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tow bar

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Any recommendations for tow bars and how best to attach them to a BJ8? With the fires in CA I would like to be able to remove the Healey to safety. We are currently not in jeopardy but we do live in the Tahoe forest and escaped the fire 12 years ago with a friend moving the Healey.
 

Michael Oritt

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I have one and will try to post a pic tomorrow. it is a standard folding bar the ends of which I had modified by having short lengths of round bar welded on which slip into tow eyes that bolt up to the frame left and right. It takes about 5 minutes to deploy and the car tows wonderfully.
 
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Michael Oritt

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TH--

I hope these four photos are large enough for you to see how I attach the tow bar to my car.

I bought the tow eyes from DW but there are probably other suppliers whose eyes are the same or similar. I cannot remember where I bought the tow bar but you will find a similar one at Harbor Freight. I modified it by having solid steel bar stock of appropriate diameter to fit the eyes welded onto the ends of the tow bar, with holes drilled in the ends to receive the spring-loaded linch pins. Once the bars are in the tow eyes I set up the light cross bar and rig the safety chain around the anti-roll bar, then hook up to the tow hitch.

I do not tie down the Healey's steering wheel but rather let the car follow along and it tracks perfectly with the front wheels moving to left/right on turns on their own. I DO NOT GO INTO REVERSE!!!

Some time back we had a good--if perhaps inconclusive--discussion about flat-towing our cars at:

https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf/showthread.php?68049-Towing-a-Healey

Perhaps your post will cause us to revisit the matter, and in any case I hope this helps and that you do not have to make an emergency evacuation .
 

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RAC68

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Hi Michael,

Really creative idea. I have nothing to pull my Healey with but I think your bar seems so good that I am thinking of building one so I will be ready when I buy an SUV with a towing setup.

Ray(64BJ8P1)
 
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Michael Oritt

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Ray--

You wouldn't need an SUV and could certainly pull the Healey with your family car--maybe even a Moped assuming you found a way to mount a tow ball.
 
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Very confusing info on not disconnecting the drive shaft. As I probably will not be doing 100 miles I'm thinking to leave the shaft connected. Thanks for all the replays.
 

TimK

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Having flat towed an MGB thousands of miles to races, you need to have a substantially bigger tow vehicle to avoid the towed vehicle overwhelming the tow vehicle if you need to make evasive maneuvers or go around a corner too fast. I learned the hard way. You have to remove the tow bar if you need to back up — not possible while flat towing. I did have a reverse threaded hub nut come loose and almost lost a wheel and axle. Not sure if Healey’s have the left wheel reverse threaded. Reverse threading works when the wheel is under power, but when towed it can unscrew itself.
 

Michael Oritt

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ok maybe not a Moped.
 

John Turney

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.... I did have a reverse threaded hub nut come loose and almost lost a wheel and axle. Not sure if Healey’s have the left wheel reverse threaded. Reverse threading works when the wheel is under power, but when towed it can unscrew itself.
Healeys do have handed knock offs.
 

Michael Oritt

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Tim--

You said: "Reverse threading works when the wheel is under power, but when towed it can unscrew itself."

If this is the case why wouldn't front wheels "unscrew themselves" when a car is driven as they are never under power?
 

Michael Oritt

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Bob--

I understand the concept and was simply inquiring of Tim why he felt that the knockoff's might loosen when a car was being towed.
 
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In inspection of the tow bars available, I am having trouble visualizing how they attach to the frame using the existing threaded mounting welded nuts. Moss sells the attachments that fit the frame but the commercial tow bars have a different configuration.
 

Michael Oritt

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TH--

If you view the pics in post #3 you'll see that I cut off the ends of the collapsible tow bar and had solid bar stock--probably about 1" diameter--welded to the ends of each leg. The bars slip into the tow eyes from the outside and are secured with lynch pins. I'm not sure how to describe this more clearly but if you like give me a call at 305-793-9467 and I will walk through it with you.
 
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