@Owen Snell What engine have you got? I have a X-over but the 1700 type 4 motor gets in the way when trying to fit some towbars.
1700 Type 4 here too (although about to be a bit bigger capacity once Paul's finished with it) and it fits fine. Got no pictures underneath, can do them when the van is back or ask Paul as he has it at the moment.
Do you know if yours has the pre-made bolt holes in the saides of the rear chassis rails? I know mine does and I suspect we have the same model. Later ones bolt underneath the chassis rails whereas mine (and hopefully yours) bolt to the sides.
so I have 2 - this type, I bought it off JK forum in 2003 from a bloke in Oxford, Watling type I think. Box section cross member attached to brackets either side which fit to the rear bummer chassis mounts, bummer sits one notch back and proud of the rear but in a sympathetic way so doesn't look odd. Clears the type 4 standard zorst and the vintage speed but not the turbothomas?? i bout from Paul Weeding. Does mean that when this is fitted though its not possible to drop the engine out or remove the exhaust which is a bit of a pain. And this type same chassis mounting arrangement but also bolts onto the rear bummer, which is different than the other one as this is on a crossover. Apparently has a 3400lb load limit. As you can see from this picture it leaves a rizla paper gap between it and the vintage speed zorst
my watling has an option to also attach to the chassis rail sides but I don't use these as the bolts are then placed under shear and not tensile load. Unless of course you can get bolts/nuts/fasteners with a high shear load rating. Also, I don't believe the chassis has holes to mount here unless you're loading onto where the engine mounts. Unless you can weld in captive nuts/bolts inside the chassis rail, and use similar materials you also run the risk of galvanic corrosion in this area and your bus will rot in front of your eyes
Cross-dressers have M10 factory fitted threaded holes in the chassis rail side walls in the correct place for the towbar.
i never noticed this, i'll go see if mine have them. Were these specifically for the towbar as a single mount solution or as a back up to using the bummer mounts too?
Mine originally had a Witter bar which fitted just behind the bumper, with the bumper attached to it. Not much visual impact unless you looked closely. It went for resto and came back without one (and with my original 'Armco-style' bumpers replaced with tin-foil repros) and they then found a Westy swan-neck bar which they fitted. Looked very retro but the problem was my bike rack fouled on the neck and the ball was an odd size. They replaced that with a Tow-Equip bar the same as the Witter, which I'm happy with. Just need some original bumpers back now! Note on electrics - I always had problems with the extra load from the lighting on the rack. When I hit the brakes, the stop-light load made the headlights dim. I guess the modern halogen headlight bulbs use another 40w or so to the load too over the original candle lights. I fitted a towing relay which uses a separate feed to run the extra lights and it was much better. It does complicate fitting however. Then, because I still wasn't happy and got carried away, I replaced all the rear bulbs on the bus and the rack with LEDs, which sorted it all out (with the addition of a new LED-friendly flasher relay).
I will have to get some pictures when I get the van back. It fixes to the legs and also to the valance in the middle.
Can I join in with a question about towbars... Can anyone tell me whether this towbar for sale on here will fit with a type 4 engine with a US spec exhaust? - e.g. an exhaust with all the u-bends, a crossover pipe and a cat. http://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/late-bay-towbar-for-sale.26427/#post-457762 Thanks. Nick...
Honestly Nick, I think not. I had one of these and they hit the oil filler on a type 4 motor, Really the only way is to go up there and try it. It's only an hour or so!
