Towing Hitch for Hudson Jet
Sarah Young
Senior Contributor
I would love to get a vintage trailer to tow behind the Jet one of these days, but that idea leads me to a couple questions. One, what sort of towing capacity would the Jet have with the 202 engine and no twin-H? (The late fifties Shastas I've been eyeing up range 1000lb.-1400lb.) Two, how would I go about getting a tow hitch? (After my experience with explaining to U-Haul that a Hudson Jet was a car and not an aircraft, I can only assume that companies that install tow hitches will give me the same dumbfounded question.)
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Comments
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You should have no problem getting a proper hitch and wiring installed on your Jet. Most dealers have hitches installed by a sub-contractor per the customer's order. What I would do is contact your local Jeep dealer or maybe Subaru (since this is one small car a lot of people have hitches put on) and find out who they use. Usually it's a local independent shop. That shop will probably have somebody who will do a good job for you. :cool:0
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Sarah, I am wanting to do the same thing, I have a vintage 3/4 midget that I want to tow with my Jet to shows. I have a freind at work, that is going to help me build one, we have plenty of unused steel laying around to build one. We are going to make it where it will be bolted to the Jet so I can take it off anytime I want. I you are interested, I can send you pictures and measurements when we get it done, It will be later this winter though.
Barry Smedley
53' Super Jet0 -
I have a friend who has a early fifties Airstream he thinks will look good behind the Hash but I don't know what kind of hitch I could use that would work with the continental kit. I would have to use a load leveler system of some kind and I'm not sure what it would take to put a hitch on the unibody. Of course it would be a classic looking rig with the Hash and Airstream in tandem.
Harry0 -
Barry, I'd love to hear how that works out for you.
Wouldn't it be cool if you could mount a hitch where you could just flip up the license plate to hook it up?
Harry, couldn't you make the receiver shank a custom length as long as there are angle support bars on each side?0 -
If you have a regular Jet, without the continental kit, it is a piece of cake for any average engineer to make up a towbar. You will need a re-inforcing angle iron across the back frame, and attach the towbar to the bumper over-rider bolts, with the tongue of the hitch coming out under the bumper. You may have to raise the ball attachment with a piece of square section bolted on to get the correct height. My Jet LIner has the Continental Kit, and I made up a two-bar, but this involves some quiet complicated engineering. Incidentally, the Jet is an excellent towing car, as it has heaps of low-down torque. I pull my three berth 14 foot caravan with it, and even use overdrive most of the time, but a good head wind will slow you down somewhat.
Geoff.0 -
Sarah, have you given any thought to a teardrop style trailer. They were popular in the late 40's and 50's. I believe there could be plans available to build one of those units. There is a teardrop club in the Portland area, They did have a display in the fall car show at the Expo center the past several years. A internet search should come up with something. Or one of the new T@B trailers teardrop style. Lou Cote0
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Lou;
that is probably a pretty good idea. I used to camp out of a little teardrop trailer, it was a lot of fun when I was young but a couple of rainy days stuck inside could test the best of friendships. Also, getting out to cook in the kitchen on the back got pretty miserable when the it was cold and windy with a driving rain. I'm glad I did it then but I don't know if I could take it any longer, there is a lot to be said for a motel with maid service now.
Harry0 -
Hello Sarah and Harry, I tow a '46 kit Teardrop with my '50 commador, with no problems. I have a 308 motor that I had work on, should have it installed by March. A teradrop club is having a meet at Lake Parris. March 28- 30, 2008. Check out their web site: http://www.teardroptours.com/index.html
More than 100 teradrop, see the pic's!0 -
VicTor;
I'll have to get over there to see the teardrops. I got over to meet Ed Mueller the other day, great guy and my favorite kind of shop. I can remember his car Night Train from when I used to read Hot Rod magazine 30 some years ago. I'm looking at the Hash and can see the tow package will be an engineering nightmare. I think if I do it I will have to put progressive coils in the back and airshocks. Then frame up a load leveler hitch to distribute the load off the back end towards the center of car. Not having a true frame disturbs me some but I think I can make it work. The continental kit sure changes the dynamics of a hitch. Of course I could make a shocked and sprung dolly for the front of the trailer to take some of the load off the back end of the car.
Harry0 -
A few years ago I had a hitch made for a '63 Mercury I had at the time, and pulled my 19' travel trailer with this car.
I had the hitch made at a welding shop which specialized in trailer hitches, and was (is)a Draw-Tite dealer. This is in Yakima,Wa., so I imagine that most RV dealers in larger cities can direct you to a shop that specializes in this type of work.
I pulled a lightweight 1967 13' trailer many years ago with a V6 Ford Ranger, and it handled the weight OK. Where I had difficulty was trying to drive into a head wind, then it was like pulling a big parachute! An older rounded trailer might be a little more aerodynamic.0 -
dynolou2 wrote:Sarah, have you given any thought to a teardrop style trailer. They were popular in the late 40's and 50's. I believe there could be plans available to build one of those units. There is a teardrop club in the Portland area, They did have a display in the fall car show at the Expo center the past several years. A internet search should come up with something. Or one of the new T@B trailers teardrop style. Lou Cote
I love the idea of the teardrop. However, I've been on too many rainy camping trips and I can only imagine my husband and I and the two kids crammed in there. LOL. We need to be able to get the coloring books or board games out to keep the kids entertained when they can't be running around outside.
My husband's height proves to be another issue. We actually did go and check out one of T@B trailers, but we found out that the interior height is only 5'9" and my husband is shy of 6'4",so...0 -
Sarah, a place that can build you a hitch for Jet is Glens Welding in Lynwood Wa. phone # 425-743-2226 they are just off 164 th st north of Alderwood Mall. They have been building hitches since the 60's. Another thing to look into is some sort of brake controller for the trailer either surge or electric ( preferred) to help with the WOAH MULE !! factor. Lou Cote0
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Hi Harry . I'm restoring a 54 Hudson Hornet Holly wood and in the future I am looking for a vintage Airstream to pull behind our Hollywood. I am
looking for a set of wire caps and a continental kit for it to and also
a outside sunvisor . duncan0 -
Duncan;
I'll let you know how it goes in making a hitch for the Hash with the continental kit on it. I think I am going to have to go to a load leveler system and air shocks. The air shocks to keep the tail from dragging and the load leveler to keep the balance correct. I tow heavy loads all the time with my pickup and I can tell you it isn't fun if a load is picking your front wheels up because of too much tongue weight. I'm not worried about the engine being strong enough, I do worry about the shift points in the hydramatic being to low and lugging the engine. I'll probably manually shift from third range up to fourth range when towing. When I was young and dumb I pulled a stock trailer with a 61 falcon wagon, six cylinder automatic. Those were exciting times.
Harry0 -
Hi Harry JACKKNIFE before you can take a breath if you do'nt have the righthitch levelers. duncan0
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Yep, pulling a big airstream with a 56 coupe de ville I lost control on Yucaipa grade and swapped lanes back and forth all the way to the bottom. It swung so hard that a yamaha trail bike I had stuck in the front of the trailer got all the way down the hall and ended up upside down on the bed in the back of the trailer, that was the longest three miles I've ever driven, I finally got my wits about me and used the trailer brakes to pull the car straight. That was back in 67 and I've never forgotten that lesson about distributing weight when towing.
Harry0
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