"Universal" tow bar

I've found two commercially available baseplates for my car. Both are pushing $400 before taxes, shipping or installation.

Now, I find out that while the car is flat tow-able, the odometer is going to tick because the ignition must be on while the car is towed. The neutral sprawl is electrically powered and the CV joints are sealed.

With $400 for a baseplate, $200 for installation ($100 in tools if I do it myself), and another $100+ for a towbar, $50 for safety cables, and another $50 for a light kit, I come up with a total of $800+ to get the car flat tow-able.

For ~$800, I can get a used dolly in good condition, like this.

Unless someone tells me that a custom baseplate is cheaper, I think the dolly will be my tow method.

Russ

Not all bumpers, and bumper mounting points, are designed for towing, and bumper forms may not be sturdy enough to attach brackets. Even where a baseplate/bracket installation scraps the bumper form and bolts brackets in its place, there are usually additional attachment points to take up vertical and torsional loads not considered in bumper engineering today.

I would expect to put "frame" mounted towing brackets, or a baseplate, on a Focus, before attaching a "universal" tow bar. Even then, if it came out at 24" width, I think I would prefer a fully braced A-frame like the Blueox Ambassador to a two-arm universal, as my low cost, car mounted, tow bar. Actually using an A-frame (private fab) on the truck now, going to a custom baseplate, even though I have a steel bumper that could ostensibly take a couple of mounting tabs, because I don't trust a collapsible bumper as a towing point.

I will agree with Jon about the Universal Towbar. I got rid of mine because of age and infirmity, not because it wasn't a great towbar. I DID have a problem with removing the facia and welding anything to the thin bumper form under the facia and styrofoam. You can look up the photos of what happened to my brackets attached this way on the Sidekick. I spent the $350 for a Roadmaster bracket and no problems now.

The bumper forms under all that plastic are not ment to be welded.

Yes, it's me again, defending the fixed-arm, adjustable width "Universal Towbar"!
I have been using one for about 20 years. Mostly on Jeeps, but also on a Datsun (NO, not Nissan) pickup, and a Dakota pickup. It just simply works. It never fails to latch or unlatch, never wears out and needs rebuilt, just keeps doing the job it was designed and built to do.
It is now on the Jeep in my sig. The custom front bumper with the winch guard is great. I can use the safety chains to support the bumper while connecting to the motorhome, and hook it up by myself no problem, using the GOAL method (Get Out And Look).
IIRC, the towbar cost $145 when I bought it. The latest model was $165 at Walmart when I looked at it last year.
It has worked well for me. I am very happy with it.

I know several people who use them, attached to a custom base plate, to tow a Miata. They work well.

The major upside is that they can usually be bought for less than $100. Combined with a $100 custom base plate, one can usually be towing for ~ $250.

The major downside is that because the arms are not length-adjustable, the towed vehicle must be perfectly aligned, left-to-right and front-to-back, for the coupler to attach to the hitch ball.

This alignment process usually takes 2 people.

I used a custom made, rigid arm, tow bar (below) for 5 years and 35,000 miles.



Tim

They are supposed to attach to the bumper. I have seen them before being used by repo companies to haul cars back. They drop the bumper cover, drill some holes in the bumper to put the "universal brackets" on, and hook up. They put the fascia in the car being pulled and when they get to where they are going, they take off the brackets and put the fascia back on. The only way anyone would ever know it was done is if they pulled the fascia and found the 8 holes in the bumper.

I spoke with a U-Haul guy who told me that U-Haul used to sell them and that the hardest part about them was figuring out how to attach the brackets.

Anyway, here's a link to an example:
http://goo.gl/m0Nze

Russ

you will need to weld the tabs to the front of your car; the bracket will then pin to them.

if the car was leaf sprung, you would have been able to rig it thru the spring shackles...

Not sure on the term universal tow bar.
Each towed vehicle needs a base plate made just for it.