Towing Hitch

[meadowbrook]

Hi, I have been away a while, great new look!!

 

Does anyone in the forum know of a towing hitch that would fit a 1950 Dodge Meadowbrook/Coronet?

 

Maybe one that is used on a current car that can be easily adapted?

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Plymouthy Adams]

after a bit of thought..I believe each person should be held to their own devices on this...

Edited April 15, 2013 by Plymouthy Adams

[meadowbrook]

Thank so much for the quick response.

[JIPJOBXX]

I have two different style of bolt on hitches if you are interested??? Here is a picture of one and its an old Uhall type!http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/1942dodge/IMG_0238.jpg

And I will post the other style in a few seconds!

[JIPJOBXX]

And here is the other style! http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/1942dodge/IMG_0239.jpg- If interested in securing one of these items for your car just send me a message on this site-Jon

[Plymouthy Adams]

those are accidents waiting to happen...while that may have been good back in the olden days...I would not so much as pull my trash can to the street with one of those...besides..NO collector car insurance allow pulling a trailer as it is anyway..with one exception per the underwriter..must be period correct and not aofficially used or allowed to haul even your clothes in...I asked specifics and these were the answers given...

[blucarsdn]

Back in the day when "our cars" were not antiques, they were daily transportation used accordingly. As a general rule people towed trailers of various sizes behind their cars and pickups on many styles of "bumper hitches".. Brakes, lights and the safety of the application never entered the drivers mind, after all, until just a few short years earlier, he had been pulling the same cart/trailer behind a horse.. Them days are gone forever...

If you are going to pull a trailer behind you antique car/pickup I would suggest that you have a custom "receiver hitch" fabricated for your vehicle.. The receiver hitch can be fabricated so it is securely attached to the frame in lieu of a flimsy bumper, and at the same time be prettywell out of sight when the hitch is removed from the receiver.

I know several people that tow small "Teardrop" type trailers and/or larger camping/travel trailers behind their antique cars, all of which are towed on reciever type hitches... Bill

Edited April 19, 2013 by blucarsdn

[James_Douglas]

On the '49 Desoto the rear frame rail is a stamped part with holes in it.  It just keeps the side frame rails at the proper distance and takes one body bolt.

 

We took out the rivets and removed it.  We then made a thick wall tube to fit.  In the thick wall tube we welded several steel pipes that can accept what will be in time a trailer hitch we are going to build. 

 

The hitch will slip over, from the bottom, the new frame and come forward. The front of the hitch tube will have a plate that will run behind the spring steel bumper strap and will bolt through those three bolts. 

 

One thought.

 

James

[austinsailor]

Tim, you are almost right. Most collector car insurance companies will not allow towing.

I am aware of 2 who do.

American National's Chrome policies (collector) of Springfield, Mo does - I have 4 policies with them.

Also Gulfway out of Florida does. They are primarily for trucks, including pickups. I have one policy with them. They will only cover a car if you already have a truck with them.

Gene Gruender

[austinsailor]

I had a receiver hitch installed on my 40 Dodge sedan by Spiller Custom Hitches of Austin, Tx. It is the smaller one (1 1/4"?) and is out of sight when the ball mount is removed. Cost about $300. He fabricated mounts on each side that snake around the vase filler and other parts and attaches to the frame in a couple places.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Tim, you are almost right. Most collector car insurance companies will not allow towing.

I am aware of 2 who do.

American National's Chrome policies (collector) of Springfield, Mo does - I have 4 policies with them.

Also Gulfway out of Florida does. They are primarily for trucks, including pickups. I have one policy with them. They will only cover a car if you already have a truck with them.

Gene Gruender

 

That is good....Those are companies I am not familiar with, I was mostly going with the big three as you see these guys at the shows and really selling policies.  Grundy, JC Taylor, Haggerty and the such.  National chains like State Farm, Progressive etc I have spoke with them..they are good for a laugh if you are down and depressed...seriously, ask real questions and don't fall for their sales pitch..

[austinsailor]

Also, one of the two, maybe both, I'd have check again, do not require them to be garaged. This might be important to some.

As to those u haul hitches - even back when they were common when I was a kid I couldn't see how they didn't pull the flimsy bumpers off the cars.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Did a quick look see, there are three local agent that underwrite for this company...may investigate a bit further....I was looking to change companies when I go to car number 3 anyway as its intended use will be more of a driven car than sit in the shop..or at least I hope...with AC and other creature comforts...am thinking it will be..at least that is the idea behind the build

[John Reddie]

Check out the hitch on this '48 Plymouth. I think it could pull a battleship.

John R

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1948-Plymouth-/161007482000?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item257ccb3490

[JIPJOBXX]

Well I guess those old type U hall bumper hitches must have worked because they used them for along time! If they wouldn't have then they would have not been renting them in the first place. I bet you if you look into all the old cars that were used to pull this and that with U hall hitches that they really did work. Oh well life moves on and I added a two inch receiver type to my old Dodge and use it now. If you look at the movie "The long, long tailer" you can see that they used a add on hitch to the bumper and it pulled that hugh trailer all over the place! Oh well that was in the good old days and now its the new days!

[austinsailor]

I'd never heard of American National till I ran into their booth at back to the 50's (I think it's 50's) in Minneapolis about 5 years ago. Grundy and Haggedty had booths next to them. A N said the right thing, I filled out a card and when I got home the local agent called. I asked lots of questions, made him gat answers in writing from their home office and the put the trailer part in writing.

Bought it, and have since bought several more, moved my house ins to them, my father has moved his house and 3 classics to them.

I have an 85 year old friend with a tractor trailer truck, State Farm would no longer cover him. I sent his info to A N, got the quote back yesterday. They'll cover him at half a million liability + uninsured and all that stuff for $598 a year. I pay more than that on my little car!

I've had good luck with what I've done, no claims to date, though.

Gene Gruender

[T120]

"..... the local agent called. I asked lots of questions, made him gat answers in writing from their home office and the put the trailer part in writing..."

 

Good idea to get things in writing,could save problems if  making a claim on the insurance policy. (the fine print)


 

[Scruffy49]

The Reese hitch kit in a box that fits Ford Rangers and Chevy S10s (among dozens of others). I test fit the one for my 94 Ranger against my 49 B1B truck.

 

Local welding shop can build one fairly easily. Get them to make bolt in end plates though, the weld in one on my 69 truck is not only welded to the frame but to the needs to be replaced rear bumper as well... That's going to take a good handfull of cut off wheels to accomplish now... The bumper needs to be left alone and not become part of the hitch assembly.

 

And the "cheesy" old wrap around type work fine. You just don't want to tow anything heavy with them. I have one for my Super Beetle, looks like crap, works fine to tow the canoe or a small skiff.

[DCurrent]

This puts thing into perspective for me. I didn't know that JC Taylor wouldn't cover a car pulling a trailer. I was hoping to build a small trailer so that my 48 could pull my Cushman behind it. I'll have to do some checking.

[austinsailor]

I don't think they - any of them, not just Taylor - go out of their way to mention it. I had Hagerty for maybe 6 years, towed trailers once in a while, and never thought about it. When I was insuring my 48 B1B I mentioned it and learned you can never tow. I'd read my policy recently and saw nothing about it. She told me it's on the application. If you answer yes to "will you ever pull a trailer", you don't get insurance. If some day you do, it's fraud and you never had coverage.

You have to read every detail, but still, much of it you'd never understand.

Gene

[bredlo53]

When I was insuring my 48 B1B I learned you can never tow. I'd read my policy recently and saw nothing about it. She told me it's on the application...

 

Hmm, that's disappointing.  I'd never thought about that up 'til now.

 

We're currently mating a 1953 Chrysler wagon body with a 2005 Durango chassis: Hemi, 5-spd auto, frame w/ factory tow package. The frame on the wagon was shot, and we wanted more modern underpinnings.

 

I believe we could register it as the old or new vehicle, since there will likely be VINS from both vehicles present when we're finished. Now, I was planning on titling it as a '53, due to the lack of airbags (which modern insurers would frown on) and to skip the expensive smog tests, should we relocate to California down the road.

 

But, we're planning on towing our '54 Airstream trailer all over the country, so it sounds like I could have a difficult time insuring this pair. Anybody have an opinion on the lesser of two evils in this circumstances? modern mechanicals under an old body, pulling a vintage trailer?

[DCurrent]

Most likely your going to end up titling it as an older 53 Chrysler. The problem isn't getting it insured, but insuring it for the value of the vehicle and being able to pull a trailer. If you title it as a newer vehicle, insurance companies that see it titled as a 2005 durango won't consider it worth much and during an accident it will total out. A collector car insurance company still won't recognize it as a vehicle to pull a trailer, according to some companies. But some do support a car to be able to pull a trailer.  

 

I'm betting though that your state has already got regulations for this very scenario with an older body with a newer drivetrain. Thus you will have no choice but to title it as they see fit.

[greg g]

On the tincan tourist site, this company was mentioned as covering antique vehicles and traile items.

 

 

http://www.heacockclassic.com/passion/other-toys

[bredlo53]

Thanks, both.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if you're right about Illinois already having an answer for this.

And I've bookmarked Heacock - sounds like a good option.

[bredlo53]

As an update, I called about 15 insurance companies - and spent some time doing other research (including finding an article about this very topic in Rod & Custom magazine).

 

The short answer is: I can insure my old car, and insure my old trailer, but can't cover them when they're connected. That goes for even modified classics with modern drivetrains. The reason is that replacement value is very different than agreed value, and nobody seems to want (or be allowed to take the risk) to replace $60K worth of old car and trailer, given the many things that can go wrong very quickly with 2 vehicles tethered together like that.

 

Even the tricked out, vintage COE type car haulers that take antique racecars to Bonneville run into this situation. The result is that if you want to pull anything, new or old, with your classic car... you need to get a traditional policy, which lowers the value of the vehicle to that of any old car. You can't cover what you put into it, unfortunately, though the trailer you're pulling can have a full agreed value policy worth all the sweat and upgrades you've invested.

 

The (admittedly few) upsides to a regular policy is that while you wouldn't get the value of your classic car back in an accident... you also wouldn't have to adhere to using it only for parades, annual mileage limits, etc. In other words... I can use the '53 wagon as a daily driver, pick up sod at Home Depot, get groceries, and tow the Airstream all over the U.S. knowing we have comprehensive coverage: injury to ourselves and others, damage to property, etc. We just don't have replacement coverage that remotely resembles the true value of the classic car.

 

Good info to know, though, and nice to have figured out a way to stay financially protected if someone else if we're involved in an accident, regardless of whether it was our fault or not.

Edited May 5, 2013 by bredlo53