Medium tow bar feet ?

If one drills out a set of med. tow bar feet with the 3/4 inch hole to 1", is there as much material left as on a set originally made with the 1" hole? I'm thinking there is but just want to make sure. In other words, are the feet the same except for the hole? May have found some 3/4's not to pricey.
BC

I looked into it once. I think that woulld be flirting with danger.

Why not just get a $1.79 bushing at your local farm store?

I understand that possibility also M1075, but that brings up the question of whether the 3/4" pin is sufficient for the job if a 1" was intended for it. Probably so, but just looking at options.
Moot point now anyway, as gimpyrobb pointed me towards a set with 1" holes that I scooped up.
BC

Since the 3/4" pins are used for length adjustment on the towbar, I'd have no issue using them

Re: RE: Medium tow bar feet ?

Boatcarpenter said:

Moot point now anyway, as gimpyrobb pointed me towards a set with 1" holes that I scooped up.
BC

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There was a pair of towbar feet in the South Caroline duece I got from GL.
I think they are for a CCUV.
Since I don't have a tow bar if anyone needs them PM me with an offer.

The bushings work fine. We used 3/4-1" bronze Oilite bushings to tow my M1031 from Sparta WI to Central TX. Slight wear with blackening from vibration. Removing the play makes for more stable towing.

To answer the original question

No - the 3/4" feet are smaller all around vs the 1" feet

Now I wish I would have thought of the bushing idea before I dropped $75 on a set of 1"

IMHO, the reason the CUCVs went with 1" bore was because the tow points are square tube steel. The larger diameter bore gives more bearing area.

With 3/4" pins in double shear, assuming a safe shear load of 20,000 PSI, a safe working load is 17,500 pounds. With two feet, that is 35,000 pounds which is just below the 39,000 pound vehicle weight limit of medium tow bars.

Towing a 7000 pound CUCV, that allows for 5 Gs of acceleration (or braking). Which is nearly impossible.

M1075 said:

Why not just get a $1.79 bushing at your local farm store?

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That is what I use to adapt for the CUCV as my feet are the 3/4" pin for the shackle mount. Works great and I have towed a CUCV with no problems. This also allows me to use the same feet on multiple vehicles with out needing two sets of feet. Plus I got those really cheap by a mistake from a eBay seller not key wording them right.

Looks like you can get these at Tractor Supply, not sure of the part number as I made mine from metal pipe, but bring your tow foot and 3/4 pin with you to find the right one. Use the 1" hole to fit the bushing. In fact I am going to head there tomorrow before work to see what I can find and can update the part number (They are 19 miles from me, but only 4 miles from work).

OK, I went to Tractor Supply Thursday night and what I needed was not in stock, but all was not lost.

So today I went to a local fastener store that has just about everything under the sun including exactly what I needed and where I just should have gone. I showed them what I had and we found a female 1/2 coupling of cast stainless steel for plumbing. It fits the 3/4" pin perfectly with no play and on the CUCV the bumper bracket is perfect fit as well. I did have to use a small washer to remove any sideways play, but that made it a perfect fit. I am sure that over time I may want to replace the bushing and washer, but for $4.00 total cost not a big deal. So I bought extra set so I had it ready if needed.

I found the 1/2 coupling online, but way over priced. If you have a local fastener store check with them as it should not cost you more than $2.00, mine was $1.50 each. The washers were only $0.25 each, so with tax about $4.00.

So here are the pictures.
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So does the coupler have threads in it? I would think that would ruin a pin real quick.

gimpyrobb said:

So does the coupler have threads in it? I would think that would ruin a pin real quick.

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It does have threads, I was thinking about that after I posted this and think I should file those down with a drill bit (have do have access to large ones). It would take away some from the inside but not have those treads to dig into the pin. Still not really into this all that much if it does not work out right.

I broke down and bought the correct 1" tow bar feet for the CUCV this week so I have the right part when towing. I took a picture of the difference between the two, you can see how much larger the 1" foot is for the trucks hook mount. I will keep the smaller feet as you never know if I have to tow a HMMWV or one of my MV friends has too.

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Recovry4x4 said:

Since the 3/4" pins are used for length adjustment on the towbar, I'd have no issue using them

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The fit is a lot sloppier though, at the feet. Anybody know how strong the 3/4 & 1" pins are? Tried contacting one of the manufacturers to ask them directly, but they did not respond. Wondering if 3/4" feet and pins are safe to tow something bigger, like deuce-size, with.