<VV> Flat Towing - Thumbs up!

[Sethracer at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/5/2009 7:05:53 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
k-wildman at onu.edu writes:

What's  the consensus on flat towing a 4-speed Corvair?
If you've done it, what  base-plate did you use and where did it attach?
Thanks,Ken  




Ken I have flat towed for many years. When I purchased YS003 from Richard  
Finch. It was accompanied by the flat-tow bar the Richard described in his 
book  "How to Keep your Corvair Alive." I actually towed the car home with  
the bar. I still have it and use it today. It worked fine for me,  especially 
for the Road Racing the Richard did with the car. The problem I had  was 
moving other than a race car. When I ran a Corvair in Stock class and  Street 
Prepared, I had to remove the tow bar, then remove the attaching  apparatus 
from the front of the car, then install a regular bumper to be legal.  
Bumper bummer. In the early 1980s, I reworked a stock bumper, adding a set of  
mounts that accept the original tow bar, but leaves the bumper on the car.  
Now, when I get to where I am going, I just pull two pins and remove the tow  
bar, and the car is ready to go. The mounting points are heavily reinforced  
inside the bumper to spread the load out. I usually rely on the front-side  
mounts (4 screws from the trunk) and the two bolts above the front license 
plate  mount. In the long run, and I intend to do this on the Stinger 
(Clone) I am  building, you should reinforce the front frame horns to spread the 
towing load.  I have used this tow-bar/bumper on at least 25 different cars 
over the years. I  towed to Colonial Williamsburg, and back, in 1994 from San 
Jose, CA. (Via a  friends motorhome) towed to Portland, OR in 2005 and 
Ventura in 2008.  I have had almost zero problems with the cars I have towed. A 
single  Race-car trailing arm failure on a local tow required a saving  
trailer, about 1978 or so, but that is about it.  
 
The only knock I can put on flat towing is the wear and tear on the race  
car. The solid mounts on the car will transfer a lot of shock load into the 
race  car, So I try to compensate by running oversize tires and lower tire 
pressures,  probably okay with a lighter car. This would not be a factor on a 
street  suspended vehicle.
 
Another note, the pairs of protruding tabs have found me napping as I moved 
 around to the front of the car and caught my shins, just below the knee. . 
 .  Several times over the years. Ouch! I'm not sure how to address  this 
problem. 
 
One final note that applies in California, maybe not in your state. If a  
car moves on the street in California, it must be registered. Not just 
driven,  moved. So a flat towed car must be registered. To process the 
registration, the  car must be insured. But when flat towing, the towed vehicle is 
covered by  the insurance on the towing vehicle, like a trailer. Hmmm. Sort of a 
catch 22.  



Seth  Emerson

C's the Day! - Corvair, Camaro,  Corvette