Tow Hubs

[Rory McNeil]

I bought a used set of Lakewood tow hubs in 1977,for the 2nd time that we flat towed my 66 Fairlane 390 GTA about an to Mission Raceway, an hour from home. The 1rst time, I had just unhooked the driveshaft, and when I went to bolt it back in after getting to the track, I was shocked at how hot the rearend had gotten after an hour of highway driving. I almost burned my elbow! I guess with 4.56 gears, the pinion was spinning pretty quickly. The tow hubs worked great, but with the Fairlanes narrow wheelwells, I had to use skinny Volkswagen tires, as well as do some hammer work on the wheel well lips, because the hubs were about 3 1/2" wide per side. For lights, we bought some hardware store trailer lights, and mounted them to an old roof rack with suction cups, that we stuck onto the trunk lid. For about 100 bucks (in 1977 dollars), it was a pretty effective tow set up, although it did get interesting in a panic stop situation. Luckily we normally towed using my buddys nearly new 76 Chevy Blazer, I`m sure if I would have used my 57 Ford Sedan Delivery, with its manual drum brakes, there would have been a situation or 2.