Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 12:00:37 -0400
Reply-To: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Organization: Bulley-Hewlett
Subject: Re: long-distance towing
In-Reply-To: <001f01c25b36$2431cbc0$11692341@cfl.rr.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Frame rails are exactly what you do NOT want to hook to, (illegal here)
because that is sprung mass, liable to break off under inertial loading;
designed for extrication and towing, not for inertial anchorage; go
back and read my post again.
The bottom of the strut towers, the back of the steering knuckle, or
even the rims are places that are legal, and with some design foresight,
could accommodate un-sprung anchorage. U-haul has a nifty solution in
their "nylon strap web over the tire" thing used on tow dollies.
Developing business and guiding change since 1996,
G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett
Marketing & Communications
Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com
AIM = IExplain4u
Phone: +1.919.658.1278
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Matthew Libby
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 10:59 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: long-distance towing
Most vehicle manufacturers do accomodate this with t-hook holes in the
frame
rails, you cant secure to a tie rod, trailing arm, half axle, or cv
shaft.
they will bend and break.
----- Original Message -----
From: "G. Matthew Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 10:31 AM
Subject: Re: long-distance towing
> NC law forbids flat-bed tow trucks from securing the vehicle by any
> "sprung" portion of the body. All cable/chain anchorages MUST be
> un-sprung, (or darned close to it) which means A-arms, trailing arms,
> tie rods, half-axles, etc. are fair game.
>
> The thinking (of the NCDOT) is that the body of the car must be free
to
> bounce up and down as the flatbed rumbles over railroad tracks and
speed
> bumps at 70 mph. It is possible that if a tow truck driver latched
onto
> a typical body anchorage while the vehicle was static, once the load
> became dynamic (3,000 lb van bouncing DOWN, then UP over a railroad
> track) that the typical body anchorage could break under the inertial
> load of 20-50k lbs. It makes sense.
>
> It would be nice if vehicle manufactures accommodated this with
> un-sprung anchorage points.
>
>
> Developing business and guiding change since 1996,
>
> G. Matthew Bulley
> Bulley-Hewlett
> Marketing & Communications
> Business: www.bulley-hewlett.com
> AIM = IExplain4u
> Phone: +1.919.658.1278
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On
Behalf
> Of SStones
> Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 8:24 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: long-distance towing
>
> At 05:34 PM 9/12/02 -0500, you wrote:
> >I saw a really beautiful baby blue Jaguar XKE convertible absolutely
> ruined by
> >two idiots.....one that did the towing, and the other that permitted
> it. That
> >XKE flexed sufficiently to cause the doors not to close properly.
>
> I'm not denying that many "Professional Tow Truck Drivers" are
> incompetent,
> but what the heck did they do to it to permanently warp the frame? All
> modern tow trucks lift cars by the wheels, be they front or back, a
lot
> like the stresses put on a car by having it sitting on the ground.
What
> did
> these guys do to it?
> Poor car.
>
>
>
> >I turned down an authorized AAA tow and sent back and got a flatbed.
> Only
> >way to
> >go. Why should I tow, when all the real towing competitors have the
> flat-bed
> >service?
> >
> >Go for full service!!
>
> That's still going to be supporting the car/van by the wheels on the
> back
> of the truck... I'm not trying to be argumentative (Heck, it took me
> three
> tries just to spell it) but a flat-bed operator could screw it up just
> as
> good by hooking on to the wrong thing. I've seen a car lowered off of
a
> flat bed into a dealership service lot with the cable hooked over a
> tie-rod.
> So long as it's a 2 wheel drive van it oughtta be okay towed by any
tow
> truck, so long as the owner is there to make sure the operator isn't
> doing
> anything idiotic.
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