TOWING MB/GPW's etc. BEHIND MOTORHOME?

[HILLBILLY-06]

I have read the very interesting post about using the old army jeep as a daily driver, some very interesting points were brought out there. I do however have another interesting question...

 

Lets say there was a car show out of town, and you & your buddy were gonna take his motorhome to a nearby campground, the week of the show, use the army jeep to commute to the show.

Can you drag the old 1940's/1950's military jeep behind a Motorhome, without doing any harm to the transmission, transfer case, or anything else? I see so many with tow bars no them, so I thought I would aske that question, and how well made are those tow-bars? Are they G.I. tow bars, or did people just fabricate those?

[robinb]

I tow my 1948 CJ-2A with a tow bar for short trips. A flat bed trailer for the longer ones. My 1944 MB will always be towed on a trailer.

[HILLBILLY-06]

Do those jeep transfer cases have a Neutral position, or do you just leave it in High range and take tranny out of gear when using a tow bar?

[hbtcoveralls]

The best way to do it is with a light duty 2 axle trailer for the Jeep, preferably enclosed. If you can't or don't want to go that way then follow these instructions. The Jeep isn't equipped with locking hubs so unless you completely pull the front axles the front differential will always be spinning. To flat tow, you'd need to pull the rear axles, pull the front axles (or install aftermarket locking hubs) and then look for an appropriate tow bar , not the military tandem tow bar which is too short for flat towing which it wasn't designed for. If you don't want to hassle with hubs or tow bars, you could go with a tow dolly but for the expense it would be just about the same to locate a decent trailer. WWII/Military jeeps don't flat tow all that well because of their low weight and short wheelbase.

Tom Bowers

[A Gustaf B]

For a WWII vintage jeep, it is easy to tow by removing the front flange and replacing them with a non-splined cap, then the front flange can be bolted to the rear wheels after the axle shaft has been removed. I have towed my 42 GPW several thosand miles with no problems (other than having the hitch come off the ball while exiting a supermarket parking lot, a problem solved by going to a lunett) I also made a light bar that clamps to the rear bumperettes so I do not have to wire trailer lights to the jeep. the marker lights on the light bar are extended past the edges of the jeep so the are visible in the rear view mirror. This way the condition of the jeep can be monitored for the possibility of a flat tire (which did happen once). There is only wear to the wheel bearings and the tires towing a jeep this way, but it can only be done with the WWII vintage jeeps. If you have modern lock out hubs on the front axle, then you just need to disengage them and find something to cover the rear hubs. It is also a good idea to stick a bit of rag in the axle tube to keep oil from migrating to the wheel bearings as it can leak through the seals to the rear brakes.

[A Gustaf B]

I forgot to mention, the tow bar I use bolts to the front bumper, and is easily removed before driving, I have seen the results of a tow bar dropping down when a vehicle was being driven, It removed the front of the frame along with the bumper and front spring hangers. I do not use a vintage tow bar, as I could not figure out how to start a jeep with the hand crank with the tow bar installed.

[HILLBILLY-06]

The only bad results from using a Tow Bar that I have seen, were as follows:

 

I pulled onto an off-ramp from the interstate one time, and there was a motorhome parked at the stop sign, just sitting there... I could not go around it in fear of meeting a car head on, so I sat there a few minutes. I noticed some people walking torward the motorhome from across the little intersection at the stop sign, and asked if they were broke down?

The guy looked at me and said..."well not really broke-down, just had an accident" He told me as they were coming onto the off-ramp, a car came flying up the left side of them, ran the stop sign and drove right through the guard rail on the other side of the intersection. They walked over to ask if I had a cell phone, that's when he noticed the car that he had been towing was no longer there???

So he ran back across the intersection, and slid down the hill closer to the other vehicle...

"He hollered out" Hey hun, that guy that ran through the guard rail was our tow behind! His wife just started to shake at the knee's, and walked all crooked back to the rear of the motorhome... "OH MY GOD" she said, that "was" our car...

The guy could only assume he forgot to lock the tung onto the ball, cause the whole thing was missing, mount, wires, car and all....