Re: Towing a Rabbit Pickup by the Front Bumper mounts?

Towed quite a few Rabbits by the front bumper with a tow bar...Never an
issue or damaged to the bumper shocks.




On Sun, Aug 24, 2014 at 4:49 PM, Roger Brown <[email protected]> wrote:

> Both my old '81 and current '82 pickups have the steel front bumper
> brackets instead of the shocks like my old Rabbit used to have.  But a tow
> dolly might still be the best option, as you get the front drive wheels off
> the ground.
>
>
>
> On 8/24/2014 1:00 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>
>> Absolutely DO NOT tow by the front bumper with this.  The bumper is
>> mounted on hydraulic "shocks" that are net intended for this kind of load
>> (transverse much worse than longitudinal).  You MIGHT get away with it, but
>> if you don't, it is quite a mess when one lets go.
>> The way to do it is make a fitting that is rigid in bending going back to
>> the mounting holes on the frame "accordian" where the bumper absorbers
>> mount.  Weld those two stubs to a tranverse angle or tube to which you can
>> bolt the tow bar adapters.  The pseudo-bumper is critical to prevent the
>> tow bar (that has not cross beam) from putting side loads on the bumper
>> mounting points and adapters.   Put the safety chains SOMEWHERE ELSE - such
>> as around a lower control arm and hope to hell you never have to rely on
>> them (the car will whip and slam hard against them at the limit).
>> On Sun, 24 Aug 2014 15:32:15 -0400, Maynard <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I've just struck a deal on a 1981 Rabbit Pickup Diesel LX. I'm hoping to
>>
>>> flat-tow it home using the universal adjustable tow bar I already have.
>>> It
>>> looks somewhat like this:
>>>
>>>  <http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Adjustable-Arms-
>>> Chains-5000/dp/B005ESZ058/r
>>> ef=pd_sbs_auto_6?ie=UTF8
>>> <http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Adjustable-Arms-
>>> Chains-5000/dp/B005ESZ058/r
>>> ef=pd_sbs_auto_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=1R9VK9S0KE340GBZPXQV>
>>> &refRID=1R9VK9S0KE340GBZPXQV>
>>>
>>>  I've used this tow bar before on older vehicles and I'm confident it
>>> will
>>> get me where I want to go, but I won't have the luxury of fabricating the
>>> mounting brackets on-site and I'm not going to have the opportunity to
>>> visit
>>> the vehicle again prior to picking it up. I know the front bumper is
>>> mounted
>>> to a pair of bumper mounts using two holes each in the mounts. I think I
>>> could mount the tow bar's mounting plates to these bumper mounts, but I
>>> neglected to measure the distance between these holes.
>>>  Could somebody measure the distance between these bumper mounting holes
>>> on
>>> their own Rabbit and report to me? (I think it's somewhere around 4"-5",
>>> but
>>> I need a pretty accurate measure if I want to pre-fab.) It appears that
>>> the
>>> bumper mounts on this Pickup are solid steel connected to the frame, not
>>> the
>>> shock-absorbing mounts I had on my 1984 Jetta.
>>>  I know I could rent a tow dolly or vehicle trailer, or even call AAA,
>>> but
>>> none of those options is convenient to my situation.
>>>  Any help would be greatly appreciated!
>>>
>>>  ~Maynard
>>>
>>> '82 Westy Diesel
>>>
>>> '86 DoubleCab Diesel
>>>
>>> '11 Golf TDI
>>>
>>>  _______________________________________________
>>> Vwdiesel mailing list
>>> [email protected]
>>> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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