Forum Discussion

PeteK-Hou's avatar
PeteK-Hou
Explorer
Apr 15, 2015

WDH Explained - from 1969 - No Rear Wheels

I wonder if anyone actually tried to tow a trailer with a front wheel drive vehicle..using only the from wheels...

clicky
  • We started out with an axle-mounted equalizer on a 18-foot under 5000 pound TT, towed by a 1960 Country Squire. When we got back from a 5000 mile trip, we found the axle housing had been bowed by the load, and the rear wheel bearings had been quickly worn out.

    When replacing the tow vehicle we switched to a frame mounted equalizer hitch and added auxilary springs to the rear of that wagon.
  • And people complain about seeing ads on FREE web sites, ha, ha.. I forgot how many ads magazines had back in the day! That mag alone had over 204 pages and at least 3/4 of those pages was ads alone! Actually, you couldn't turn a page and not have an ad on it! And you had to pay 50 cents for it too!

    Too funny!

    Oh, and the first man on the moon article was pretty cool too.. ;)

    Mitch
  • rhagfo's avatar
    rhagfo
    Explorer III
    Better yet, a couple issues later they had plans and a material list on how to build your own WD hitch. I believe the bars were recovered a wrecked Dodge car with torsion bar front suspension.
  • Check out page 77. "40 Ways to Test a Camper Before You Buy".

    Some things never change.
  • When GM came out with smaller Front WD cars. That was part of their ad. To hookup, and remove the rear wheels and tow.

    you can lift your trucks rear wheels off the ground as well. You just won't move
  • Can be done with *ANY* vehicle

    Issues are how long it will last doing that and now the wheel base is looooooong
    and the turning radius that much more

    Talk about the rear wheels taking a smaller radius...can see folks standing on a
    corner getting their toes run over by the rear tires...
  • Did anyone notice the diagrams on page 136 of that Popular Mechanics article?
    I don't think they build hitches like that these days!
  • I've seen that ad before....very cool.

    When i was a kid, my folks took us all over in a 1972 Buick Electra (455 cubic inch engine with TH 400 trans) towing a 29 foot bunkhouse. Don't recall the brand of trailer. Cars were cars back then....