Using the rear tow eye

[nightkid]

Hi all
I want an opinion on this...
I'm moving house this weekend, only 300-400 metres down the road and I'm taking my MR2 with me. The car is basically a rolling chassic with the engine and gearbox. I'm restoring it as a side project. Would using one of the rear tow eye with a rigid tow bar be sufficient for this? Or am I better of hiring a trailer (expensive)? Also the haynes manual says there is a pair of front tow eye...I can't see it anywhere. Mistake in the book so a different varient?

Thanks in advance

[SuperRedMR2]

I've towed my mates bigger and heavier FTO using the rear tow eyes. His supercharger conversion on them too. Never had a problem and that was over 2 miles.

[vashy]

The rear tow eyes are strong. The fronts are weaker, and more likely to have been eaten by tin worms. However they pulled the rest of my car up the fairly steep slope onto a tow truck once.

[kaiowas]

At the front there are two types of towing eye. There are the ones you can usually see, attached to the front bumper bar that come down into the area where the black plastic grille is. As the bumper bar is usually made of swiss cheese it's best never to use these at all unless you know that the bumper bar has been recently replaced and is in good condition. If you do use them you're likely to just pull a big lump of metal straight through the bumper skin and it'll make a mess of the front of your car.

The other ones are attached to the chassis rails right underneath the front of the car. These are generally pretty solid and ok for towing with.

At the rear the towing eyes are generally Ok to use as the rear bumper bar doesn't rot as badly as the front ones. As a last resort, if it's a nice quiet residential road, you can always get a couple of mates to help you push it over such a short distance.

[nightkid]

Thanks for the reply guys.

kaiowas
I did consider pushing it but it's a main road and didn't want to risk it, even if I do it 5 in the morning.

If I tow it from the rear, I take it someone has to reverse steer the MR2 or would the steering lock be sufficient for this?
I worked out I have to turn the car 90deg right 3 times to get to my new home.

Thanks again everyone.

[uglee]

It's all a bit of a grey area, but for a car to be towed on the public road it has to be MOT'd and insured I think. Might be only a short distance but sods law and all that!

Try www.shiply.com you'll probably find a local transport company can do it for a lot less than you think. then it's peace of mind

[nightkid]

Thanks uglee
Just signed myself up to shiply.com
No harm looking into all options at this point.

[cartledge_uk]

The other ones are attached to the chassis rails right underneath the front of the car. These are generally pretty solid and ok for towing with.

Yep, I'd use these

[kevin..in]

The other ones are attached to the chassis rails right underneath the front of the car. These are generally pretty solid and ok for towing with.

Yep, I'd use these

Very much this ^^^^^^
just making life difficult for yourself trying to reverse tow the car

[jasongtr]

you can hire an A frame off ebay for £25 (but obviously you would need a towbar on the car using to tow with)

[nightkid]

Just got a bid on shiply this morning.
A one man band transporter business.
He wants £55.00 for moving the MR2, ~400 metres.

Does that seem like a fair price?
I might check my local garage to see if they can do it cheaper.

[jon_st205]

Can you make the car driveable? Just do it in the middle of the night. Seems daft to spend time & energy for 400 metres.

[Jim-SR]

driving or pushing the car will be no more illegal than towing it I think. IIRC you have to have tax, mot and insurance for any car that has wheels on a public road, irrespective of whether its moving, let alone being towed. so you might as well either drive it if it runs, or push it if it doesnt. or just use a bit of rope to tow it. do it late at night and you'll be unlucky to get caught out. the only legal method is to have it moved on a flatbed truck, which isn't worth the expense and effort for 400 metres!

[kaiowas]

driving or pushing the car will be no more illegal than towing it I think. IIRC you have to have tax, mot and insurance for any car that has wheels on a public road, irrespective of whether its moving, let alone being towed. so you might as well either drive it if it runs, or push it if it doesnt. or just use a bit of rope to tow it. do it late at night and you'll be unlucky to get caught out. the only legal method is to have it moved on a flatbed truck, which isn't worth the expense and effort for 400 metres!

Makes you wonder at what point legally does it become a trailer?

Obviously purpose built trailers don't need an MOT etc. But what if you've cut the back end off a car, converted it to a trailer and are towing it around behind you? It's likely to still be registered (and probably declared SORN) so in theory it would be just as illegal as towing a complete car.

[uglee]

Just got a bid on shiply this morning.
A one man band transporter business.
He wants £55.00 for moving the MR2, ~400 metres.

Does that seem like a fair price?
I might check my local garage to see if they can do it cheaper.

Doesn't seem to bad as he has to get it on the flatbed, secure it and then get it back off. Okay it's £55 but I'd wait as they can bid against each other and the price comes down.

Personally for the hassle involved and the peace of mind of getting it transported for the cost of a tank of fuel I'd do it properly.
The old bill would definitly pull a towed car at 3 in the morning. Yes it's a slim chance they would be around but haven't you always notice the are never there when you need them, and there when you don't?
And although it's just 400metres it will seem an awful long way when your licence is on the line.

The law surrounding towing cars is quite odd. If you have an A-frame then it technically becomes an unbraked trailer. However the weight limits on unbraked trailers means all cars are too heavy and require an auxilliary braking device fitted to it. Sometimes this will be overlooked by the police if only for a short distance.
If you see the camper vans towing the little smart cars they will have the auxilliary braking. They are then viewed in the eyes of the law as no different to towing a caravan

[kaiowas]

The original smart car was actually just light enough to get under the unbraked trailer limit (I wouldn't be too surprised if the current one has got fatter) which is what started the whole thing of towing a small car behind your camper - it could easily be done within the law. What's happened since is that many people have started towing an array of small hatches (becuase they've seen others doing it they assume if must be ok), many of whom don't realise that they need an additional braking device.

[Lauren]

you can hire an A frame off ebay for £25 (but obviously you would need a towbar on the car using to tow with)

If the MK1 has working brakes, I think towing with a rope is a safer option. Have used A frames (hateful things) and though I've been okay for the most part, had a car come off one once (my classic car at the time) which didn't do it much good.

[kevin..in]

simplest option would be put a decent recognisable location in your profile and 3 or 4 members from here would turn up and push the car down the road for you, only expecting tea and biscuits in return

[uglee]

If you absolutely have to tow, use the tow poles. I'm suprised they haven't stopped making tow ropes as the poles make life so much easier and safer.
I got towed 30miles with one attached to a GT4, we wern't much slower than the traffic around us

[cogboy]

simplest option would be put a decent recognisable location in your profile and 3 or 4 members from here would turn up and push the car down the road for you, only expecting tea and biscuits in return

Second that, or maybe a member near you has a trailer/flatbed/spec lift and would be prepared to help out. Myself and aw11rally have a twin axle car transporter trailer for our rally car, but I think we're a bit far away (Cheshire) to come and help.