Gypsyman
Well-known member
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- Location
- Quincy, FL
Just got my complete medium tow bar a few weeks ago and I mentioned to a friend that at some point I would like to build a gin pole. On his next trip through town he dropped off a random tow bar front half just in case I ever got around to the project. The swing leg has the MWO collar and the lunette leg doesn't. I assumed due to the lack of the MWO collar on one leg that it was a mismatched set. Oddly enough the paint wear and aging pattern lean towards this mismatched pair having been together for a very long time.
After walking past the bar for a few days something kept catching my eye as being odd. I couldn't put my finger on it so out came the tape measure. For clarity I'll just refer to them as the green bar (complete) and the rusty bar (front half only).
I first checked the lunettes and both are identical with zero signs of having ever been hooked to a hitch. I grabbed a random 1" pin, connected the halves on the rusty bar, and commenced to measuring and comparing the dimensions to the complete green unit. Here's what I found...
The lunette legs are the same overall length at roughly 54". What I noticed was that the pin hole for the extension leg on the green bar was 4" from the end of the tubing but the hole in rusty was at 5". I know that the tubes on the earlier bars had to be trimmed roughly 7/8" to account for the MWO collar which wouldn't allow the extension leg to slide all of the way in and be pinned in the shortest position. That's fine, but it would make the overall length of the rusty bar shorter than the overall length of the later production green bar.
The swing legs measured at 45-1/2" on the green and 44-1/2" on the rusty overall. Since the rusty swing leg has the MWO collar I assume that it was trimmed as needed to allow the extension leg to full collapse. The finish on the end of the tubing looks like it may have been trimmed when compared to the later green bar.
Next I opened the bars up to roughly towing width and measured from the extension leg pin holes to the end of the lunette. Oddly enough the mismatched rusty bar made a perfect triangle at 48-1/2" on both legs. The green bar with the MWO applied was another story. One leg measured 50" and the other was 51". Trivial, but still not equal length legs to properly center the towed vehicle. When hooked up the towed vehicle would be offset to one side or the other ever so slightly.
So, were the pre-MWO bars typically shorter by 1-1/2" to 2-1/2" as indicated above?
Regarding the mismatched lengths on the newer bars with the MWO collars from the factory. Has anyone else ever noticed this length discrepancy?
After walking past the bar for a few days something kept catching my eye as being odd. I couldn't put my finger on it so out came the tape measure. For clarity I'll just refer to them as the green bar (complete) and the rusty bar (front half only).
I first checked the lunettes and both are identical with zero signs of having ever been hooked to a hitch. I grabbed a random 1" pin, connected the halves on the rusty bar, and commenced to measuring and comparing the dimensions to the complete green unit. Here's what I found...
The lunette legs are the same overall length at roughly 54". What I noticed was that the pin hole for the extension leg on the green bar was 4" from the end of the tubing but the hole in rusty was at 5". I know that the tubes on the earlier bars had to be trimmed roughly 7/8" to account for the MWO collar which wouldn't allow the extension leg to slide all of the way in and be pinned in the shortest position. That's fine, but it would make the overall length of the rusty bar shorter than the overall length of the later production green bar.
The swing legs measured at 45-1/2" on the green and 44-1/2" on the rusty overall. Since the rusty swing leg has the MWO collar I assume that it was trimmed as needed to allow the extension leg to full collapse. The finish on the end of the tubing looks like it may have been trimmed when compared to the later green bar.
Next I opened the bars up to roughly towing width and measured from the extension leg pin holes to the end of the lunette. Oddly enough the mismatched rusty bar made a perfect triangle at 48-1/2" on both legs. The green bar with the MWO applied was another story. One leg measured 50" and the other was 51". Trivial, but still not equal length legs to properly center the towed vehicle. When hooked up the towed vehicle would be offset to one side or the other ever so slightly.
So, were the pre-MWO bars typically shorter by 1-1/2" to 2-1/2" as indicated above?
Regarding the mismatched lengths on the newer bars with the MWO collars from the factory. Has anyone else ever noticed this length discrepancy?