Towing a Scout ---- Questions

[John.Townley@domain.elided (John Townley)]

Fellow Harvesters,

In the not to distant future, I will be towing my Scout out
to Arizona, where it will live at our other home. This is
a 65 Scout Model 80, which weighs 4700 pounds according to 
the tag. My plans are to flat tow it, with the drive shafts
removed. I will be towing it 182 miles, at elevations from
sea level to 4200 feet and back. I have purchased a tow bar
rated at 5000 pounds. This is the type of tow bar that has
2 brackets that mount onto the front bumper, and the actual
tow bar connects to these brackets with a pin on each side.
The tow bar connects to a 2 inch ball. The tow vehicle will
be a F**d Exploder with a weight distributing hitch, and
factory tow package.

Here are the questions:

The front bumper on the Scout is not stock. It is a "C" chan-
nel beam (5" tall) that fits around the exposed frame tubes.
There are bolts on the top and bottom of this beam that go
into the top and bottom of the frame. The ends of the frame
are notched out to allow a nut to be put on the end of the
bolts after they pass through the beam and the top/bottom of
the frame. The brackets that I need to attach to the bumper
bolt on with one bolt each. Does this current setup seem 
strong enough if I were just to drill a hole through the front
of the bumper for each bracket and secure the brackets with
grade 8 bolts? OR, should I get some angled support brackets
made that would bolt through or weld to the frame tubes?? In
my mind, these support brackets would have 2 45 degree angles
in them, and then one flat side would be welded or bolted to
the frame tube, and the other flat side would run along the
back of the bumper. I would then mount the tow bar bracket 
so that the bolt would pass through the bumper and this new
fabricated bracket.... Thoughts???

The other question regards strapping down the steering wheel
during the actual tow. Is this something that needs to be 
done, or does the caster of the front wheels on the vehicle
in tow work to keep them tracking straight behind the tow
vehicle.

TIA for your help,

John Townley
San Diego, CA
65 Scout 80