Towbar

[Tony Stott]

Re: Towbar

sleeves are the same width as the square tube ie 40-41mm, hence the strengthening bar suggestion I suspect!

[jhaines]

Re: Towbar

Thanks guys, the missing pieces of the jigsaw! I’m fairly handy with a lathe, mill, etc so don’t see any problem with the fabrication, I’ve already machined some sleeves to go over the bumper bars to get a better fit than off the shelf tube. As I said before it won’t be used for towing, I have a more suitable car for that, I just want a rack mount to carry bikes or a simple luggage platform. I did wonder about adding a strut to take the fore and aft force, not sure of the best place to fit it yet, I’ll look at the diff as suggested. The build manual does mention the bumper tubes pulling out and suggests adding a M6 bolt through them each side.

[dogoncrazy]

Re: Towbar

I found it best to locate the forward end of the strut to the plate at the aft end of the transmission tunnel under the propshaft . The strut therefore dips under the differential not located to it.

[milliemarlin]

Re: Towbar

<snip> As I said before it won’t be used for towing, <snip>

The risk is that subsequent owner might tow with it. It looks like you are going to make a good job that could be used for towing. If you think it might be risky, perhaps, you could mark it in some way to tell a new owner.
Paul

[greyV8pete]

Re: Towbar

The risk is that subsequent owner might tow with it. It looks like you are going to make a good job that could be used for towing. If you think it might be risky, perhaps, you could mark it in some way to tell a new owner.
Paul

Surely the way forward is to make a bracket that is not a tow bar (and so without a tow ball) but that will accept the Thule rack as a bolt-on attachment. Or why not just fit a luggage rack on the boot?

[jhaines]

Re: Towbar

I’m sure what I end up with will be better than the Marlin supplied one! Nevertheless The plan is to stamp a small plate DO NOT TOW - RACK ONLY MAX 50KG and rivet it on next to the ball mounting. I did ponder a conventional boot rack but was concerned about the weight on the perimeter of the opening lid especially with the spare wheel as well. At least making a bracket that to all intents and purposes looks like a tow bar and has a ball mounting I’ll have a wider choice of bike / luggage racks available.

[928cdu]

Re: Towbar

Really hope I'm not creating a Thread Hijack here but ...

As I have a Mk1 Roadster with towbar (original Marlin welded to back bumper variety) and fully working electrics .. but no luggage rack currently .. I've been really intrigued by this thread.

How do these towball fitted racks actually work .. I cant see them being stable ??

Every pic I see in the web seems to just have them magically mounted directly to a standard ball.. it looks like the stress it would impose on the towbar mounting point would too great to stay still ??

I'm missing something obvious I'm sure.

[jhaines]

Re: Towbar

87CE69A2-9A5A-4864-9EE9-1072EA979806.jpegAll done. I’ve added a brace to keep any fore and aft movement under control, this is bolted to a reinforcing plate welded to the original chassis. I have no doubt this is better than the factory tow bar but it still won’t be used for towing!C44A7EA2-2475-4CB1-A80E-2FC565258A6A.jpegC007FCE0-C8AF-4A25-B1C7-33629B0E3497.jpegE3B85760-7C5C-4487-B97B-E438F13E65CF.jpeg[ATTACH]10416[[ATTACH]