Tow Hooks on old Racing Cars

[Peter Mallett]

That's fine but unfortunately you need to have a permanent fixture for racing under FIA/MSA rules.

[Al Weyman]

Also as the tow car turned a corner with the weight of my car behind the bar would simply bend and as it would have to project through a Polyproplene nose section it would damage it badly. I used the OEM hook at the weekend to winch the vehicle onto the trailer (did about 40 odd laps without falling off!) and it was perfect, very strong and the tow rope goes under the nose section, just have to reach under for it which I would not mind getting out the car and doing if it was wet if that is allowed in th erules anyhow I have marked it very clearly so hopefully they will give me a break.

[zefarelly]

I welded a U bolt to a plate and bolted it to the bumper mounting ( chassis rail) on the back of my car. my car would go on a roof rack on a chevy though and its light enought not to affect performance !

the anti roll bar is solid mounted on the front so I use that

[D-Type]

Originally Posted by Stephen Green

Towing using the roll hoop in inherently dangerous and should only be used if the car is in a perfectly straight line with the tow vehicle, otherwise its upside down before you know it

And don't ever trust the original roll hoop on a sixties car. At Goodwood they had one break when they tried to tow with some webbing and the driver was hospitalised!

[Dave Brand]

Originally Posted by zapparacing

What I did on my TVR was MIG weld a large nut to the chassis. Then got a nice 12-18" piece of steel barstalk and threaded to the same size as the nut. On the end of the barstald, I welded a D-ring to it.

Apart from the Blue Book requirements that the tow hooks (yes, hooks, front & rear!) be permanently attached, I suspect that your setup is not adequate for the job. Try putting it in place & then pulling sideways on the D-ring; I'd bet you can move it!

A tow hook which is strong enough to pull a car across a workshop floor may well not be up to the job in real life. In many cases the car will be deep in a gravel trap, with suspension damage meaning that the front wheels are pointing in different directions & in a position where it's impossible to get a straight pull on the towing hook; even the smallest recovery vehicle will have a one-tonne winch which will used in such recoveries!

[Woolley]

Simple rule to remeber is that the hook may be used in one of two ways:

1) under great force, with the car buried in wet gravel and with wheels not necesarily pointing in the same direction.

2) at speed, when the car needs to be moved now.

We don't want it to break off because it's potentially dangerous and doesn't help us move the car - could even result in a red flag that would otherwise have been avoided, and you don't want it to come off because it can cause an awful lot of avoidable damage. I do remember one touring car which lost bumpers at both ends without having moved an inch, such was the poor qulaity of towing eyes. I'm no engineer, so I wouldn't dream of suggesting how it should be done, but if you know what it needs to withstand you can at least approach it from a reasonably informed position.

[Mike Kelly 1]

Much as us marshals like having something to do Al, the easy answer is.......don't put your lovely car in the gravel!

[Al Weyman]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly 1

Much as us marshals like having something to do Al, the easy answer is.......don't put your lovely car in the gravel!

Agreed and I will do my level best not to I promise!

[midgetman]

I'm interested in the "webbing" option mentioned above. Anyone tried it? Is it effective? Car weighs 750kg, but a hell of a lot more when up to its axles in kitty litter!

[BFC]

Originally Posted by midgetman

I'm interested in the "webbing" option mentioned above. Anyone tried it? Is it effective? Car weighs 750kg, but a hell of a lot more when up to its axles in kitty litter!

the webbing is ok if just flat towing but no good if trying to extract from kitty litter.....it tends to tear at the bolt/s attaching it to the car

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by BFC

the webbing is ok if just flat towing but no good if trying to extract from kitty litter.....it tends to tear at the bolt/s attaching it to the car

I use a bit of webbing and have had no problems. It is about 3 feet long with a loop at each end, one end is looped and pulled through itself around a suitable point on the chassis, not bolted. As I posted earlier there was no problems pulling me from the gravel at Paddock corner (Brands) and as anyone who has been in there knows, it is very deep and the cars can sink a long way as mine did.

[midgetman]

Thanks peeps. Sounds like an option if cleverly designed.

[BFC]

Originally Posted by falcemob

I use a bit of webbing and have had no problems. It is about 3 feet long with a loop at each end, one end is looped and pulled through itself around a suitable point on the chassis, not bolted. As I posted earlier there was no problems pulling me from the gravel at Paddock corner (Brands) and as anyone who has been in there knows, it is very deep and the cars can sink a long way as mine did.

most of the webbing straps mentioned are used on our V8supercars with the webbing poked thru the front and rear spoilers there is no room to get under the car to attach anything to the chassis as u mentioned or the time for that matter if doing a hot track recovery in a hurry as we do at some tracks trying not to bring the safety car out

[Al Weyman]

Right, I had a little bit of a problem at Silverstone the other week and ended up knee deep in the litter and when the boys in orange tried to extract me it was painfully obvious (as pointed out to me) that the tow eyes I had were woefully inadequate (I am talking on my earlier model car now). I ended up lashing the rope for the guys to enable them to lift and pull me out. As a result of this and reading on this thread I have now fitted webbing straps as outlined by falcemob and just wanted to know in peoples opinion am I likely to fall foul at scrutineering with this vastly stronger but perhaps not looking that way, option. I now simply have two webbing loops poking out from the front and rear of the car which can be connected in seconds.

[rogerwills]

I've seen these webbing arrangements on many historics and they seem to work fine.

Roger

[Tim Falce]

I've not had any problems so far Al.

[Al Weyman]

Thanks for the replys I will give it a go.

[TorqueWench]

Acting as a marshal for a day last weekend at Cadwell, I saw a brand spanking 360 Ferrari in one of our races have to be towed out of what must be the ONLY gravel trap at the circuit, and the steel loop snapped off. The rescuer managed to thread his rope through the hole in the bar that the loop had been bpolted to, but said "If this doesn't work mate, I'll tie the rope to your helmet to pull you out!"

I assume he meant the one with the visor.

Another thing I must mention in the next newsletter.....

[Al Weyman]

Exactly, my mate along side me went in at the same spot at Luffield and had a substancial looking hook on his capri and it just snapped off, I really think the webbing is a good way to go and am going to test it by winching the car on the trailer but I am confident it will be fine, nice and light too!

[Stephen Green]

The new Seat series that run in BTCC all have webbing tow eyes and they work very well. I reckon it might be worth giving the MSA a call Al to make sure before committing?

[jonners]

Originally Posted by TorqueWench

I assume he meant the one with the visor.

I've hardly got a thing done this morning after reading that

[Celia Stevens]

We put a webbing tow hook on the Peerless at Le mans after it was pointed out our metal one was not big enough. Scrutineers passed it

[Al Weyman]

thanks for the reply Celia and welcome to the site, I have done it now so hopefully it will be OK, are you going to Pembrey? (Its my thread and I will hijack it if I want to )

[JimW]

Webbing has lots of advantages (certainly over some of the aluminium plates people pop-rivet to the fibreglass ) but don't forget that it is not always possible to make the pull from directly ahead/behind the car. A really good stout steel ring projecting 10cm from the body work is the best bet for avoiding damage while you are towed out of the gravel (as if you would need that ).

If the construction of your car does not permit that, then a good strop taken back to somewhere really solid on the chassis would help. It might have to be in addition to the "scrutineering special". But if you go this route, bear in mind that a partly sideways pull may bring the strop into conflict with bodywork.

Regards

Jim