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Tow Bolt Sheared! Fell Off Flatbed

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Old 08-13-2004, 09:47 AM
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Um, OK. See, the guy might really be a moron. You don't hook a car by the shock or other suspension component. There are plenty of places on the rear subframe that you can hook to, not to mention holes in the frame rails made specifically to tie the car down during transport.

As you say, good thing no one got hurt.
Old 08-13-2004, 09:54 AM
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Mine snapped gettting pulled in basically a straight line. At least the tow truck guy has towed similar cars before, so when it came time to load it up on the flatbed, he knew what he was doing.
Old 08-13-2004, 10:07 AM
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This is honestly the first time I've heard of such a thing. What DO you guys do when implementing a flat bed? Seems pretty ridiculous to me to assume anyone would tow their car in a straight line for anything. Maybe off of a, I don't know, a loading dock onto a flat bed? THAT sounds like something that happens a lot...

Unless we're doing the old high school trick and having a buddy tow you behind his car with a rope and you steer and brake while still in the car...

I guess I can throw out my tow hook now. It was adding useless weight to my car anyway.
Old 08-13-2004, 10:09 AM
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Originally Posted by MyBad,Aug 13 2004, 05:48 AM
I disagree. The name "tow hook" warrants that it can be used for towing. Honda should have designed it to do just that. Instead, they gave us a toy hook that has resulted in serious damage to several cars.
No...think about the stresses involved here. If you're towing flat level ground, then that bolt is not carrying the weight of the car, it is only under the stress from the force required to move the car. When you're towing at an angle the bolt is now not only under stress by the force required to move the car but also by the part weight of the car, since the bolt now has to carry some of the weight. This is a significant increase in stress on that bolt and mounting point and honestly why I'd be surprised if an upgraded bolt would improve the situation.

The bolt and the points that the bolt mounts into the car have clearly only been designed to support the stress induced when level ground towing. They have not been designed to support any part of the weight of the car.

I wouldn't be surprised if ever manufacturer that supplies these tow hooks puts the same requirements down. I doubt any of them are designed to support the weight of the car. I wouldn't just blame honda.
Old 08-13-2004, 10:18 AM
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When my car needed towing a couple months ago and I called a flatbed, the guy refused to use the towhook that I had conveniently placed at the ready for him. He stated that they tend to break and send the car careening down the road off the flat bed......................hmmmmmm sounds familiar! Guess he wasn't kidding. Instead, I volunteered to drive it up the flatbed. That was pretty fun actually, and I got to control the situation a little bit more. After the car was on the bed and leveled off, he used web straps to secure the car to the bed.

On the way up to the shop, he stated how a "wrecker" is actually better than a flatbed. You know, the old style tow truck? One MAJOR difference though, is that they lift up the rear tires off the ground as well with those little cradles with little wheels on them. The cradle slides under the rear tires and the "pops up" to lift the car totally off the ground.

Much less stress on the car and no tow hook isues.

Hopefully you'll never need to go thru that again, but if you do consider calling for a wrecker instead - I will.

Hockey
Old 08-13-2004, 10:20 AM
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uhh, the beach patrol tows several cars a day that get stuck in the sand.

then there's people stuck in the snow in wintertime...
Old 08-13-2004, 10:24 AM
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I guess I don't see the difference between pulling it up the flat bed by the tow bolt versus having your car towed (using the tow bolt) and going up a steep incline. I guess in the latter case you would normally have momentum but if you were being towed by the hook and the tow truck stopped while on a steep hill and then resumed moving I dont see how the forces on the hook are any different than what the car experiences when being pulled up the flat bed.
Old 08-13-2004, 10:29 AM
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So I got the itch to revisit the manual after this incident. I read it cover to cover the first day I got the car (not too long ago). I was worried that in my shaken state earlier this morning that I perhaps forgot to remind the operator that the manual stated not to tow with the hook. I was surprised to read in the manual today that it makes no warning whatsover about this risk.

Now, I'm not playing the blame here, but the manual should probably mention something to this effect. It simply states: "For very short distances, such as freeing the car, you can use the detachable towing hook that mounts on the anchors in the front and rear bumpers." Hmmmm. I'm not wise to legalese but a small warning would be convenient here.

Also, the illustration which accompanies this passage is pretty funny. It's the S with its front end stuck in some sand, which makes it look like someone was driving directly into the ocean!

Anyway, I got it to a body shop near me, and was glad to find out that one of the guys there has an S and told me they had done extensive work on others in the past.

For what it's worth, I hope people check out this thread and keep it in mind should they ever need a tow. Thanks for everyone's opinions.
Old 08-13-2004, 10:32 AM
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Hi All:

I am really sorry about your car.

In the owners manual it does state that the tow hook is for flat towing, and it shows a drawing of pulling a car out of the sand.

An educated tow truck driver will always use a "J Hook" or a "T Hook" into the hole in the frame just in front of the rear tires and just behind the front tires. These are the holes that are used to assemble the car, tie the car down on the ship and also on the truck. The then use a "V" to attach under the car to the winch cable.

If they use either the front or rear tow hook as the cable pulls the car to the winch the cable is pulling down more than it is pulling back and the forces are extreme as Crazy has stated.

An uneducated tow truck driver will grab the big fish hook and close his eyes and reach under the car with the hook. Many times they hook brake lines, fuel lines, fuel tanks, etc. Watch those guys very closely, they are very dangerous.

I agree the tow truck driver is negligent in this case.

HTH,
Woodwork
Old 08-13-2004, 12:29 PM
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Originally Posted by therandomor,Aug 13 2004, 11:29 AM
So I got the itch to revisit the manual after this incident. I read it cover to cover the first day I got the car (not too long ago). I was worried that in my shaken state earlier this morning that I perhaps forgot to remind the operator that the manual stated not to tow with the hook. I was surprised to read in the manual today that it makes no warning whatsover about this risk.

Now, I'm not playing the blame here, but the manual should probably mention something to this effect. It simply states: "For very short distances, such as freeing the car, you can use the detachable towing hook that mounts on the anchors in the front and rear bumpers." Hmmmm. I'm not wise to legalese but a small warning would be convenient here.

Also, the illustration which accompanies this passage is pretty funny. It's the S with its front end stuck in some sand, which makes it look like someone was driving directly into the ocean!
hmmm.....so the passage I originally quoted was from the Helm manual...after reading this I went out to check the car manual and it has the same prohibition on using the Tow hook to tow the car onto a flat bed or use as a tie down. So MY04 owners manual DOES have the appropriate warning in it....I wonder when they changed.


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