Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 15:49:43 -0600
Reply-To: Chris Mills <scmills@TNTECH.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Chris Mills <scmills@TNTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: safety chain!! Was 89 Vanagon engine misfire
In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.7.2.20010819102603.00b27de0@pop.catt.com>
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Done it with a baywindow for 300 miles and you're right - pretty scary.
I own a Dolly but don't want to haul another van with it.
And yes I am a "bit" behind on my mail...
Chris
At 10:44 AM 8/19/01 -0400, you wrote:
>At 09:25 AM 8/19/01 -0500, Terry Kay wrote:
>>What was the Dolly's name you had the bad experience with HK---Maybe I
>>know her !!
>
>Well, <turning red> I was hauling a 1988 BMW M5. Nice car. TOO NICE a
>car to be dragging around on a dadgum tow-dolly.
>I was in a Dodge 2500 Ram 4x4 with Cummins turbodiesel.
>
>Some idiot pulls out in front of me.
>
>I slam on brakes. BMW crashes into back of my truck. My heart sank. The
>driver who pulled out in front of me just went on down the highway. I
>couldn't get a positive tag i.d. Why did the car come off? The front
>straps were worn, and the dolly belonged to a buddy of mine. A VERY CHEAP
>buddy, who didn't bother to spend money on things of little importance,
>like say, safety equipment. But, I too, was cheap. I should have rented a
>U-Haul car trailer. Never would have been a problem.
>
>Something told me before I started out on that goofy trip to secure the BMW
>with a large chain attached to the frame. Having learned to listen to
>those voices, I clambered up underneath and did this. When the panic stop
>occurred, the crash I heard was the car going over the front of the dolly
>and the frame hitting the dolly, although I didn't know it at the
>moment. The safety chain prevented the BMW from hitting the rear bumper of
>the Dodge with full force. In fact, it was just a few inches away, if that.
>
>What did I do? After the shock wore off, I was able to pull the entire rig
>onto the side-street where the a$$hole pulled out, and called a
>wrecker. The BMW was hung between the dolly and the truck, sitting on its
>frame. The front wheels were on the ground in between truck and dolly. It
>simply rolled off the front of the tow dolly. It wasn't going anywhere
>now. The wrecker guy jacked the BMW up with my help, and we blocked it
>with "cribbing." (wooden blocks used to put underneath something that is
>unstable to make it stable) It took an hour, but we were able to get the
>car back on the dolly. I gingerly drove the rig back home.
>
>It was the last time I used such a device, and never will
>again. Period. With a top heavy vehicle like a vanagon, I think that
>would only increase the risk associated with tow dolly. Of course, it
>would make trailering riskier too, but far better than dollying I believe.
>
>Recently, I hauled a car with a U-Haul trailer. As said in earlier post
>today, it was great. Being the eccentric that I am, I even have lots of
>pictures of the event. (Yeah, that's crazy, I know) It shows how to do
>it. Besides, the event did have some historical, sentimental significance
>to me, so that was part of the reason for the pictures. If you want some,
>just ask and tonight I will shoot them to you.
>
>hk
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