Corky52 wrote: I spent the morning helping a friend get his "new" towed setup for towing, the whole setup cost him less than $2500. 1988 Suzuki Samurai with three piece hardtop, a tow bar and LED running lights from Harbor Freight. At 1900lbs there isn't any need for braking system, I've towed my Zuki for five years and never felt the need for one. Anybody else towing low tech, clunkers like ours?
Better you than me. I hope I never travel behind you, but if I do I know I can stop before I hit your toad bouncing freely down the road a mile behind you.
That was helpful and friendly...
Brian K7ZRZ
Campgrounding hosting - Oregon State Parks
1987 30' Holiday Rambler Class A
GL1800 Goldwing - Honda Scooter Mounted
2000 Silver Miata LS Toad
I did mine for a little more-$1500 for a 91 Miata standard transmission, $600 for a clutch, $270 on e-bay for a Falcon 5260(?) tow bar, $500 for a Brake Buddy on e-bay, and about $300 for lights, safety cables (hooked frame to frame) and hand-made one half inch steel plates and heavy Angle Iron to replace the "baby teeth" with a solid base plate setup per internet instructions. About $3200 total. The Miata is a blast to drive!!! I don't know how much difference the Brake Buddy makes but I can definitely tell when I brake hard enough for it to come on.
SteveRankin wrote: I've bought a number of things from Harbor Freight. All of them were things where quality was of no concern and price was a major concern because it was intended to be a single use gizmo.
However, a tow bar is hardly a one-use gizmo and certainly safety SHOULD be of some concern. A tow bar for $49? I spent that much replacing what I thought were too cheap Grade 5 fasteners with proper Grade 8 fasteners on our Roadmaster Sterling All-Terrain.
The probability of failure on a super cheap Chinese piece of j*** that costs less than $50 yet is rated as strong as a $1000 tow bar is beyond scary.
How scary? Well this steel tow bar has a shipping weight of 31#. My aluminum tow bar has an actual weight of 35# (without box). What's missing? Well, the Harbor Freight tow bar has no lateral brace to keep the toad end of the tow bar from spreading & collapsing during braking and acceleration.
I know several people very happy with Harbor Freight air compressors and arc welders...my father in law loves his. As for the grade 5 fasteners...that's what the 10,000lb tow hitch on my 92 F-350 was mounted with. IIRC, that's what a lot of semi-tractor 5th wheels are mounted with.
Unless the Sammy's frame fails, I can't see how the bar could spread.
Lighter isn't necessarily weaker. The front control arms on Liz's Buick Grand National are about half the weight of the originals they replaced...both are made of steel. They are roughly 200-250% as strong.
John
1984 Ford B-700 school bus conversion, Thomas body
A bunch of other vehicles
3 nutty cats (Maya, Vierna, Briza)
One lazy dog (Marmaduke)
One wife (Liz)
"A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age"
-Jim Steinman
Miata would be cool but I'd end up getting it stuck, dirt roads and all that! However, like the Zuki, you could always put it under your arm and walk home!!
I bought a Samurai in Oct for towing behind the MH. For the Sami, lights and brakes, and tow bar all for less than $2500. No way would I spend a $1000 for a tow bar thats only pulling the Samurai, just not enough mass.
The $49 tow bar at Harbor Frieght is a standard - basic hitch ball tow bar, it's made by Haul Master, and meets all DOT specs for a 5,000# tow bar. I almost bought one myself but I really wanted a self aligning unit. Be that as it may, that Haul Master bar will do a fine job.
Just because something cost a lot more doesn't necesarily make it a lot better!!
However, the tow brake issue is another topic... I often tow in NC where the minimum requirement for brakes is only 1,000#...
*Cliff*
Chaos reigns within. Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
2004 Trail Cruiser XP C-23B
1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1989 Thomas Diesel Pusher (Cat 3208/Freightliner)
Chesapeake, Virginia
I see a lot more vehicles being towed down here by Harbor Freight style tow bars than the OMG how much did that cost variety, and I have never seen one bouncing down the highway after breaking.
Seems to me people see you pull up in a $100,000+ MH and they just go "Cha Ching". What about the old U-Haul bumper mount tow bars wish I could get one of them. Save me $3000 on installation. I agree with you Corky52 more expensive is not alway better.
Dave & Beth
2003 F-350 PSD CC 4.10 DRW 6.0L , Prodigy
2004 Mobile Suites 36 RE3 #1188
2005 PartiKraft Admiral PKA240 RE-4 Gate
2005 Lance 915
2007 Jeep Wrangler (Sahara) 2-Door Soft Top
I passed on the Harbor Freight tow bar, simply because they didn't have any in stock and it was going to be a while before they got any in. I didn't have a chance to look at them. I will go and look at them in the future. You know they may just be made with recycled American Steel. I guess I got impatient. I spent about twice as much for a Blue Ox, but the whole setup for my Jeep was less than $300, for the bar, mouting brackets, safety cables, and the two diodes to wire the lights up. I did it all myself in about 1 1/2 hours.
I can hook everything up in about 2 minutes, and didn't feel like it was worth spending 2, 3, or 4 times as much for stuff I didn't need.
Good luck with your setup Corky, btw, I already had the Jeep, so saved a bunch there.
Offline
