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

Sun Aug 24 19:22:11 PDT 2014

Here's a link to what the bumper mounts look like:
<< http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1401280>>

Seller will not be able to assist (estate sale). The car is not under power, so it would be pretty difficult to use a tow dolly. If I don't come up with a tow bar solution, I will probably have to call AAA (but I don't have the car registered yet, so I don't think I will get a free tow.)

The angle iron is a good suggestion, although drilling 4 each 1/2" holes through 3/16" steel on site with my battery operated drill is probably not going to work. I could fab the angle iron and mount the brackets in my garage and mill slots in the angle iron and that would probably work.

But I still need some approximate dimension between the holes to create the slots (and probably now need the distance between the centerline of the brackets to create this faux bumper.)

Thanks,
Maynard

-----Original Message-----
From: pmdolan1 at sasktel.net [mailto:pmdolan1 at sasktel.net] 
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2014 10:02 PM
To: Maynard
Subject: RE: [Vwdiesel] Towing a Rabbit Pickup by the Front Bumper mounts?

Yeah, did miss that in today's panic (kid getting married next weekend
- household is more than a little crazy this week getting stuff made & ready. 

Sorry only Mk1s here are my Sciroccos.  Trying to get an exact measurement and drill holes where they need to be is a crap shoot.  If you can just use a piece of 2x2 3/16 angle, attah  tow bar to one side and bolt bumper brackets by drilling on site to other, guarantees fit. 
 I would ask the owner for detailed picture - but not sure I would trust to measure. 

Just thinking since I have never taken a pickup apart:  quite possible that being a truck NONE of them have bumper shocks????

On Sun, 24 Aug 2014 21:54:05 -0400, Maynard <echomhs at gmail.com> wrote:
As I said in my original post, this Rabbit Pickup does NOT have the shock-absorbing mounts you discuss. These are solid steel mounts. Are these solid steel mounts year specific or model specific or custom? 
(The latter would surprise me, as the only non-stock item I could find on the truck was the CB radio!)
>
> In any case, I'm looking for the distance measure between the mounting 
> holes on each mount face. Thanks!
>
> ~Maynard
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pmdolan1 at sasktel.net [mailto:pmdolan1 at sasktel.net] Sent: 
> Sunday, August 24, 2014 4:01 PM
> To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com; Maynard
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Towing a Rabbit Pickup by the Front Bumper mounts?
>
> 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/B005
> > ES
> > Z058/r
> > ef=pd_sbs_auto_6?ie=UTF8
> > <http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Adjustable-Arms-Chains-5000/dp/B005
> > ES Z058/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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> > Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
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> >
> >
>
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>
>