Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

General discussions related to MINIs and Minis
Post Reply
User avatar
Minidave
MINIAC
MINIAC
Posts: 3766
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:24 am
Location: Overland Park
Contact:

Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

Post by Minidave »

There have been occasions when this would have been handy, seems like on every major run we've done unfortunately someone's broken down. On top of that there are some events which are a real distance and would be far more enjoyable in a car with A/C and cruise control, especially in the dead of summer.

So that got me to thinking about a tow bar, I looked around on the net and it seems like most of them are built the same way, plus all of the Classic Minis seem to use the same spacing on the front mounting bolts for the subframe....I decided to try my hand at it too. It's a little easier on a Clubman due to the way the front end is built, but with a few very small modifications it will work on a round nose classic too.

The starting point is usually the tow bar kit from Harbor Freight, it's inexpensive, seems reasonably well built and is rated for 5000lbs, more than 3 times the weight of a Classic Mini....and at $70 less the "found everywhere" 20% off coupon, it's $60 including tax.

http://www.harborfreight.com/5000-lb-ca ... 94696.html

Next you need a way to mount it to the Mini......I bought some 2"X 2" x 3/16" angle iron, some 6" grade 8 bolts and started measuring - 26" between the mounting bolts OC, so I laid out the holes and got out my 1/2 drill bit.

I also had to drill out the mounting holes in the Mini, as it has 3/8" bolts and I wanted the extra strength. Next I'll need some spacers to go between the angle iron and the mount in the Mini - I ordered some 1" OD 1/2" ID tubing from McMaster Carr and it should be here tomorrow. Once it gets here I'll measure out two 3" long pieces and bolt everything up to see how it fits. Once it all fits I'll blow it apart again and paint everything with Rusty O'Leum so it will look nice and last.

Once that's done I'll need some safety chains between the bar and the Mini, and another set between the bar and the tow vehicle.

Next I'll need some lights. I could make a harness and wire it into Buzz, but that's not going to help someone else who might need to borrow it, but there are some easy solutions there too. The first is a set of lights with magnetic bases - you stick the lights on the roof of the towed vehicle, then run the harness up to the towing vehicle and plug it in - easy peasy.

Except - you have to tape that wire harness down or it could flop round and chafe the paint.....

Solution #2 is even slicker - similar set of LED lights on magnetic bases, but these are battery powered. You plug a small transmitter into the towing vehicle's trailer plug and it signals the lights at the rear of the car wirelessly! The only drawbacks to these are cost (twice as much as the wired ones) and unknown battery life....it takes 4 AA batteries in each one and they want you to check them every two hours!

Lastly, the towing vehicle...... there are lots of people who flat tow their Mini with their MINI, so I know it's capable but for my first try I'll use our Audi, as it already has a factory hitch on it. Once I get some confidence and if I decide to use my Clubby, then I'll have to buy a hitch and wiring setup for it. If I tow to an event it's easy to just leave the tow bar base on Buzz, or with removing only two bolts I can take it off and leave it in the hotel while I do the event....then it's a ten minute job to put it back on and hook everything up again. One of the slick things about the Harbor Freight tow bar is that it folds up fairly compactly, and it's not very heavy so it's no big deal to haul it along as a spare....unlike hauling a trailer behind something, tho you still need a "something" to tow it home if there's a breakdown.

Cost for the tow bar, chains, tow lights and materials should come in around $150 total.

A hitch for the Clubby will run between $150 and $300......

More on it later as I finish the basic parts first.
Attachments
IMG_3222R.jpg
IMG_3222R.jpg (68.98 KiB) Viewed 4739 times
Hi! My name's Dave!

'09 LB/LB Clubman S - "Max"
89 Mini "Racing Green"
94 SPi Project (The Hot Rod)
User avatar
MiniManiac
MINIAC
MINIAC
Posts: 1177
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2005 10:16 am
Location: Leavenworth, KS

Re: Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

Post by MiniManiac »

Looking good! This looks like something that others could use :) :) :). If it doesn't involve welding I may have to make one myself. Post up good pics :).
Seth
08 MCS - JCW
1974/1993 Classic Mini - 70 WHP!
User avatar
Minidave
MINIAC
MINIAC
Posts: 3766
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:24 am
Location: Overland Park
Contact:

Re: Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

Post by Minidave »

No welding involved, however once it's done you can borrow this one if we're not going to the same event.

There are some small modifications I'll need to make for it to work on a round nose car, clearance for the lic plate brackets mostly....and of course you have to drill out the front subframe mount holes from 3/8" to 1/2", and you'll need two short 1/2" bolts to put in there when you're not using the tow bar.

Other than that it looks like two, maybe four bolts total - on and off.

The other thing I haven't looked at is the height of the towing car's hitch ball compared to the height of the bar on the Mini....ideally it should be level once hitched up. Some guys have made adaptions to the bar to get it to line up, but I'm going to wait till I have it hooked up to see where it lands and how it looks. On a MINI I don't think it will be an issue, on a Tahoe - worst case you need a really dropped hitch bar.

Oh, and I believe it uses a 1 7/8" ball, not 2"

Edit - nope, 2" ball is required.
Last edited by Minidave on Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hi! My name's Dave!

'09 LB/LB Clubman S - "Max"
89 Mini "Racing Green"
94 SPi Project (The Hot Rod)
User avatar
MiniManiac
MINIAC
MINIAC
Posts: 1177
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2005 10:16 am
Location: Leavenworth, KS

Re: Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

Post by MiniManiac »

Minidave wrote: The other thing I haven't looked at is the height of the towing car's hitch ball compared to the height of the bar on the Mini....ideally it should be level once hitched up. Some guys have made adaptions to the bar to get it to line up, but I'm going to wait till I have it hooked up to see where it lands and how it looks. On a MINI I don't think it will be an issue, on a Tahoe - worst case you need a really dropped hitch bar.

Oh, and I believe it uses a 1 7/16" ball, not 2"
That is what I was thinking of being the only issue.
Seth
08 MCS - JCW
1974/1993 Classic Mini - 70 WHP!
User avatar
MiniX4 John
MINIAC
MINIAC
Posts: 87
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:11 pm
Location: Liberty, MO

Re: Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

Post by MiniX4 John »

Looks great Dave!
"Moxie" Snowberry White RHD 1971 Austin Rover Mini, 1275cc engine, 10" GB wheels with Yokohama Aquos tires, Hella 500's, H9 graphics
User avatar
Minidave
MINIAC
MINIAC
Posts: 3766
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:24 am
Location: Overland Park
Contact:

Re: Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

Post by Minidave »

Yesterday the last bit of material I needed to finish my tow bar mount came in from McMaster Carr - some 1" OD X 1/2" ID tubing so I got my neighbor's chop saw and cut two 3" long sections. Once everything was de-burred and cleaned up I put it all together on the Clubby and it fit perfectly!

Image

You hardly notice it from above.......

Image

Next I need to find a round nose car so I can make whatever mods needed to fit their front end, then I can blow it all apart and take advantage of a rare warm couple of days in Kansas in January to get some paint on it - it's supposed to be 70° tomorrow! I also need to build some safety chains, but I have that figured out already.

After that I'll need to build some removable lights, my plan is to build them so I can set them inside the back of the car to shine thru the rear windows, that way they stay out of the weather and theft proof. If I run a harness thru the car all I'll need to do is plug them in, if I get too lazy to do that I can simply run the harness thru the car and under the hood to the front to hook to the tow car. Still cogitating on that part.....
Hi! My name's Dave!

'09 LB/LB Clubman S - "Max"
89 Mini "Racing Green"
94 SPi Project (The Hot Rod)
User avatar
MiniManiac
MINIAC
MINIAC
Posts: 1177
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2005 10:16 am
Location: Leavenworth, KS

Re: Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

Post by MiniManiac »

Good work!
Seth
08 MCS - JCW
1974/1993 Classic Mini - 70 WHP!
User avatar
Minidave
MINIAC
MINIAC
Posts: 3766
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:24 am
Location: Overland Park
Contact:

Re: Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

Post by Minidave »

I finally got to a point on the tow bar where all the dimensions and brackets and such were finalized, today I put it all together and it fits nicely. To get there I had to redesign a few things, but I'm happy with the results now. I had to move the lic plate up an inch, the bar was hidden behind it but it was a PITA to get on and off, now it just slides into place. I had to machine down the last 1/2" of the tube spacers so they'd fit inside the subframe mounts, then I had to find something to use as a spacer between the body and the subframe mount. These cars come with shims that look like those used in front end alignments, but they were missing on my car. I just used some big ass washers!

This is the final iteration...

Image

Next I needed to make some brackets to land the safety chains to on Buzz, they were pretty simple. Then I shortened the chains so that they wouldn't drag but still had enough length to allow articulation of the bar over driveways and such.

Here are the brackets, mounted up.

Image

And the chains at the right length....in doing research for this build, i found most people don't bother with safety chains......I decided to bother....

Image

All I have to do now is find some longer safety chains to hook to the tow vehicle, then set up the lights. I originally bought an LED trailer light kit that I was going to attach to a bar and clip inside, but there really isn't anyplace to clamp it too, so now I'm back to considering the magnetic base lights.

I need to try it out on the road, but with this weather bearing down on us, it might be next weekend before I get to do that.
Hi! My name's Dave!

'09 LB/LB Clubman S - "Max"
89 Mini "Racing Green"
94 SPi Project (The Hot Rod)
User avatar
Minidave
MINIAC
MINIAC
Posts: 3766
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:24 am
Location: Overland Park
Contact:

Re: Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

Post by Minidave »

I've got the tow bar itself finished, now I'm working on the bits....like lights.

I could wire into the car's harness and just use the tail lights and turn signals in the car, but I wanted it to be easily removable, so when I show up at an event I can demount it with a minimum of bolts and fuss...and nothing would show to make it look like it had been towed.

So today I built some brackets to mount some LED trailer lights, they bolt on with only two bolts and I'll make the harness easy to unplug too. Still have some finish work to do, make some stiffeners so they don't vibrate and then get a coat of paint on them, but I think the concept is going to work fine.

I built them so that they'd be inside the car on purpose - out of the weather and not a theft target like the magnetic ones.
Attachments
IMG_3252R.jpg
IMG_3252R.jpg (89.63 KiB) Viewed 4641 times
IMG_3250R.jpg
IMG_3250R.jpg (101.49 KiB) Viewed 4641 times
IMG_3249R.jpg
IMG_3249R.jpg (89.2 KiB) Viewed 4641 times
Hi! My name's Dave!

'09 LB/LB Clubman S - "Max"
89 Mini "Racing Green"
94 SPi Project (The Hot Rod)
User avatar
Minidave
MINIAC
MINIAC
Posts: 3766
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:24 am
Location: Overland Park
Contact:

Re: Building a Tow Bar for a Classic Mini

Post by Minidave »

I even figured out how to hang the Ks tag without losing the Brit tags, tho my OCD will not let me leave it at an angle like that! 8)
Attachments
IMG_3254r.jpg
IMG_3254r.jpg (58.46 KiB) Viewed 4635 times
Hi! My name's Dave!

'09 LB/LB Clubman S - "Max"
89 Mini "Racing Green"
94 SPi Project (The Hot Rod)
Post Reply