New Tow car?

[freeway]

Hi all!

Liz and I recently got back from buying another car, Morris 1100 Traveller. ;D

Went from Elizabeth S.A. to Pt MacQuarrie N.S.W. for a bare shell and a trailer load of parts, "crazy" is the usual response we've had from people!

As cool as it is (in our opinion!!!) I somehow think it might struggle with a van!

The good news is we can now start to seriously look for a van to put behind an Austin Freeway Wagon. Any thoughts about what would look good would be appreciated!

We door-knocked about a Roadmaster (looks ultra cool!) a while ago, but not for sale. I'll keep an eye on ebay and here, hopefully something will come up soon!

Cheers!
Andrew

[sportsman 1]

Hi Andrew,

have a look on page 3 of the For Sale and Wanted section.

There is/was a van advertised as "Globertrotter" for sale by Mick.

Haven't heard it has sold and I reckon it could be good.

cheers, Leigh.

[freeway]

Thanks Leigh

I had a look, very cool van but we're really hoping to find a cheapie in S.A.

Cheers
Andrew

[robbo3]

I would suggest you hunt around for an 1100s engine and transmission. This would give the car a little more grunt.

[freeway]

Got one, rebuilding it for my S at the moment! The traveller will stay original, too rare to mess with! I do have an 1100 tow bar, suspension was my concern, hydrolastic doesn't seem to like uneven weight distribution. Got a few bigger 6 cylinder classics to tow with so I'll leave it to the big cars!

[Franklin1]

Hi Andrew,

Just for interest, this is a photo of forum member Belinda's Austin 1800 and Atlantic caravan...




And also just for interest, here are some thumbnail photos from the Sydney Morning Herald archives of when the Freeway was released in late 1962...



What caravan weight is the Freeway capable of towing?

cheers,
Al.

[freeway]

Thanks Al

That 1800/van is cool! I'll show Liz the Freeway pics tonight, we've actually got the documentary of the round Australia record, 9 days, not a bad effort!

Is there a proper way to work out how much a car will tow? A maximum percentage of car weight or something? I'll be going over the brakes and suspension before any towing happens with it, it's been laid up in a barn for quite a few years so it'll take some work to get ready for the road!

Thanks
Andrew

[Geoff & Jude]

hi andrew.

here's an extract about maximum towing weights from the rta document on towing trailers in nsw.

If the vehicle manufacturer has not specified the maximum towing mass, the maximum towing mass is:

One and a half times the unladen mass of the towing vehicle, provided that the trailer is fitted with brakes which are connected and in working order,

or

The unladen mass of the towing vehicle if the trailer does not require brakes.

you can read the whole document about towing in nsw here.

hope this helps.

geoff 'n jude

[freeway]

Thanks Geoff 'n Jude! I'll check the weight of a Freeway, I'd say somewhere around 1200kg off the top of my head, we're hoping for something around 13 foot, that should be well under

Cheers
Andrew