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

[pmdolan1 at sasktel.net]

Played Russian Roulette a few times and came out just fine too, but 
can't recomend that to anyone else. 

On Sun, 24 Aug 2014 19:52:36 -0400, Jason <uberhare at gmail.com> wrote:
Towed quite a few Rabbits by the front bumper with a tow bar...Never an
> issue or damaged to the bumper shocks. 
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 24, 2014 at 4:49 PM, Roger Brown <r.c.brown at ieee.org> wrote:
>
> > Both my old '81 and current '82 pickups have the steel front bumper
> > brackets instead of the shocks like my old Rabbit used to have.  But a tow
> > dolly might still be the best option, as you get the front drive wheels off
> > the ground. 
> >
> >
> >
> > On 8/24/2014 1:00 PM, pmdolan1 at sasktel.net wrote:
> >
> >> 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
> >>>
> >>>  _______________________________________________
> >>> Vwdiesel mailing list
> >>> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> >>> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
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