Quick Model A fix on the road

[Cool Hand Lurker]

Years ago I got a job transfer from Minnesota to Wisconsin, about 400 miles. I had to transfer my 1930 Model A Fordor to the new station. I made an A-frame towbar and bolted it to the front frame horns of my Model A for the trip. This was a pre-restoration Model A with open roof, no upholstery, lots of patina and lots of loose joints. Really loose joints. I hooked up and started out and got about 100 feet before the Model A started shimmy'n and shakin' like it was doing the polka. I had a VW steering damper in "inventory" that was basically a long skinny shock absorber. I used a hose clamp to join one end to the tie rod and the other end I bolted to the frame. That held the loose tie rod ends in check and stopped the wobble. With that setup I was able to tow the 400 miles at about 50 mph with nary a wiggle. It got a lot of 'thumbs up' out on the highway too.

[ursus]

Strange things happen when towing an unrestored Model A. We had an old Tudor that broke down and couldn't be restarted. We hooked it up on a tow bar via the frame horns for the 10 mile tow home but it soon began to shimmy and shake badly at only 35-40 MPH. When driven, it had no shimmy at all yet when towed it did, and badly. I put my helper in the driver's seat of the Tudor and instructed him to steer the car as if he were driving it to follow me. We towed it all the way home without a shake or shimmy and I could never figure out why the difference.

[CarlG]

On our summer tour 2015, I had to tow one of the vehicles several times. It would not track either. Towed it with a driver and had no problem at all.

The tour of 2014, MY vehicle had to be towed. It tracked flawlessly without a driver.

Both times using the same tow bar.

[CHuDWah]

Used to tow our A with a homemade tow bar bolted to the bumper brackets. (Not as bad as it sounds as everything was well-engineered and heavy-duty components.) Usually it was fine but occasionally the A would start shimmying for no apparent reason. I'd slow down until it stopped, then speed up again and all would be well.

[katy]

Back around 1962 or so we were towing a Model A RPU w/a tow bar and the LR wheel came off. Followed the track and found the wheel and brake drum out in the field. We found the axle key on the road but no nut. The A had been sitting for years and we surmised that somewhere along the way someone had removed the axle nut for another purpose and we had towed the truck about 10 miles before the wheel came off. Scrambling around I found that the nut holding the spare wheel carrier at the frame was exactly what we needed. Borrowed it and w/a nail for a cotter pin we were on our way.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

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Katy, I think I see the problem. You were towing with a Chevrolet pickup and the Model A was embarrassed, started kicking and threw a wheel. Hey, something was bound to happen.