is a 70's combi suitable for towing?

Depends what you want to tow !

Yes they are pretty good at towing small loads. Cant remember of hand, what
the max towing weight is .

Naturaly, you must ensure the brake system is in good order .
Rich

Am looking to tow a gokart trailer or an open wheeler race car which,
including the weight of the trailer, would be around the 700kg mark.

A very small utility trailer or maybe a Hobie cat sail boat (maybe 500#
max).  You aren't talking about a vehicle with a lot of HP ya know!  Plus
its very heavy (and boxy) to begin with.  Air cooled engines in hot summer
and towing (plus add a mountain or two and high speeds) and you're in for a
NOT fun trip.

remember VW saying - the van - wiegh's a ton and can carry a ton !

No different for the engine if the weight is in the van or behind !

Rich

tricky wrote:

<SNIPPAGE>


   I'm not proud of this story, but it has humour:


My buddy had been working on a backyard project to add a tool shed.
Not just an ordinary tool shed, mind you, but a rather elegant
structure, replete with concrete footings!

But the building was so tiny and the amount of concrete required
too small for a commercial concrete mix company to bother with.
So Richard asked if we could press the Bus into hauling service.
There happened to be a building supply firm nearby, at the bottom
of the Green Rd. hill. And they had recently added a service
whereby one could rent a small concrete "buggy" that was towable.

On the appointed day we drove down there and ordered 2 yards of
concrete.  Shortly, the buggy was hooked up to the hitch on the
Bus' bumper and we were off to Green Rd. hill.

This is a rather steep hill and the Bus struggled in 1st gear,
but managed the climb. I had had no qualms about towing cars
with that hitch, but this amount of concrete was way heavier.
Only later did I realize that there wasn't much holding that
hitch onto the Bus and the whole thing could have gone rather
badly if the concrete buggy had gotten loose and rolled back
down Green Rd. hill!

But we arrived safely at Richard's house. It simply would not
have been possible to maneuver the tow by backing into the
narrow drive, so we opted to pull straight in and then uncouple
the buggy in the wide apron in front of the garage.  I should add
here that Richard had only recently completed laying paver brick
for the entire drive and apron and he was most insistent that
we take every care not to mar the surface.

The axle on the concrete buggy was centered (approximately) under
the load so that there wasn't much load on the towing tongue.
Our plan was to uncouple the hitch and then the two of us would
manhandle the buggy the short distance over to the ditch prepared
for the footers. So, with both of us supporting the tongue,
I released the catch on the hitch.

The buggy, now unconstrained, promptly flipped over backward and
dumped the entire load of wet concrete on Richard's new paver bricks!!

   There wasn't time to get pissed; we worked at a feverish pace to
shovel all the mush into a wheelbarrow and haul it to the waiting maw.


Speedy Jim
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/

2 yards = 2 tons ?

am I right ?

Rich

tricky wrote:


   No wonder the poor Bus struggled in 1st gear!
   BTW, this '73 Bay was fitted with only a 1600cc !!
Jim

LOL. Did you manage to clean off the new pavers, or were telltale traces
left afterward?
--
Michael Cecil
http://home.comcast.net/~macecil/
http://home.comcast.net/~safehex/
http://home.comcast.net/~macecil/hackingvista/

Michael Cecil wrote:


   HaHa!  Yes, with a high-pressure hose, but there were some
anxious momnets...
Jim