Club 80-90 Forums

Yesterday I noticed a vehicle being towed by the AA using a gismo that lifted the front wheels off the road.

Although I have searched to no avail, I seem to recall reading here that this method of towing is bad for the VC/Prop. If it is, can someone explain why and are the recovery companies aware of the damage that could be caused?

Eric.

eric wrote:Yesterday I noticed a vehicle being towed by the AA using a gismo that lifted the front wheels off the road.

Although I have searched to no avail, I seem to recall reading here that this method of towing is bad for the VC/Prop. If it is, can someone explain why and are the recovery companies aware of the damage that could be caused?

Eric.

When i needed recovery by the rac last year i requested a flat bed due to my vans VC and they sent one. To be fair i think they would have anyway due to the size of them compared to there towing vehicles, especially if you need relaying quite along way.

jed

In basic terms its because the front wheels are locked and the rear wheels are rotating (assuming it was towed forwards)
Your viscous coupling then has to cope with the high difference in speed (differential) between the two which will be outside what it is designed to do.
I would think this should be basic knowledge for any professional recovery operator who you expect to disconnect the front wheels from the rear. Perhaps the prop had been removed? Even then there are other possible problems to do with gearboxes being wound up which is why the prop is taken off a HGV when towed by underlift. I'm sure someone else will fully explain it.

Thanks for that lads .....

CM: Sorry chief, I did not make it clear that `the vehicle` spotted being towed was not a Syncro.

So being towed by a rope with all 4 wheels on the ground is ok then.

I have lots of experience in being flatbeded and being towed in the last 2 yrs.
So often in fact, I am now exchanging Christmas Cards with one recovery chap now.

Eric.

just insist on flatbed, use the words it's "permenant four wheel drive" and they will all comply as they have had to pay out large sums when damaging transmissions by innappropriate towing.
Yes it's ok to recover a short distance with all 4 wheels on the ground and a driver in the second vehicle but there are heavy snatch loads involved and the recovery point is just that you don't want it being yanked off by repeated laoding in traffic. I welded on a second recovery point to spread the load when recovering off road. Easy if you have drop down wheel carrier, otherwise you have to mod the bash plate.
I was able to insist on flatbed for the 2wd too on the basis that the rear springs because of broken pigtails and bearings had just been replaced, it's a heavy camper, rear engined and with the front wheels in the air the rear axle would be on it's load limit, RAC concurred and no problem.

Thanks for that Aidan.
Notes taken.....

Eric.

I have been recovered home at least 3times in the last 5 years and the RAC always sent a flat bed truck although I did have to inform them the first time.

Paul used an 'A' bar to recover that DoKa he bought way down the South West. That journey was about 200 miles or so and he had no issues at all.

So being towed by a rope with all 4 wheels on the ground is ok then.

Why wouldn't it be? Unless your driveshafts/propshaft are flopping about ......

When I got "recovered" late last year I requested a flatbed on the phone to the AA, they said they understood what vehicle I owned and would send a suitable vehicle. I was hoping to get the bus delivered on a flatbed to my mate's garage as he knows the vehicle well, however the AA turned up in a transit and said they weren't prepared to take the VW any further than the nearest garage. Unfortunately I heard rumours that the nearest garage were "less than reputable" so the AA man towed me to the next one. It all worked out OK in the end. AA bloke said that you could tow a permanent 4x4 20 miles without damage to the VC, believe me 5 miles was enough for me, not used to being towed in a vehicle without a bonnet, very unnerving!

You could tow a Syncro around the world till the cows come home and the VC wont be damaged. Why would it be damaged?

Just to throw some thing else in to the mix.
I have RAC recovery as part of my membership, however when I got my van recovered last week after it got stuck in 4th the RAC truck driver that came to move it the following day on a low loader told me that I should have payed 170 quid to be moved. Apparently its n the small print!!!

syncropaddy wrote:Paul used an 'A' bar to recover that DoKa he bought way down the South West. That journey was about 200 miles or so and he had no issues at all.

So being towed by a rope with all 4 wheels on the ground is ok then.

Why wouldn't it be? Unless your driveshafts/propshaft are flopping about ......

The legality of flat towing vehicles in the UK is questionable. Seems to vary depending on who you ask but unless your doing it for "emergancy recovery to a point of safety" it seems a traffic cop might be able to give you hassel, though they seem not to bother and turn a blind eye so far, on the rare ocasions you see one (plenty of mobile phone drivers out there to easilly pick off at the moment so why go for more complex paperwork). This is the reasion a lot of RAC vans now have thouse folding spec lift dollies in the back when in the past they'd have just used a bar or even rope. All still fine for getting off the motorway though. I suspect the mileage limits often quoted are more for these resions than to protect the vehicle, which is more likely to eather be perfectly fine or get damaged very quickly after being very reluctant to move.

A surprising number of modern vehicles can't be towed with the driveing wheels on the ground these days, and not just automatics. Oil pumps in the gearbox are the culprits, presumably they are driven off the input end so wouldn't lubricate if the 'box was in neutral without the engine running. The input shaft would be more suitable for driving an oil pump as it maintains a decent rotational speed regardless of how fast your driving, though coasting down a hill with the clutch in and the stick in neutral probubly won't do it much good. The result of this is some FWD cars NEED to be recovered on a spec lift and RWD vehicles tend to need the prop removing. Very low towing speed limits might sort of get round this though for short distance - back to emergancy recovery stuff.

Perminant 4WD is quite common on a lot of vehicles so recovery people are usally quite understanding with them once they know what a syncro actully is, which is best assumed they won't initally. If it gets relayed back outside of my presence I like to leave a note on the steering wheel just incase it gets loaded onto another truck and they missed the large print the RAC put on the paperwork if you mention it when you call them.

I think another reason recovery companies dont use ropes to tow is that very few people actually know how to be towed. 'A' Bars are fine for towing and much safer that a rope.
I remember being towed on a rope from Carlisle to Birmingham 35 years ago - in fact Ill never forget it! Tow vehicle was a Triumph GT6 and the vehicle I was in..... a Mini Moke with no roof. It was lashing rain the whole way and the driver had a weird sense of humour. It was the underwear soiling moment of my life