towing with front two wheels on the ground?

[idosubaru]

gary, towing a car backwards on a dolly is BAD BAD idea, it ont handle right, and has GREAT potential for sway.

 

i helped a buddy tow a monte carlo on a dolly backwards. it got uncontrollable by 45 mph and we had to turn it around.

 

oh right safety wise it is terrible i did it once and like you said it's a safety hazzard and should probably be illegal, it was scary even in my full size truck!

 

but this car was only going 7 miles on slow back roads so i wasn't too worried about that....but ended up being a bad idea for the trans anyway so just got a friend and did the extra work of pushing, pulling, drifting, to get it on right.

[MilesFox]

in my case it was a short trip, but trouble was had as soon as we got to 45 mph on the main road out of town. This was a big body GM by the way with the steering locked. I can imagine there are enough forces applied to potentially break the steering lock this way.

 

I once towed a subaru ina 6x12 open u-haul trailer. I loaded the car backwards. Let me just say that i spun out at the end of the onramp. I had to re-laod the car and continue another 50 miles with a bent tongue.

 

remember kids, 60% of the load over the tongue, with the bulk of the weight centered over the axle(s).

[idosubaru]

in my case it was a short trip, but trouble was had as soon as we got to 45 mph on the main road out of town. This was a big body GM by the way with the steering locked.

mine was like 250 miles, it was a loooooong trip and scary on crazy a#$# I95 traffic Philly to Baltimore but i made it. it was a board members car. i would never do that again.

 

I once towed a subaru ina 6x12 open u-haul trailer. I loaded the car backwards. Let me just say that i spun out at the end of the onramp. I had to re-laod the car and continue another 50 miles with a bent tongue.

you nut bag!@!!!!! did the car fall off? how did Uhaul like that trailer return? is that when you worked for them?

[MilesFox]

no, the car did not fall off, but the trailer wraped most of the way around the 88 lincoln town car i was driving. IT twisted the reciever a little bit too.

 

I was working at u-haul at the time. I rented the trailer to myself. I turned around and went back the 5 miles i started from to re-load the car. I managed to reverse the contract and re-write it with safe tow insurance, so with that, i was in the clear without liability.

 

No one really questioned it, even when i explained my experience to the marketiong company president himself. This was at a time where u-haul was reviewing its trailer safety procedures, and went along with similar occurrences, before they started to enforce to the customers the 60/40 rule.

 

I was lucky to not be tangled in other traffic. My car managed to stay in the onramp lane, although facing 180 degrees. a passerby stopped to check if i was ok, and held the lane down while i turned around and got off on the next exit.

 

this isnt the only towing accident i have had. once, my 5x8 uhal cam unhitched and passed me in traffic, because the guy helping me with that job did not fasten the ball clamp when he hitched the trailer. it passed me, went thru a red lite, and rested in the median.

 

once again i was lucky. I am a lot more cautious and careful due to my experiences. No longer would i be complacent with towing combinations, as i have realized the real dangers as real experiences.