Flat towing a 1983 300SD behind an RV - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

ROLLGUY · #16 05-14-2013, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Attaching to the bumper is totally inadvisable. The bumpers fall off on their own due to corrosion.

I don't believe anyone suggested that the tow bar be fastened to the bumper, so yes, "Attaching to the bumper is totally inadvisable" is agreed.
Attaching a tow bar base plate (home made or otherwise) to the place where the bumper attaches (and more) is the only advisable way. A plate could be made that sandwiches between the bumper shocks and the frame and another separate attachment point made, and that plate welded to the attachment points of the tow bar. I am sure (if it were my car) I could design and fabricate a base plate that would be able to lift the entire weight of the car if need be. I am also sure there are plenty of other people that could do the same or better....Rich

Stretch · #17 05-14-2013, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charmalu

The only MB we hauled is a 78 240D and it was on a trailer. A Trailer is a much safer way to transport a large vehicle. although I have seen a lot of vehicles towed on a Dolly.

Towing with the rear end on the dolly is more of a safety issue with the majority of the weight now at the far rear. it would be like improper loading a trailer with the majority of the weight to the rear. it will cause a whipping action, then it can upset the towing vehicle and cause a major accident.

Each way to move a vehicle has it`s own set of safety issues to be aware of.

The OP has to weigh out what is best for him to work through, which every way is settled on, just do it safely.

Reading through this thread got me to thinking of this thread.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/general-information/225168-towing-disaster.html

Charlie

X2 I'd go for a trailer much safer (and also you don't have to arse about with the propshaft)

t walgamuth · #18 05-14-2013, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROLLGUY

I don't believe anyone suggested that the tow bar be fastened to the bumper, so yes, "Attaching to the bumper is totally inadvisable" is agreed.
Attaching a tow bar base plate (home made or otherwise) to the place where the bumper attaches (and more) is the only advisable way. A plate could be made that sandwiches between the bumper shocks and the frame and another separate attachment point made, and that plate welded to the attachment points of the tow bar. I am sure (if it were my car) I could design and fabricate a base plate that would be able to lift the entire weight of the car if need be. I am also sure there are plenty of other people that could do the same or better....Rich

I am well aware of your skill in metal fabrication (

)....my concern is with the thin sidewalls of the shock tube supports.....on the other hand I have never had the bumper off a 126 so they could be thicker than the 123.....but without serious reinforcement I would take the bet about supporting the car by the bumper mount bolts on a 123.

Skid Row Joe · #19 05-14-2013, 08:31 PM

You're going to have to mount your brackets to the unibody, with re-inforcing plates under the bracket faceplates to tow the MB. It can be done, but would be a lot of work, versus just renting a trailer. I would definitely have brakes on the trailer, unless I was towing with an HD pick up, or 1 ton truck - and even then, I'd prefer trailer brakes.

kerry · #20 05-14-2013, 09:29 PM

uuuh--he's towing it with a bus.

ROLLGUY · #21 05-14-2013, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I am well aware of your skill in metal fabrication (

)....my concern is with the thin sidewalls of the shock tube supports.....on the other hand I have never had the bumper off a 126 so they could be thicker than the 123.....but without serious reinforcement I would take the bet about supporting the car by the bumper mount bolts on a 123.

All the MB's that I have seen have a tow hook in front, and it can be assumed that it is strong enough to pull the car not under it's own power. Yes it is a non-removable part of the uni-body structure, but it alone could probably hold the entire weight of the car if it had to. If you look at ALL of the base plates manufactured by the well known companies (Roadmaster etc.), you will see that they all use existing mounting points (bumper mounting points primarily)in addition to other mounting points that are perpendicular to the primary mounting points. Sometimes holes have to be drilled for the secondary mounting points. My "point" (is there a limit to how many times a word can be used in a thread?

) is, no tow bar mounting should rely on only one axis of mounting. If a tow bar had only bolts going fore and aft (for example the bumper shocks), it would be easy to pull them out in an extreme situation. As others have said, bolts and reinforcing plates in addition to the stock mounting bolts and points are very important. From the first post tomas_maly said:
"I am looking to find a way to long-distance tow my 300SD behind my RV (a school bus conversion) - and I think I'd like to flat tow it using a tow bar. The driveshaft will be disconnected (I can do this manually) so I'm not concerned about the transmission. I'm trying to work on the cheap (all my money is going toward the bus-motorhome to make it livable).
This is for long-distance travel so it needs to be safe and reliable.
Tow dollies don't seem to make much sense because you have to disconnect the driveshaft anyway. And towing the car backwards (front wheels on the ground) isn't stable above 25mph. A flatbed trailer is nowhere in my price range, not even used."
It seems to me that he is set on towing his car with a tow bar, so I am offering him MY support for his decision. I am not going to try and talk him out of towing his car any other way (as others are continuing to do). I believe it is the best choice for the least cost, but ONLY if it is done correctly by a competent fabricator. Just running some long bolts through the bumper with big washers is not going to cut it.....Rich

ROLLGUY · #22 05-14-2013, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

uuuh--he's towing it with a bus.

Yes, he probably won't even know it is back there.

tomas_maly · #23 05-14-2013, 10:02 PM

Long term I will probably do a tow dolly/quick disconnect or a full sized flatbed trailer, but for right now it's just not in my budget. I will probably only do this at most 4 times in the next year (about 500 miles or less drive) before getting something better.

For now I'd like to consider mounting the tow bar to the front frame somehow.

I've looked from underneath behind the bumper for some strong place to mount, and I really have not found much to be confident in. Perhaps this weekend I will take off the bumper to my parts car (another 300SD) and think about it some more. It has to be mounted to the frame, not just the bumper, and I'm assuming some sort of square tubing needs to protrude out through the fascia of the bumper (and even then there still is the piece connecting the square tube to the tow bar). I am really hesitant to deal with Roadmaster since they quote $400 just for brackets of any kind of car.

For example:

This is for a different body, but the framing is similar enough. There is simply no clear place to mount it except having some sort of steel plate to fit over the mount holes for the bumper. Or perhaps something like this:

This might work in the sense of mounting to the side walls of the framing behind the bumper mounts.

Skippy · #24 05-14-2013, 10:14 PM

A trailer really is the best way to do what you're doing, and they aren't that expensive:

equipment trailer for sale

Car Trailer 18ft electric brakes car hauler

This one is only $1700 and comes with a 1996 Suzuki Esteem that might even run:

96 suzuki+ car trailer combo

Another one for $1600:

car trailer

tomas_maly · #25 05-14-2013, 10:53 PM

My predicament is that I'm in between state residences... My license says a NY address but I'm in NJ (intending on going back to Upstate NY). The address in NY is unfortunately not one I'm able to get the mail for (ie a title), so registering a trailer with the NY DMV is not really an option.

If I went the easy route and just rented a UHaul trailer, that would cost me $140+ JUST to tow my car ONCE.

I think New Jersey has a temporary registration for non-residents - where I can buy a vehicle/trailer/etc in NJ and get temp tags to at least use it. For now I really only need to use it once, at least until maybe Thanksgiving. By then I can have all these issues resolved, get a permanent address, etc. I will have to call to find out.

I'm probably best off just returning the tow bar to Harbor Freight and worrying about all this right before I leave. I may or may not want to spend the $1500 for a trailer I'm barely going to use. For the time being I can probably improvise - either I drive my car or drive my motorhome, but not bringing both. The reality is I'm never going too far, at least for now. I'm also unemployed so maybe going with a rental is better and just live without the car for my RV trips.

ROLLGUY · #26 05-14-2013, 11:06 PM

I still have the Roadmaster base plate from my wrecked PT Cruiser that I would sell for much less than a new one. It has the major components that you would need to fabricate a custom base plate for a 126. I would have to dig it out, but you could look on the Roadmaster website for a PT Cruiser base plate to see what it looks like. I think I paid over $400 for it 10 years ago, but I would sell it to you for $150.
Looking at the photo of the 126, I can see it in my mind fabbing a bracket using the 3 bolts on each side, and a bracket bolted to the side of the frame horn with the tubes extending out about the level of the tow hook (through the fascia).
Pleas PM me if you are interested.....Rich

tomas_maly · #27 05-14-2013, 11:20 PM

I am honestly swamped with other projects on my motorhome that I am thinking of scaling back and just renting a UHaul trailer for the short term until I have the time to deal with it all.... The tow bar cost me $75 and the rental trailer would only cost $140. To save $1500 I can live with leaving my car behind on long-distance trips. For now.

Also, Roadmaster does not seem to offer base plates for ANY sort of Mercedes Benz vehicle, regardless of year. Mercedes is simply not in their database at all. My guess is that it was either a hassle they didn't want to deal with or they didn't want to sell a product that damaged the transmission without yet another expensive product that disengaged the driveshaft.

It also seems that it's illegal in NJ to tow any weight car without supplemental brakes. Oh well. A tow bar is out of the question. Harbor Freight is honestly useless.

Skid Row Joe · #28 05-15-2013, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

uuuh--he's towing it with a bus.

uuuh--he didn't specify what type, size, etc. of "school bus." A, uh, school bus, isn't a #20K-#40K 'bus.'

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROLLGUY

Yes, he probably won't even know it is back there.

When he goes to stop, w/o brakes on it, he may recall it's back there, when it breaks through the cheesy HF towbar.

OP:
The problems of trying to tow with a cheap $75 Harbor Freight tow bar are legion - best left to actual professionals in-the-field. Since Roadmaster has no Mercedes-Benz listing - I think the message is rather clear. Or at least it would seem to indicate that to me.