Glad your ok, but don't be such a tight arse....thats why towtrucks out there, or at least a decent car trailer being towed by a vehicle heaveir that the combo being towed.
The guy had a problem cause a tire blew out.He checked the tires,even changed a suspect tire.He didn't have a wreck cause the tow vehicle was too light or painted the wrong color,it was bad luck,an accident.A wheel coulda flew off a trailer and caused the same problem.
I just rented one a month and a half ago to tow my OT bonneville car, it cost me $58 without added insurance.
Thanks everyone for the kind words, this whole ordeal has shaken me up some but I am super glad not a single person got hurt. I know I'm extremely lucky it turned out how it did. I'll say this is the first time I've flat towed. I'll agree the truck should have probably been a little heavier. I've had my pickup on the scale at the scrap yard, it weighs right around 3500 pounds which is what the 57 weighs as well. As far as everything else goes I made sure everything was rated for the weight. The hitch, the ball, and the tow bar were all rated for better than 5000 lbs. Also had magnetic lights on the car as well as had a nice heavy logging chain hooked to the truck. I've had blowouts on trailers but never had one make me loose control. It happened real quick, I heard the bang and next thing I knew I was flying into the other lane. The truck is a total loss. It is hard to tell from the pictures but the frame has a severe bend in it and the cab is pushed in a ways. The axle shafts are also bent as well. Sounds like some of the other people here have had good luck with tow bars but I think for me the next thing that gets towed on all fours will be a trailer with the car on it. Also while I always check everything over when towing I'll be doing it twice over to make sure the tires are 100 percent.
I hope you learned a lesson. A half ton truck is not made to tow when the car started to dance around the truck was to light to keep you in control Look up and say thanks
I have flat towed many thousands of miles at Interstate speeds, climbed many mountains & never had any problems. Would I have ever towed with that rig you used = not a chance in hell van
Glad you held in there and made it. http://americancardolly.com/ Father son business...real good people I bought one from these guys a couple years ago for $1200. Built to pull Hummers and full size 4x4's behind rv's, they have brakes. I've towed vans and dually's with it. but i have big tow rigs too I had a trailer till a spring bolt broke and the tires dug into the fender at 55mph pulling me in the right ditch and rolling the trailer. the 1" thick ball strap on the hitch twisted off before my 1-ton van would roll and when the safety chains broke and the suspension decompressed the van went airborn back over the highway landing in the oncoming lane, bounced back into the air and landed on 4wheels on the side of the railroad tracks. A bullhauler stopped and we got the mess pulled onto the shoulder out of traffic and the sherrif gave me 48 hours to get it gone. I put new suspension under it the next day just to get it home and scrap it all. I didn't want to but I Imagined it would take a semi and loader to clean it all up and I didn't want to pay for that. It's an incredibly helpless feeling when you plan and try to cover every base and everything going well spirals out of control in an instant. I got skeered after that and bought an f600 with a 22' bed I'll prolly build another trailer but I won't be messing with a used one again. Best thing about that trailer is it would go offroad and you could sit under it and work on your car. You can see in the pic how the axles flipped over as the trailer rolled after the equalizers busted.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337151 Have a look-see at my own bad experience Better to fess-up your own stupid moves that others might learn than keep your mouth shut and live with the guilt of the next guy getting hurt. Glad your ok.
Maybe I've been lucky, but I have flat towed my coupe over 1000 miles in the last year with no issues. It is important to have the tow bar be level to the ground so under braking it doesnt want to lift the ass of your tow vehicle and I did have to make a panic stop on the interstate last time which was scarry but it would have been scarry if i had a trailer too. I think the key is the towed vehicle must be road worthy to flat tow anything.
I saw a Nasty accident on I 25 outside Winsor, Colorado with a early 70s Dodge van flat-towing another mid 70s Dodge van full of junk. There were engine blocks in the median...Gave me shivvers reading your story, reminding me of that. GLAD you're okay. Having been saved by "something" once on the highway myself, I know what you're feeling.
Laws on that vary state to state. Must be fine here, I've had plenty of cops zoom right by me no problems. The key is, as noted, you need the tow vehicle to be heavy or at least well planted in the back - and to have good brakes. I towed what's a heavy 3/4 or 1-ton Suburban back with my 1/2 ton and you could feel it pushing you on curves, fortunately it was dry and my tires were good, but it was unpleasant feeling. So I went slow and easy until I got to the main road and off the side road that meandered through a valley with the creek. On the other hand when I rescued a '57 Dodge wagon that came full of parts, I brought it back on a trailer. I estimated the total weight in the 7500-lb range. That one really wanted to push me around - I slid halfway through a light with it. No more heavy loads behind a half-ton.
Unless you're using a gooseneck or fifth-wheel, the tow vehicle NEEDS to be significantly heavier than what you're towing. You oughta try driving an 18,000 lb truck, pulling a 62,000 lb trailer around, with 50,000 lbs of 400 degree tar sloshing around in it... it's a bunch of fun! If that would've been my truck involved in this incident, we'd all three probably be dead. Folks need to use their heads when it comes to towing on the highways. I think flat towing oughta be illegal. For your own safety and for the safety of others on the road, at least get a tow dolly and get the steer axle off the ground.
For Rusty New Yorker........NY State Law.................................... (c) No vehicle shall be towed by a rope or other non-rigid connection which is longer than sixteen feet. (d) A motor vehicle being towed by a rope or other non-rigid connection must have a licensed driver in such motor vehicle who shall steer it when it is being
Tourchmann, that sounds pretty wicked. I have a feeling if it wasn't for the semi I would have had a similar story (if I would have been able to walk away at all). It happened lightning fast. I heard the blow out and then next thing I see is the grill of the semi through my window. It is legal here in Wisconsin. Didn't get any tickets out of the deal. I've had 3/4 ton trucks in the past, much better for towing. I used the old F-100 last year to pull a very heavy trailer but I did have the trailer brakes hooked up. Took the back roads home and went slow. Should have done the same with this car. I would have rather taken a couple extra hours getting home than this mess. While the truck stopped good the trailer did push the back around some. All in all a very tough lessoned learned, no more 1/2 short box trucks for towing rigs.
Never thought I'd hear someone say thank God the semi hit me, but in this case I'm glad he did too. Thank God you are ok man!
Thanks but all I meant was as far as the towed vehicle being registered or not. I use a towbar, I would never tow with a rope/chain/whatever.
AAA Plus. For 100 bucks you get 3 free tows a year up to 200 miles a trip. I always get my moneys worth. Thank goodness you are OK, be safe.
remind me to never move to tulsa! thats all i ever hear about that place is theft! glad you a okay man! thats all that matters! well, that and the chevy on got a dent!
Have the Gubmint address the problem? Let's not punish everybody because of a few people's ignorance. I have flat-towed a car 87,000 miles behind my RV in the last nine years, with absolutely no ill-effects. I don't want to have to fool around with a 650lb dolly or a trailer every time I want to travel.
Flat towing behind an RV is most certainly different than towing with a light in the rear pick up truck.
Glad you are okay. Flat-towing long distances sounds scary. I used to have an 18 foot open trailer, I just didn't use it enough I wish I had had a few buddies I could have shared it with...
around 1980 a buddy sold a clapped out 23 window VW bus. these kids show up in another bus with the roof cut off that looked worse than the rusted mess they were picking up. they flat towed it with several short lengths of chain bolted together. for those who know the Bay Area they towed it from Fremont, ACROSS THE SAN MATEO BRIDGE to where ever they lived on the other side of the bay. San Mateo Bridge rises up a good 75 feet above the bay, there are windy days out there I wouldn't want to drive a fully restored vintage bus acroos that bridge. as an old fart nowadays I wouldn't have let them do it, but we were all pretty young and stupid at the time. another fun flat tow I did was when we towed my disabled 61 Dodge down east 14th -mission blvd in Oakland all the way to Fremont with a rope. the tow vehicle? my 62 Caddy. the key to rope towing is that the rear car supplys most of the braking so as to keep the rope tight, and of course, only go about 20 MPH.
I've seen a million RVs towing cars and never seen anything that looked hinky. The thing is, this 'accident' happened *after* he asked for advice , then came up with this brainstorm. *ONE* freaking tire was bad?!? Uh, no. The other 3 tires were on the same car sitting in the same place. If one was bad they all needed to be replaced and your decision not to do that cost you a truck and fucked those people up in that rig. Maybe they didn't break an arm but you fucked up their truck, their day, their peace of mind, and their livelihood and all I've heard is how its not your fault because the seller said the tires looked ok. Man up and take responsibility for your mistakes. I didn't hear one word of regret for causing this collision or hurting those people. Anybody that thinks he's not at fault is just as big an asshole as he is. This guy is contemptable and I'm disgusted to hear people defending him. Accident my ass, he set this up to happen from square one.
Dang all these guys kicking in about towing with an RV,its a hell of alot different thing alltogether,it would be the same effect as having a 2-ton truck dragging a VW,the VW wouldn"t affect the handling of the truck at all. tow vehicles have to be heavier than load its pulling,bottom line.had one guy here in Fla.,pulled up to the gas station ,and all of a sudden he was hollering OH-SHIT asked him if he needed help,he said his car was gone.luckily his car was found about 11 miles back.he didn"t have a rear camera system on the huge motor home and didn"t feel abit of difference in driving.
#### I would sure hate to have this result of Bad Judgement as a Bad Experience come into my lane on the highway with my family in the car !! Or better yet into the lane of my Hot-Rod that I had poured my soul and life savings into !!! People need to quit doing stupid shit !!! It makes us all look bad. >>>>.
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