A friend has a Classic pickup truck that he'd like to take to some long distance events, but he's not keen on the ride and noise and slow speeds for 2 days or more that it would take. I suggested towing it behind his '06 JCW - arriving fresh and having his classic ready to go - as an alternative... So, for those who already tow your classic, what tow bar kit did you use? Make your own? Are there any up-close pics of the tow bar and it's attachment to the classic we could see for inspiration? The hitch part is easy, Mini Do More or Curt...... I think he'd prefer towing 4 wheels down rather than on a dolly..... Looking for inspiration...... I can weld something up for him, but I'd rather follow the footsteps of someone successfully doing it than strike out on my own.
To pull that kind of weight you should use the MINIFINI setup. It has more support with the bars that go into the body, rather than just using the 8 bolts that hold the bumper on like the other hitches. Then MINI FINI also has built a specific tow dolly for the classic. It's smaller and lighter designed just to fit a classic to save weight.
Thanks, he prefer's the look of the MINI Fini anyway, cool that they have a classic dolly already fabbed up - I'll send him that way!
For what's its worth, we go 80 mph on interstates, and as fast as the limit is on back road twisties, with our 800 lb teardrop in tow. Except for narrow bridges, and slow pokes, we are not keeping anyone up Mark
Thanks Mark...I hope to see your teardrop sometime. I don't think one of those would ever work for us - my wife thinks roughing it is when the hotel doesn't have a Spa...... I have a small 5 X 8 trailer that I use to move my ZTR around from our place out in the country (3 acres of regularly mowed weeds and brush that I hope to build on someday) to the house to mow, I've decided to go ahead and get a hitch on my Clubby so I don't have to wait to use the wife's Audi... I think my friend is mostly looking for a way to get to and from long distance events in comfort, since the P'up is decidely not so, even tho he hoped it would be and tried to make it so, with A/C, plenty of dynamat and so on. We've improved it considerably since he got it and we drove it back from Georgia (with earplugs in the whole way!) to KC, but it still makes his JCW feel like a Cadillac by comparison!
If anyone is interested in a tow bar set up for a classic Mini or Moke, I have one surplus to my needs. (I have since bought a lightweight trailer) Car towed beautifully behind my Subaru. You almost forget it's back there... Pictures on request. $75 pick up in Northeast Ohio only (I can't be bothered to pack the thing up for shipping) or could possibly bring to a Mini Meet or event... I can be reached at: minimoke1968 "at" hotmail.com And for those bragging about high speeds when towing, please take a few moments and think about the physics involved. There's a huge amount of mass back there that can make your day go bad in a heartbeat.
I hate tow bars as they are practically a permanent installation on the car. Tow dolly means not having to bolt anything to the towed car.
This unit just has a crossbar with a couple of eyes to clevis pin the rest of the tow bar on. Hardly even noticable when everything else is unhooked. I've towed classic minis with a tow dolly, the tow bar and now a lightweight trailer. (6' X 12'-600 pounds with brakes) All of 'em have their advantages and disadvantages.... Driving your classic Mini to the event no matter how far: Pros: Well, no one will call you a trailer queen. You have the pride of keeping a car decades old able to drive long distances. Cons: Even if someone called you names, you've probably lost your hearing by then anyhow. Not to mention the kidney damage... I refuse to drive my Moke on a freeway. Driving back roads to an event can take a loooooooooooong time. Tow bar pros: Easy to set up Easy to store either at an event or home Cruising to the event in air conditioned comfort with tunes... Tow bar cons: Cannot back up. If you get into a tight spot you need to unhook, reposition and hook back up again. If the towed vehicle suffers a mishap in the front or rear suspension or wheel bearings, you run out of options for getting home... Tow dolly pros & cons: Pretty much the same as a tow bar with the following exceptions. It's a bit more hassle to store at an event or home. If the mishap is in the front suspension or wheel bearings, you can somehow get the thing up on the dolly to get home and deal with it. Trailer pros: All four wheels of the towed vehicle are off the ground. At the very worst, if some mishap occurs, you can winch the remains on the trailer and get it home. Brakes-even though the Mini is pretty light, it can still push you around in panic conditions on a tow bar or tow dolly. Trailer cons: Much more cash for a good unit. Can be a hassle to store at an event or home. Even more wear 'n tear on the tow vehicle. Having owned and used all three, so far I'm most comfortable with the trailer. But, that's just me.
So far he's just been driving it, and since that's why he built it I'm glad to see it getting some miles. His has A/C (since it's a Vtec motored car) but he's yet to keep it working thru a whole season, however I think we've worked out the final bugs on that. Noise is a problem, he just wears earplugs but it's still very tiring.......he did drive it from KC to the MINI 51 event in Tenn last fall and had a fantastic trip, so kudos there. If it was me, I'd either flat tow it or dolly, that way I can cruise in A/C'd comfort and listen to tunes instead of rattles, vibrations, road noise and engine roar. But that's just me......:biggrin5:
This is awesome. I'd like to do something like this with my classic if I need to take her long distances.
We've got the Countryman covered with a new totally concealed class III system. I'm not saying you should try to tow 5,000 lbs. just that the bracket tested out to that point. I'll get a couple of photos of installs we have done into the gallery.
Sorry to necro-post, but I figured I'd add to this thread instead of starting another... I'm about to tow my classic using my 2005 Cooper S, a newly-installed MiniFini tow system, and a front-wheel dolly. Any tips? I've towed plenty of trailers in my day, but never with a manual, and never with something so close to the max capacity of the towing car - from what I'm reading here and elsewhere the Cooper S should have plenty of power to get the job done, but I'm more worried about the transmission. I'll be going about 90 miles, mainly on highways, with no big or long grades along the way so pretty simple. Thanks in advance!! --Matt
Just do it. You'll be fine. My only tips are don't slip the clutch & watch your braking. Those are the weak links.
Don't forget the tow lights....the cheapest, easiest way to do that today is to buy a set of the radio controlled ones from Northern Tool or even Harbor Freight - you plug a module into your trailer light socket and set a pair of magnetic lights on the rear of the Mini - easy peasy and not even very expensive. Edit: I saw tow dolly now - so the lights will be on the dolly - never mind. Only 90 miles, why not just drive it? BTW, did you ever finish your thread on the engine rebuild? Since this thread started I've acquired a classic too, and I rebuilt the motor this spring. Also, my buddy still has his classic and he drives it everywhere - he has over 15K on it now, and the A/C still works, so while it's still noisey and he still wears ear plugs for any distance, he's loving it! I went another direction and put really tall final drive gears in mine, so at 75 mph I'm only turning about 3500 rpm....but I'm thinking about a tow bar for mine anyway.