Help in Colorado Springs

Hey, Tony! Good to hear from you! What are your plans for the '69? Restoring it or something else or not sure since you haven't seen it yet?

If it was me I'd just rent a flat U-Haul car trailer to load it on instead of towing it on the wheels all that distance, much safer and better for the beetle too.

of towing it on the wheels all that distance, much safer

..........Very good advice. I ruined a spindle once with a tow bar on a bug that hadn't been driven for a long time. Also, unless you bring your own wheels & tires it's a gamble that you'll make it very far with what's on it.

.............Welcome back Tonk!

Hmmm... What if someone was gonna flat-tow a beetle on about a three hour trip using a tow-bar? What things would y'all check if you were going to do that? Tire pressure, fluid level in transaxle, make sure it's in neutral (duh). What about *keeping* it in neutral? Remove the shifter handle so the weight of it won't possibly drop it into gear? Or tie the shifter into place? What about the steering wheel? Leave it alone or tie it down? What else?

..............You can leave the shifter & steering wheel alone. I've never bothered to check the tranny grease. Tire pressure is important. Wheel bearings are suspect for a bug that's been sitting outside for a long time. Bring along a tin of wheel bearing grease and check those front spindle nuts for being either too tight or loose. If it's IRS, you might consider pulling the rear axles to reduce the wear and tear on the tranny. I still think that trailering is a better way to go for really long distance transporting unless you're confident that the bug is in good condition for towing.

my wife and I towed both the bugs on a 600 mile trip one behind a uhaul and the other behind our Ford POS. Nuetral, unhook the battery and leave the ignition on so the steering wheel can turn. Make sure the tires and bearings are good, good tire pressure. Use safety chains and have good trailer lights! and dont drive too fast. I kept it about 65mph and watch out for those damned semi truck tires in the road. And park where you dont have to back up when getting food or gassing up!

Hey Tony... it cant be any worse than my 69 was in!

Good luck on the project!

On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 08:05:40 -0500, Shag scribbled this interesting note:

Here's what we did one time.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

You may need to secure it with a bungee cord. At least have one available if you need it. That'll keep the wheels from whipping back and forth as they are sometimes prone to do, especially after you turn a sharp corner, but will still have enough give to let the wheel move a little on turns. If the front end is aligned well, it may track straight without the bungee cord.

Also, if this car has a steering lock where you'll have to put the key in the ignition and turn it on, it'd be a good idea to disconnect the battery.

I agree with Erik and Tim on a trailer being the best solution. I think the only way I'd trust towing with a tow bar would be on a car I was very familiar with, such as a daily driver where I *know* that the wheel bearings are good. I recently dragged home a '72 914 that had been sitting since 1987. It was only an hour away but I still played it safe and put it on a trailer. Come to think of it, I don't know if you can flat tow a 914. I didn't have a tow bar anyway.

Towing as far as Tonk is, I'd much prefer the peace of mind of having it on a trailer.

-- Scott

ignition and turn it on...

Also - make sure the brakes aren't rubbing.

On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 14:27:57 -0500, Shag scribbled this interesting note:

ignition and turn it on...

How about another hint?

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

ignition and turn it on...

SWEEETTTTTT!!!!! you're getting a pipe clamp?

You don't see one of those every day!

Jan

.............Travis used to say things like ESAD snapperhead to us when we said things like that back in the good old days.

You just keep talking to the HAND Timmy ;)=

Jan

FOAD.

Hey, I *almost* got it right. :-)