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Dale Ensing
Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 571
Location: Aero Plantation Weddington NC
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 Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:22 am Post subject: RV tow bar |
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Had sufficient request for this info so am sending to the list.
Fabricating TOW BAR for RV nose wheel.
Bill of materials
6 feet - .125" wall x 1" square steel tubing
2 ea. - 3/16" thick x 10" x 2" steel flat plate
2 ea. - 5/16" X 3" bolts
4 ea. - 5/16" nuts
2 ea. - 1/4" x 2" bolts
1 ea. - 1/4" lock nut & washers
1 ea. - 1/2" OD steel tubing about 10" long
1 ea. - 1 7/8" ball coupler and mounting hardware
1.) From the square steel tubing, cut 2 one foot long pieces. These two pieces will be the side arms of the towbar. The remaining 4 feet will be the tongue.
2.) Before welding, using a drill press, drill 5/16" holes one inch from an end of both short pieces of the steel tubing. The holes must go thru both sides of the tubing. In the long piece of tubing, drill a 1/2" hole about 28" from one end.
3.) One of the short pieces and the long piece of tubing are now welded between the steel plates. The long piece is centered on the 10" length and is perpendicular to the plates. The 1/2" holes in the long piece must be parallel to the plates and 28" from the plates.
The short piece is at one end of the plates, perpendicular to the plates and is in the opposite direction of the long piece. The end with the 5/16" hole is opposite to the steel plates with the holes parallel to the steel plates.
4.) The remaining short piece of tubing is now placed between the plates on the opposite end from the short piece that is welded in place. It must be clamped in place for drilling with the 5/16" holes aligned with the mating holes on the other short arm. It would be best to use a 5/16" rod, about a foot long, running thru both arms to align the holes. Something similar may work as well but these holes are for the engagement pins that insert into the Allen head cap screws on the nose wheel fork so they must align well. When every thing is squared up, drill a 1/4" hole thru the plates and the short arm for the 1/4" bolt that will be the pivot and allow the arm to swing out for engagement of the nose wheel fork. This hole must be placed so that an adjacent 1/4 hole can be drilled that will be for the 1/4" locking pin that is dropped into place after engagement with the nose wheel fork.
5.) A 5/16" nut is welded at the hole on the out side of each arm. This is done with the 5/16" bolt thru the square steel tube and threaded into the nut. The head of the bolt is cut off and the cut end is finished. The bolt quality must be good enough to not bend when it is engaged into the Allen head cap screw as all of the force in towing will be a bending moment on the bolt. A second 5/16" nut is threaded on to the protruding threaded end of each bolt to act as a jam nut when the proper spacing is attained for the width of the nose fork.
6.) A piece of 1/2" OD round steel tubing is welded into the hole that is about midway up the long tongue. This is a hand pull handle and is really optional but I find it very convenient sometime when the towbar is not hooked to the tractor.
7.) Holes are drilled in the end of the tongue and the ball coupler is mounted.
Notes:
The spacing and length of the arms on my towbar may not fit your nose wheel set up . I have Van's older style nose wheel fairing - not the pressure recovery type. On mine tThe inside dimension between the arms is 8" and the engagement pins are 6" when the arm is in the closed position.
The square steel tubing could be a little lighter weight. I used what I had and is probably overkill. Perhaps 3/4"square or may be 1" with a thinner wall thickness would also work ok.
To help give an idea how it looks.
______________________
l_l_ _______________ l _ l This arm is fixed.
l l l
l _ l_________________________________________________
l _ l_________________________________________________l
l l
__l ________________l _ l
l_ l________________ l__ l This arm pivots.
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_________________
Dale Ensing
RV-6A
Aero Plantation
Weddington NC |
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ceengland(at)bellsouth.ne
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:25 pm Post subject: RV tow bar |
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Dale Ensing wrote:
| Quote: |
Had sufficient request for this info so am sending to the list.
Fabricating TOW BAR for RV nose wheel.
Bill of materials
6 feet - .125" wall x 1" square steel tubing
2 ea. - 3/16" thick x 10" x 2" steel flat plate
2 ea. - 5/16" X 3" bolts
4 ea. - 5/16" nuts
2 ea. - 1/4" x 2" bolts
1 ea. - 1/4" lock nut & washers
1 ea. - 1/2" OD steel tubing about 10" long
1 ea. - 1 7/8" ball coupler and mounting hardware
1.) From the square steel tubing, cut 2 one foot long pieces. These two pieces will be the side arms of the towbar. The remaining 4 feet will be the tongue.
2.) Before welding, using a drill press, drill 5/16" holes one inch from an end of both short pieces of the steel tubing. The holes must go thru both sides of the tubing. In the long piece of tubing, drill a 1/2" hole about 28" from one end.
3.) One of the short pieces and the long piece of tubing are now welded between the steel plates. The long piece is centered on the 10" length and is perpendicular to the plates. The 1/2" holes in the long piece must be parallel to the plates and 28" from the plates.
The short piece is at one end of the plates, perpendicular to the plates and is in the opposite direction of the long piece. The end with the 5/16" hole is opposite to the steel plates with the holes parallel to the steel plates.
4.) The remaining short piece of tubing is now placed between the plates on the opposite end from the short piece that is welded in place. It must be clamped in place for drilling with the 5/16" holes aligned with the mating holes on the other short arm. It would be best to use a 5/16" rod, about a foot long, running thru both arms to align the holes. Something similar may work as well but these holes are for the engagement pins that insert into the Allen head cap screws on the nose wheel fork so they must align well. When every thing is squared up, drill a 1/4" hole thru the plates and the short arm for the 1/4" bolt that will be the pivot and allow the arm to swing out for engagement of the nose wheel fork. This hole must be placed so that an adjacent 1/4 hole can be drilled that will be for the 1/4" locking pin that is dropped into place after engagement with the nose wheel fork.
5.) A 5/16" nut is welded at the hole on the out side of each arm. This is done with the 5/16" bolt thru the square steel tube and threaded into the nut. The head of the bolt is cut off and the cut end is finished. The bolt quality must be good enough to not bend when it is engaged into the Allen head cap screw as all of the force in towing will be a bending moment on the bolt. A second 5/16" nut is threaded on to the protruding threaded end of each bolt to act as a jam nut when the proper spacing is attained for the width of the nose fork.
6.) A piece of 1/2" OD round steel tubing is welded into the hole that is about midway up the long tongue. This is a hand pull handle and is really optional but I find it very convenient sometime when the towbar is not hooked to the tractor.
7.) Holes are drilled in the end of the tongue and the ball coupler is mounted.
Notes:
The spacing and length of the arms on my towbar may not fit your nose wheel set up . I have Van's older style nose wheel fairing - not the pressure recovery type. On mine tThe inside dimension between the arms is 8" and the engagement pins are 6" when the arm is in the closed position.
The square steel tubing could be a little lighter weight. I used what I had and is probably overkill. Perhaps 3/4"square or may be 1" with a thinner wall thickness would also work ok.
To help give an idea how it looks.
______________________
l_l_ _______________ l _ l This arm is fixed.
l l l
l _ l_________________________________________________
l _ l_________________________________________________l
l l
__l ________________l _ l
l_ l________________ l__ l This arm pivots.
|
Hey Dale, why not put this on Matt's new wiki?
| | - The Matronics RV-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
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3edcft6(at)cox.net
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 7:12 am Post subject: RV tow bar |
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A picture is worth a thousand words but a 3D model is worth a million
words. Except for not showing the 1 7/8" ball coupler I think this is
right.
I have a 3D model here
http://www.thewishzone.com/aviation/TowBar/TowBar.isf
screen shots here
http://www.thewishzone.com/aviation/TowBar/index.php
To view the 3D model, you need a program called "ModelPress Reader which
is free and the best thing I have found for sharing 3D models. It is a
7 meg download and doesn't put any spyware or other garbage on your
computer. You can download the free version here
http://www.modelpress.com/download.htm
The free version is all you need to view any files I create.
A few notes,
Left Mouse button Drag -- 3D rotate
Right Mouse Button Drag -- Zoom
Left and Right Mouse Button Drag -- Pan
Mouse Wheel will also zoom.
do not archive
Dale Ensing wrote:
| Quote: | Fabricating TOW BAR for RV nose wheel.
Bill of materials
6 feet - .125" wall x 1" square steel tubing
2 ea. - 3/16" thick x 10" x 2" steel flat plate
2 ea. - 5/16" X 3" bolts
4 ea. - 5/16" nuts
2 ea. - 1/4" x 2" bolts
1 ea. - 1/4" lock nut & washers
1 ea. - 1/2" OD steel tubing about 10" long
1 ea. - 1 7/8" ball coupler and mounting hardware
. . . .
|
--
Chris W
KE5GIX
Gift Giving Made Easy
Get the gifts you want &
give the gifts they want
One stop wish list for any gift,
from anywhere, for any occasion!
http://thewishzone.com
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http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV-List |
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