a-frame

[carnut]

I have to admit,,, i still tow with a A frame.. i am building a trailer, but i was told,,, Aframe can be used for self recovery, so im sticking with that excuse,,
But the lads are right.

[muddy kev]

i did see 1 guy at a recent meeting who had mounted 2 tow balls on the front of his sj and simply made a triangle shape frame with a hitch at each cornor. he said it towed fine and easy to fit.
kev

[rpats]

how would that work on the steering side of things tho??

i like the sound of self recovery lol any excuse to get one over on the law!

[muddy kev]

u leave the keys in and the car should follow u. but from experience i know this ain't always true
as for the self recovery that is true but think u might have some explaining to do as to why u were towing a broken down car to an event
be ok towing back as i normally break something
don't forget though its still an un-braked trailer weighing more than 750k so watch the speed.
have u considered a dolly? i used 1 for awhile and it was braked with suspension and lights so kinda nearer to being legal brought mine off fleabay £350.
just a thought
kev.

[Jordi]

I would love to post some pics and measurements however the a-frame is at my dads with the SJ. Its basically a triangle of 2" tube with bracing and a tow hitch. The end that goes onto the SJ fits between the bull bar up rights and I drilled two large holes in the bull bar. Had a long 3/4" bar lying around this goes all the way thru the bull bar and a-frame. Used some old bushes to takes up the slack, hey presto.

It does have a custom front bumper and reinforced bull bar for this, i wouldn't recommend leaving it on standard brackets if you go this route.

How are you planning to attach it to your Zuk???

As mentioned above there is the three towball method (thats the one i'm going with for dragging my samurai). Two two balls bolted on a custom front bumper, a triangular frame of sorts and away you go. No matter how you choose to attach it, if anyone goes the self-tow route I can't stress the importance of a strong, well attached break-away chain / steel cable. I've seen far too many people lose cars, caravans, trailers etc.... because they only used a flimsy cable or thought that the ribbon from last years xmas prezzies would do.

I'm also going to add a 7 pin socket to the front of the sammy to save messing around with trailer boards for towing it. Just need a short lead then and bingo, lights!

If I get a chance I'll try n get some pics soon. Off the top of my head when hitched together you want 4' between tow vehicle and SJ and as i want max strength I always mount recovery points / self tow points on the bumper in front of the chassis legs. This takes a lot of the force off the bumper as you are pulling straight on the chassis but keeps the a-frame narrow enough to stop it fowling when turning.

Hope that helps.

Jordi

[rpats]

i might go for the three tow ball idea
sounds easyest im just unshure on wot to do with the steering in thi9s sanario steering lock on or off?????

[Jordi]

Keys in, steering lock off and it will track / self steer behind you. Dead
easy to tow impossible to reverse.

Make sure if u have free wheel hubs they are free, gearbox and transfer box in neutral. I have read if you're going any distance its best to take the props off to prevent windup but ive never had any problems.

Jordi

[muddy kev]

i always had mine with free wheeling hubs disengaged main gear box in neutral, transfer box in 2 wheel high. that way there is no drive to the front wheels and therefore no wind up.
as for steering when i put larger tyres on it would opposite lock when going round roundabouts so used to lock the steering. it was a bit harder on the tyres but towed better, bit of trial and error really. cheers kev