Snow carnage !!

[Ross]

All of this proves to me that before you take your test you should be taken to a skid pan and taught to drive without grip. My driving instructor used to pay half the cost and the pupil the other if they wanted to have a go on the pan at MIRA. I think it helped as yesterday I managed to get an empty mercedes sprinter from London to Leicester up hills that the highway patrol disco got stuck. Just to point out my van is rear wheel drive, I am 25 and am a van driver for a living, just wanted to prove we are not all prats like the other vans I passed who were doing dancing on ice auditions.

[gregster]

[2much]

what would have been useful for the car manufacturers to do would have been standardise the thread on these screw tow loops - every one i have rescued so far has been different!

and for towing you need to ensure the rope or similar is secured to a strong place if no tow loop not in place - NOT the slam panel bonnet catch on an Audi A6 which is why I WILL ALWAYS DO THE ATTACHING MYSELF IN FUTURE!!! which leads me nicely into gregs intro...

if you need a "secure" point wind down both front windows, place rope through and join using shackle somwhere at front, then attach tow rope/strop and pull - remember to tell driver that if windscreen starts cracking they should flash their lights and i can tell you from experience an A6 has very strong pillars, enough to rescue it and then tow up a very steep hill - vorsprung durch technic yippee kayaaa

[MrTom]

So you should tell the driver to leave it in neutral?
I helped / towed a lady up a steep hill today but..... Me and my truck struggled like mad. I had it in 4wl and it just spun up like mad I was all over the place and going slow. The engine temp shot up to near red.
What did I do wrong? I know I only have a 2l but you know, was hoping to walk it.

Do tyres make the difference? I'm on road tyres running 33psi all round?

Cheers

[Retro Pedro]

Suppose it's a 2 sided coin - as Greg said about the towed vehicle being in neutral.
I've always asked them to help me by also trying to drive whilst I pull and have had no problems - OK I've got extreme tyres coupled with a 2.8 engine which does make a difference.
I've always viewed it that if a stuck car attempting to drive up, can be pushed forward by helpers doing the pushing - but then change that to a static car in neutral, the pushing people won't stand a chance of moving it. I'm not an expert, but to me it's got to help.

[gregster]

[MrTom]

[Road Hog]

[Big Dav]

On a side note & with relation to the above,a question to all the younger drivers out there.... do you have trailer towing on your driving license ?? ..... if not then technically,recovering a striken vehicle (no matter how well intentioned) is a motoring offence & should an accident occur then it would be an "uninsured loss"[/quote]

Re the above quote, I understand the offence would be along the lines of ".....driving other than in accordance with a driving licence". Heavy stuff - trying getting insurance having that as a conviction.

[fudge]

[red5]

it depends on when you took your test before you can apply the weighting criteria. Something VOSA are getting very hot on recently - to the extent of weighing vehicles/trailers. Check your licence thoroughly - the 'cut-off' is 1st Jan 1997 for the later regs. Might be worth checking your licence categories anyway -

Car driving licence first obtained since 1 January 1997

Drivers who passed a car test on or after 1 January 1997 are required to pass an additional driving test in order to gain entitlement to category B+E and all larger vehicles. In addition to the new driving tests, drivers of vehicles which fall within subcategories C1, C1+E, D1 and D1+E also have to meet higher medical standards.

Cars or light vans, with or without trailers

The term maximum authorised mass (MAM) means the total weight of the vehicle plus the maximum load it can carry safely.

B Motor vehicles with a MAM of up to 3,500 kg, no more than eight passenger seats, with or without a trailer - weighing no more than 750 kg

B As category B but with a trailer weighing more than 750 kg. The total weight of the vehicle and the trailer together can’t weigh more than 3,500 kg.
The weight of the trailer, when fully loaded, can’t weigh more than the unladen weight of the vehicle

B auto As category B with automatic transmission

B+E As category B but with a heavier trailer that isn't covered in the descriptions for category B

Example of category B with a trailer weighing over 750 kg: Motor vehicle with an unladen weight of 1,500 kg and a maximum weight of 2,000 kg towing a fully loaded trailer with a weight of 1,500 kg – total weight 3500.

Example of category B+E: Motor vehicle with a MAM up to 3,500 kg towing a trailer of any weight over 750 kg.

Wall of text ends.

[hipo1024]

[Frenchfarmer]

[Norse]

[jpbiketransport]

I passed my test in 2005, And from what i was told I would be fine to tow a stricken car to a safe place, so its proberbly a bit of a grey area as what is a "safe place" everyone will have different opinions, I actually towed a police car on a rope when it broke down on a dual carridgeway threw peterborough.......I towed them back to the station

[drinksoptional]

i pulled a vauxhall using the wish bone the lack of towing eye is the most stupid of ideas, silly wee circle of plastic or a hidden panel that involes strippin the bumper to find it i hate new cars so bloody over designed

[neal]

can honestly say i miss my old fronty and cant wait to get another one again but what i have noticed is that most of the 4x4 owners are not intrested in helping anyone and had one drive over the path to get past me

[Frenchfarmer]

Now what was that about the towing vehicle being heavier than the .......................................?
And he'd get nicked for the snow on his roof.
The law is an ass (As they like to say.)

[FronteraGirl]

Have rescued a few people so far, the best one being in my friends L200....well, I wouldn't want to burn Fronty's clutch out, would I?



Was going give a girl racer a tow off of the snowy verge she parked on after avoiding an idiot on the wrong side of the road, but guess what, no tow ball, no tow eye, no nothing to put a rope through on her car. She wanted to use the boot catch but I don't think so! So I borrowed a couple of strong chaps and we gave her a push instead

[cheekychick]