I remember my father in law worked in the oil field when it was rock and rolling in the 50's ans 60's. Well, long story short, he towed a house trailer ( 45 feet plus )up and down the Gulf coast with his family going from one rig to the next ( Texas, Louisiana , Mississippi , etc) Everything they owned was in that trailer. God knows what it weighted.... His TV was a 50 ish Cadillac . No WD HITCH or sway bars. He actually used a hand held mirror to see behind him! Later he used a Ford Gallaxy, same set up. And today we measure, weigh, use this type of hitch and that sway control, brake controller ( not sure if he had a brake set up but if I'm guessing, I'd say no) , re- measure, re- weight, double check this and that. Nothing wrong with being safe but I thought about this while I was doing all the weighing and checking... Just wanted to share their story. He has passed away but he towing that long, heavy trailer many miles with few issues. And if you haven't seen the movie ' The Long, long trailer' starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, do yourself a favor and do so .Just make sure u are ready to laugh your a#% off !!!

Yeah..kids use to ride in the bed of pick up truck too.

Drinkin' and drivin' was pretty common too.I've never seen "The Long, Long Trailer" since I hate Lucille Ball. I've heard of it, but it's not on my list of "Movies To Be Seen". :)

I dont know about these guys but I see kids in the back of trucks all the time, and every year there are 1000s of DUIs. I also see on this forum lots of people towing trailers that are " TO BIG " for the T/V. Everyone needs that 1 ton dually to pull that 5th wheel they have been pulling it with for a 1/2ton years, So I would have to say no much has changed if you look around. OH and PS we still dump grey water on the ground!

fj12ryder wrote:Drinkin' and drivin' was pretty common too.It was very common but, not enforced like it is today.

One point to consider is that he was towing on local roads and not on the interstate nor at those speeds. That said, I sometimes wonder how a lot of us are still around from some of the things we did in the past. Not only were there no setbelts, but the dash wasn't padded, had no air bags, but plenty of sharp knobs to impale yourself on. Heck I recall my son sitting in a car seat (upfront of course) that was made of a tin frame and canvas that hooked over the seat back and had a plastic steering wheel. Wow! talk about dangerous but most of us are still here.

Ole school towing.... | Good Sam Community

31 Replies

Fordlover
Explorer
Jun 26, 2014
proxim2020 wrote:
.... Carelessness and recklessness isn't tolerated.

Unlike in America where it's practically manditory and encouraged. If you aren't doing at least 2 or 3 other activities that are more important than driving while behind the wheel, you aren't doing it right.
f150camper
Explorer
Jun 25, 2014
proxim2020 wrote:
f150camper wrote:

That's not really true. The fine for running out of gas on the Autobahn is up to (that would be max) 70 Euro ($100 or so) and a couple points on your driving record, but not a loss of license for half a year.
And even then, it's difficult to enforce unless the person running out of gas admits running out of gas. The reason could be a completely different failure, hard to proof for police right there and then.

Link

My mistake. I thought it would fall under StVO § 18.8, which forbids stopping on highways except in specific situations. That has a max penalty of a loss of license and jail time. But the point I was trying to make was that they take safety quite seriously. Carelessness and recklessness isn't tolerated. In lots of places in America a person can chance it and run out of fuel at peak of rush hour in the middle of the freeway there's nothing done more than calling a tow truck to get that person off the road.

Yeah, agreed!
Community Alumni
Jun 25, 2014
f150camper wrote:

That's not really true. The fine for running out of gas on the Autobahn is up to (that would be max) 70 Euro ($100 or so) and a couple points on your driving record, but not a loss of license for half a year.
And even then, it's difficult to enforce unless the person running out of gas admits running out of gas. The reason could be a completely different failure, hard to proof for police right there and then.

Link

My mistake. I thought it would fall under StVO § 18.8, which forbids stopping on highways except in specific situations. That has a max penalty of a loss of license and jail time. But the point I was trying to make was that they take safety quite seriously. Carelessness and recklessness isn't tolerated. In lots of places in America a person can chance it and run out of fuel at peak of rush hour in the middle of the freeway there's nothing done more than calling a tow truck to get that person off the road.
Bedlam
Moderator
Jun 25, 2014
We towed cars home with outdoor extension cords when we were young and our cars were old.
Heavy_Metal_Doc
Explorer
Jun 25, 2014
I remember moving 14 x 70 mobile home with a 73 Chevy 1 ton crew cab camper special. Or the times when a buddies car would break down and we'd rent one of the chain / clamp on tow bars and drag it home with anything that had a trailer hitch on the back. Or worse, flat-towing - like 70 Nova draggin' another one behind it on chain down the highway at 45 mph or so with the owner of the broken car riding along steering it.....thankfully we all survived and my kids have inclination to do some of the same craziness (I hope).
Mvander
Explorer
Jun 25, 2014

The dolly under the tongue looked like this:

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1948rob/library/slimp%20wheel?sort=3&page=1

I'm no engineer, but this looks like a great solution to the problem of carrying the tounge wt.
Bedlam
Moderator
Jun 25, 2014
myredracer wrote:
bogeygolfer wrote:
The next time you watch The Long Long Trailer, take a close look at the hitch on their car.

Back in the 50s era, they used hitches that had a pair of rubber tires so that the tongue weight was carried by these tires and not the tow vehicle. I would post a pic of one but I can't find anything. The trailer that the OP refers to could have been towed with one of these.

The dolly under the tongue looked like this:

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1948rob/library/slimp%20wheel?sort=3&page=1
Bedlam
Moderator
Jun 25, 2014
mowermech wrote:
On a related note, I have one of the old U-Haul clamp-on trailer hitches, from back in the day when the rear bumper of a car was actually heavy steel. That thing is so heavy that I use it for weight when dragging the disc or spike tooth harrow around the pasture! Maybe some day it will be cut up to build something else.

I never had a clamp on hitch, but I towed a Ford F150 with a clamp on tow bar that had the same setup.
DiskDoctr
Explorer
Jun 25, 2014
f150camper wrote:
DiskDoctr wrote:

The avg person drives FARTHER to work, travel, vacation, walmarts, etc than they did in 1965. There are many more vehicles and drivers on the roads now, too, including two working parents, etc.

That in itself could account for a big portion of that statistical difference.

Not sure how. The statistics I posted is per driven mile, so it does take all of what you said into consideration. And even if it would contribute - would that not mean we would see an INCREASE in the death rate rather than the DECREASE we actually see?

Actually, I simply meant stats don't tell the whole story. There are many factors that affect that stat.

For example, Jim the terrible driver wrecks his car in 1965 because he is an idiot and doesn't drive for a few years while saving for another car. Same Jim today, same wreck, simply takes the family second car and continues to add miles, but is now a very nervous and cautious driver, avoiding incidents but still adding miles to the stat.

Same could be said for our medical abilities, returning people to the road faster, higher speed limits mean more miles per time, etc.

I wasn't trying to be argumentative, rather pointing out there are other factors involved than the 900000000% increase in vehicle complexity/cost/maintenance.
myredracer
Explorer II
Jun 25, 2014
bogeygolfer wrote:
The next time you watch The Long Long Trailer, take a close look at the hitch on their car.

Back in the 50s era, they used hitches that had a pair of rubber tires so that the tongue weight was carried by these tires and not the tow vehicle. I would post a pic of one but I can't find anything. The trailer that the OP refers to could have been towed with one of these.

Forum Discussion

Ole school towing....

31 Replies

About RV Tips & Tricks

Related Content

Tow Ratings

ol' Blue

Ol' Blue

Ram 1500 Towing Capacity

Old school and older school