VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 52 Sun Visor Question

I have a 52 Styleline Deluxe with an outside sun visor over the windshield. On a tour last week everything seemed fine. Open trailered it home at about 70 MPH for 550 miles. Again, all seemed OK. Went to drive it next day and noticed the visor flopping up and down. Investigation showed the Stainless center bar where the visor is attached to had broken just above and below the clamp. I have a new bar coming. My question: Is this an issue with visor cars or did this jut happen? I did notice the top screw holding the bar to the center windshield divider was a little loose, other two were tight. I am wondering if I should drill into the steel bar that the rear view mirror fastens to and tap it so I can put an extra hold down immediately behind where the visor clamps to the Stainless bar. Anyone have this problem or is this just a one-off and I shouldn't worry about it. Thanks for input. Ron

If the screws stayed attached and just the stainless bracket broke, it's likely just metal fatigue in the bracket.These are not very wind friendly so the wind would have worked on this gradually over the years.
A small bit of flex over time in the stainless would lead to the fatigue and eventually the break. Stainless does not like to be bent and straightened and that's essentially what has happened on a small scale.
Replace it and off you go! Try to flex the new one once installed and determine if an additional screw will help stiffen it. Maybe add a bungie, etc for support when towing it to extend the life of the new one. Maybe grab a spare eventually too.

I was concerned about the Fulton on my '38 the first few times I trailered it to & from a tour. It goes a lot faster on the trailer than it does driving & I was concerned about it acting like a sail & ripping off. I've got a good 2" of gap between the roof and visor along the back & that seems to be enough to reduce any air build up under the visor because 10 years of traveling 65-70MPH on the trailer hasn't damaged it. If you have a good gap on yours I'd be inclined to side with Tim.

What brand of visor?
My 1950 has/had a genuine Chevrolet accessory visor. It would flutter at high speeds like 65 MPH, worse when driving into a strong wind. Nothing broke but the clamp on the windshield center bar would slide up a couple of inches. I removed the visor several years ago becuse it restricted vison when driving in hill and mountains.

I had this happen last year with a genuine Chevrolet accessory visor. I fixed it by driving a piece of sheet metal cut to the right width to slide into both halves of the stainless steel center bar. The length was about 3 inches. It has worked fine since then.

I have never seen this happen. I did remove the visor from my 1950 as it fluttered a lot when going over 65 MPH and was windy outside.

Ron Holter lost the one on his 49 a few years ago on the way to a tour, while on the trailer.

Thanks for the input, as usual I got some good ideas and will utilize them. Thanks again, Ron

Trailer the cars backwards?

I trailer my '28 Coupe backwards. Helps keep the visor in place and as illogical as it might seem get a little better gas mileage. Verlyn told me that and as a skeptic had to try it to prove to myself. He was right. Don't generally trailer my '51 backwards as it doesn't have a visor and I don't think there is much difference in shape front and back.

I noticed that I got better gas mileage towing the '53 last fall than I get towing the '38. That's even though the '53 is heavier and I towed it @70 instead of 65MPH like I do with the '38. I was a tad puzzled at that because I didn't think the visor made that much difference. I'll have to load the '38 backward the next time we take it on tour and see what happens to the mileage.

I would be more concerned about a trailer mishap at 70 MPH than gas mileage.

Around here the max. speed for cars with trailers is 55 MPH.

Every interstate I've been on will get you killed if you only drive 55. At 65 I have to keep a very close eye on the rear view mirror. Even at 70 the only drivers not passing me are some of the trucks. Many interstates have a 75 speed limit and that's only a suggestion for most drivers. I've got radial trailer tires on my trailer but I'm not sure of their speed rating. I'll have to go check that. A quick check on line shows most are M rated (65MPH). If mine are M rated I guess I'll have to haul @ 65 anyway.

I like the idea of a lower limit for trailers as we can see some real hillbilly rigs up here, but would be alarming to come up on someone only doing 55MPH on a highway here. There would certainly be a lot of honking and possibly get you a ticket as unfortunately the overall speed is much higher.

I'd have a tough time towing a nice car on an open trailer, especially since the prices seem similar for either here. Be sure to watch those tongue weights if you are backing onto a trailer. Might be a good idea to re-weigh the setup.

The speed limit varies from state to state with 55-60 and 65 . I only checked one source and some comments were that not all listings were accurate as some states do now allow 70MPH. When traveling thru several states trying to keep up with local laws can be a pain so I try to stay between 60-65 depending on the flow of traffic.

All the trailer tires I have researched are rated for 65 mph or slower. I try to use that as my maximum speed when trailering.

I agree with that !! Know someone that almost lost control with their car loaded backwards and he hadn't checked the tongue wt before departing

When I take Lurch on a trailer ride, I always put him on backwards because he has a big butt and weighs more in the back.

To determine this fact, I drove him over to a local truck scale and took his weight when just the front wheels were on the scale and then separately, when his rear wheels were on the scale. The front weighed 1100 pounds and the rear 2000 (like I said, a BIG butt).

The truth behind the numbers is that there is nothing left of the cab up front and the big cattle cage in the back is made from oak.

Cheers, Dean

I think towing speed is the 500 lb elephant in the room. Safety first. One sees many accidents on the freeways out here in in La-La Land due to excessive tow speed and resulting jacknifes. I trailered my 51 across the country over a 9 day period with my poor nervous better half riding shotgun. Although the tow speed limits varied state to state, we averaged 55 mph, stayed in the far right lane, used our 4-ways, and never had an issue. It actually was somewhat relaxing as all the maniacal crazy speed demon drivers passed by us and we were left to enjoy the scenery.
And the final benefit--less wind damage to our babies.

Fyi for all you CA-bound travelers, towing speed is 55 mph max on interstates unless otherwise posted.

Updating only about my original question, I got a new Center Divider Strip. Cut a piece of .040 steel exactly the same width as the original fasteners that hold the strip in place. Then I brazed it between the top two fasteners such that I have a continuous holder between the top two fasteners. Installed the new Stainless Steel divider. However; I believe the permanent solution is to not install the visor! Thanks to those who responded to my question.

Ron