Want to tow something big, but don't want to break your chassis in two?

[Bluest]

I was prompted to post this up after mentioning it in another thread and just thought you might find it interesting. As part of my job 9 I sometimes need to tow large vehicles (40 tonnes plus) with a Land Rover Discovery or Mitsubishi Shogun. Obviously, that sort of weight is well above the published towing capacity of these vehicles and at the very least would void the warranty. Get it wrong and you might end up with an impromptu stretched limo. To get around it, my employer worked with a company to develop a load cell device that we place between the tow strap and the tow hitch. This gives a force reading to a wireless display the driver can see. We have maximum force (measured in kilo-Newtons) which the vehicle manufacturers have advised us is safe, as long as we don't exceed that, you're good to tow.

The link below is to a newsletter with a photo of the load cell hooked up the back of one of our cars.
Straightpoint Newsletter - July - Straightpoint assist with drilling in Louisiana

 

[Utopia Texas]

I do not know how the laws work in the UK but your employer might consider using the correct vehicle for towing what adhears to the law. If any employee or someone on the road gets injured or killed the law suites would fly and the company might have to declare bankruptcy. As a employee I would not consider driving any machinery not designed for the job. I retired and sold my company of 853 employees two years back and fully understand what lawyers can do to in liability situations.

 

[Bluest]

Safety (and thus liability) was the key reason why load cell was introduced, plus we have some very strict policy on it's use. It's for clearing vehicles from the road in emergency situations, and allows us to do that very effectively.

 

[bcp]

Looks like you are mostly towing disabled vehicles (including heavy trucks) out of traffic. It doesn't seem likely to me that a tow vehicle would damage itself before just spinning the tires, as long as you are not jerking a slack tow strap.

Bruce

 

[Bluest]

Because we don't use low range on the gearbox, to protect the axles I think (and it locks up the diff on the Shoguns which you don't want), and take up the slack very gently, you could potentially build a huge load in the transmission before the wheels start to spin. I really feel for torque converter when we are reaching the top of allowable load. Bear in mind this is also designed to protect the cars for their two year life, not just for that one tow, so there is a margin built in for that.

 

[FTG-05]

Found a video of the OP towing something:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyXgMal3C1U

 

[Diamondpilot]

Found a video of the OP towing something:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyXgMal3C1U

He was runnin a little rich!

Chris

 

[Bluest]

That was in my own time so doesn't count. I'm much more professional at work http://youtu.be/9xVXSPV3de0

 

[Code54]

That's too funny

 

[3930dave]

That looks like a useful and fast solution to clear a lorry out of a live-lane, till a heavy wrecker arrives. Smart, using that load cell for feedback.

Smaller still, I once saw a well designed tow dolly marketed in mainland Europe. It was sized to tow compact cars, with the part the car was strapped onto hinged in the middle, so that the unloaded dolly could be folded up to create a really narrow towing profile. It was designed to be used behind a Honda GoldWing - great solution for snaking through narrow streets clogged with traffic, to pick up the broken down car causing the delay. Can't recall the Manuf. name.

Rgds, D.