[Vwdiesel] Towing a Rabbit Pickup by the Front Bumper mounts?

[pmdolan1 at sasktel.net]

Absolutely DO NOT tow by the front bumper with this.  The bumper is 
mounted on hydraulic "shocks" that are net intended for this kind of 
load (transverse much worse than longitudinal).  You MIGHT get away 
with it, but if you don't, it is quite a mess when one lets go. 

The way to do it is make a fitting that is rigid in bending going back 
to the mounting holes on the frame "accordian" where the bumper 
absorbers mount.  Weld those two stubs to a tranverse angle or tube to 
which you can bolt the tow bar adapters.  The pseudo-bumper is 
critical to prevent the tow bar (that has not cross beam) from putting 
side loads on the bumper mounting points and adapters.   Put the 
safety chains SOMEWHERE ELSE - such as around a lower control arm and 
hope to hell you never have to rely on them (the car will whip and slam 
hard against them at the limit). 

On Sun, 24 Aug 2014 15:32:15 -0400, Maynard <echomhs at gmail.com> wrote:
I've just struck a deal on a 1981 Rabbit Pickup Diesel LX. I'm hoping to
> flat-tow it home using the universal adjustable tow bar I already have. It
> looks somewhat like this:
>
>  <http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Adjustable-Arms-Chains-5000/dp/B005ESZ058/r
> ef=pd_sbs_auto_6?ie=UTF8
> <http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Adjustable-Arms-Chains-5000/dp/B005ESZ058/r
> ef=pd_sbs_auto_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=1R9VK9S0KE340GBZPXQV>
> &refRID=1R9VK9S0KE340GBZPXQV>
>
>  I've used this tow bar before on older vehicles and I'm confident it will
> get me where I want to go, but I won't have the luxury of fabricating the
> mounting brackets on-site and I'm not going to have the opportunity to visit
> the vehicle again prior to picking it up. I know the front bumper is mounted
> to a pair of bumper mounts using two holes each in the mounts. I think I
> could mount the tow bar's mounting plates to these bumper mounts, but I
> neglected to measure the distance between these holes. 
>
>  Could somebody measure the distance between these bumper mounting holes on
> their own Rabbit and report to me? (I think it's somewhere around 4"-5", but
> I need a pretty accurate measure if I want to pre-fab.) It appears that the
> bumper mounts on this Pickup are solid steel connected to the frame, not the
> shock-absorbing mounts I had on my 1984 Jetta. 
>
>  I know I could rent a tow dolly or vehicle trailer, or even call AAA, but
> none of those options is convenient to my situation. 
>
>  Any help would be greatly appreciated!
>
>  ~Maynard
>
> '82 Westy Diesel
>
> '86 DoubleCab Diesel
>
> '11 Golf TDI
>
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