of the bumper bracket holes and another hole just to the outside, so the bumper could be re-mounted to the new bracket. This way, I'm pulling the car directly by the original bumper supports and not the bumper itself.

The bolt holes for the bumper are 9/16, so all those holes are that size. the tow brackets came with 1/2 holes. All bolts are grade 8.

Unfortunately, for me, when I tested it, my A didn't start off and track, but the wheels turned sideways. I did this in the driveway and watched as my wife slowly started to pull the car. I straightened the wheels and she did a turn in our circular drive and then when she turned into the street, the wheels turned sideways again (opposite direction than the first time). so I didn't trust it to track and not turn sideways. I got in the car and monitored the steering wheel and we went around the block, but at this point, I can't trust the car to track. This is a separate subject and my only intent for this tread, was to show how I attached the brackets for others that might be interested in doing this.

I have work to do on my steering and after that is done, I might try it again, but probably won't feel comfortable towing it unattended this way. It can still work in an emergency to get the car to a safe place, by sitting inside and holding the steering wheel while being towed in that case. And it is easy to just take the setup off and return the car to its original bumper mount.

Hope this can be helpful to someone.