Towing frames..

[Terry Horlick]

I see there has been a resounding approval of towing the T car with a tow bar. The fellow i bought my car from towed it in just this way from New Mexico to Los Angeles, California. The car seems to be just fine now, and I don't think the fellow ever did any repairs on the car in the 15 years he owned it. To support his allegation the car came with the tow bar. It is an "A" frame setup with bolts to the frame dumb irons. I have this bar and it is available to anyone who wants it. Tweed, I know this bar will fit up to your old girl, TC2259, as it came with my car: TC2285. The two cars were probably made on the same day! Terry Horlick TC2285

[Terry Sanders]

Seems to me that the concensus was that it was ok to tow a TC with the driveshaft disconnected.....or did I miss something? Terry in Oakland Terry Horlick thorlick@sbcglobal.net> wrote: I see there has been a resounding approval of towing the T car with a tow bar. The fellow i bought my car from towed it in just this way from New Mexico to Los Angeles, California. The car seems to be just fine now, and I don't think the fellow ever did any repairs on the car in the 15 years he owned it. To support his allegation the car came with the tow bar. It is an "A" frame setup with bolts to the frame dumb irons. I have this bar and it is available to anyone who wants it. Tweed, I know this bar will fit up to your old girl, TC2259, as it came with my car: TC2285. The two cars were probably made on the same day! Terry Horlick TC2285 Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Joe Gates]

Terry wrote It is an "A" frame setup with bolts to the frame dumb irons. I have this bar and it is available to anyone who wants it. Joe replies Any chance of posting some specs? I would like to manufacture one as it seems the ideal way to ensure a lift home after taking the plastic for a service, and picking it up again afterwards without having to be reliant upon others for a lift. I already have in mind a suitable sign for the rear of the TC - "This is a pushing not a towing vehicle"! Joe

[Kevin Poole]

----- Original Message ----- From: "Liz Harris" lizandtweed@yahoo.co.uk> > > Hi all, has anybody had any experience in the UK towing a T type with > the sort of `towing frame` as used by the AA etc....or the > `spectacle` type... In the UK, this would only be legal for recovering a broken-down vehicle. Unbraked trailers (which a T-type with a towing frame would be classed as) must be less than half the weight of the towing vehicle and less than 750kg. The Brown Book gives the TC as over 15cwt, so that's over the limit before you've allowed for any extra kit. A "braked trailer" would need to have EC type-approved brakes, automatically (e.g. over-run) applied. Exactly the same problem arises with towing dollies, which lift one pair of the car's wheels off the road. So I'm afraid it's a case of "drive it or trailer it" - but then again, I would say that, wouldn't I? -- Kevin Poole B270NZ, SA1838, TC8512, GAN4/63840, GHD5/324616 Car Transport by Tiltbed Trailer - based near Derby

[Liz Harris]

Thanks Kevin for your `final word` as it were, and indeed to everyone that commented on the `towing frame` idea, it`s very interesting to hear all the pro`s and con`s...especially from you guys in the `land of the free`!!!... but as I suspected, the practice is deemed illegal here by some faceless Eurocrat..... seems a shame that my brother-in-law and myself wasted an afternoon in the pub discussing the design....but hey ho!...so I guess it`s back to the caravan chassis plan.......suitably braced and strengthened I hasten to add....not quite so easy to store as a frame, but when the devil pees on your stawberries.....etc..etc... Thanks again all of you............Tweed TC2259 ...... Carl, I have`nt forgotten about the 144 gearbox installation...can`t get to the stored items yet.... look forward to perhaps meeting you on your trip here... . Kevin Poole yahoo01@mainbeam.co.uk> wrote:

----- Original Message ----- From: "Liz Harris" > > Hi all, has anybody had any experience in the UK towing a T type with > the sort of `towing frame` as used by the AA etc....or the > `spectacle` type... In the UK, this would only be legal for recovering a broken-down vehicle. Unbraked trailers (which a T-type with a towing frame would be classed as) must be less than half the weight of the towing vehicle and less than 750kg. The Brown Book gives the TC as over 15cwt, so that's over the limit before you've allowed for any extra kit. A "braked trailer" would need to have EC type-approved brakes, automatically (e.g. over-run) applied. Exactly the same problem arises with towing dollies, which lift one pair of the car's wheels off the road. So I'm afraid it's a case of "drive it or trailer it" - but then again, I would say that, wouldn't I? -- Kevin Poole B270NZ, SA1838, TC8512, GAN4/63840, GHD5/324616 Car Transport by Tiltbed Trailer - based near Derby Yahoo! Groups Links Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[ross macpherson]

An afternoon in the pub discussing matters of import is NEVER wasted.......come to think of it...ANY afternoon in the pub... ARM -----Original Message----- From: Liz Harris [mailto:lizandtweed@yahoo.co.uk] Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 3:38 PM To: mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [mg-tabc] Towing frames.. ..... seems a shame that my brother-in-law and myself wasted an afternoon in the pub discussing the design....but hey ho!...so I guess it`s back to the caravan chassis plan....... -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.4 - Release Date: 3/27/05

[John Patterson]

Time is never wasted in a pub, however while getting wasted in a pub discussing tits, beer and TC's in that order is time well spent. -----Original Message----- From: Ross MacPherson [mailto:arm@telus.net] Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 7:11 PM To: mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [mg-tabc] Towing frames.. An afternoon in the pub discussing matters of import is NEVER wasted.......come to think of it...ANY afternoon in the pub... ARM -----Original Message----- From: Liz Harris [mailto:lizandtweed@yahoo.co.uk] Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 3:38 PM To: mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [mg-tabc] Towing frames.. ..... seems a shame that my brother-in-law and myself wasted an afternoon in the pub discussing the design....but hey ho!...so I guess it`s back to the caravan chassis plan....... -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.4 - Release Date: 3/27/05 Yahoo! Groups Links

[Terry Horlick]

> Joe replies > > Any chance of posting some specs?

Joe, My comment was in jest. I agree that it is dangerous to tow the car this way. First the output shaft bearings in the transmission aren't adequately lubricated. Second you would need to add brake lights or wire the lights on the car in to your tow vehicle. Third, I have a friend who tows his 1912 T Ford that way. About a year ago he collapsed a front wheel doing this (while parking and making tight turns the front wheels turned the wrong way and when he rolled the car a bit the oak spokes just snapped... he has since rebuilt the wheels with the more appropriate hickory wood spokes). There are incredible forces generated in your wheels, why risk it? I might suggest throwing your unicycle in your modern plastic car and just pedaling away on that! Oh, well I will go out into the rain and try and find that bar. I will take a photo of it for y'all and post it in the photo section. Terry TC2285

[Terry Horlick]

Ok I just went out and got that tow bar. In looking it over I see that the previous owner didn't ive me all the parts. The main tow bar is there. It is made to pivot up and down o a shaft which is then bolted to the dumb irons. That shaft is missing. I have added two photo to my web site (couldn't get this site's album to work for me). The first photo is http://pages.sbcglobal.net/thorlick/images/towbar.jpg This shows the MGTC tow bar. The car mount portion isn't present, but you should be able to figure that one out. The second photo is http://pages.sbcglobal.net/thorlick/images/towbar2.JPG This shows the mounting location with chipped paint... think the bar might have chipped the paint? You would havwe to remove the badge bar to use this tow bar. I hope this helps. Terry TC2285

[Rick Waters]

Two points: 1. MG TCs were meant to be driven. The mental energy wasted on the topic of towing a TC is appalling--just think of the fun you could have had driving the thing instead of worrying about towing it. 2."How can you say your life was wasted, if you were wasted all your life." -TC 7881 John Patterson jwp_mgtc@chartermi.net> wrote: Time is never wasted in a pub, however while getting wasted in a pub discussing tits, beer and TC's in that order is time well spent. -----Original Message----- From: Ross MacPherson [mailto:arm@telus.net] Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 7:11 PM To: mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [mg-tabc] Towing frames.. An afternoon in the pub discussing matters of import is NEVER wasted.......come to think of it...ANY afternoon in the pub... ARM -----Original Message----- From: Liz Harris [mailto:lizandtweed@yahoo.co.uk] Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 3:38 PM To: mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [mg-tabc] Towing frames.. ..... seems a shame that my brother-in-law and myself wasted an afternoon in the pub discussing the design....but hey ho!...so I guess it`s back to the caravan chassis plan....... -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.4 - Release Date: 3/27/05 Yahoo! Groups Links Yahoo! Groups Links -Rick Waters --------------------------------- Post your free ad now! Yahoo! Canada Personals [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]