lostinthe202 Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Car - '96 Leg. OBW 5spd. I had a close call with a tow truck and I'm trying to figure out if there are any protective measures I can take. Here's the story, In DC, the public or contractors or anyone with half an excuse and a few bucks, can get No Parking signs for a particular date range and put them up to reserve spots for moving or contractors or whatever. Now of course the problem with this is that there is no way to notify the owners of whatever cars may be parked in the spots that someone wants to reserve when they put up the signs that they can no longer park in the spot. The city, recognizing that the person parked there has done nothing wrong as the spot was legitimate before the signs went up, has decided the solution is to tow the car to some other parking spot in the neighborhood then notify the owner by mail (or on the phone when the panicky owner calls to report their car stolen) the new location of their car. This nearly happened to me the other day when I, not seeing one of these signs tapped to a tree FACING THE SIDEWALK(!!!), parked in such a spot and went to run a couple of errands. I turned the corner of the block I was parked on to see my car on the hook, the driver getting ready to get back in the truck. I got there in time and the driver put my car back down. So that's the back story, now here's the question. From what I have read from my searches, the auto trannys have a fuse you can put in that converts to fwd for the purposes of using the spare tire. Some seem to say you can tow with the fuse in and fronts off the ground, others say you can't. I don't see any mention of the manual trannys having this fuse (I couldn't find one either) so I assume they don't. Granted, this is a pretty rare occurrence, but, 1. Are there any measures I can take to prevent damage 2. What damage is caused to what piece of equipment 3. How do I diagnose the damage (would this be the torque bind thing?) Sorry if this is redundant. As I said, I tried searching on the subject and just about everything I found only made passing reference, if any, to the manual transmission. Thanks!! Will- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 There is nothing you can do except hope that the parking space is really really close to the old one. The automatics can be towed for a short distance with only one set of wheels, since theere is no pressure in the system to engage the clutches. This will do damage Since one set of clutches are spinning, the others arent, and no lubrication. The manual has the viscous coupling which may get damaged. The Fuse only works when the car is on. I have no idea what thier tolerance is for damage on the hook. NYC tows cars all the time with a hook, and so do a lot of other cities. Hooke em and get them out asap. Subaru says never to tow this way. In some cities there is so much stop and go traffic the AWD units never get to dramatically heat up If there is damage it would be torque bind. Wish I had better information. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Car - '96 Leg. OBW 5spd. I had a close call with a tow truck and I'm trying to figure out if there are any protective measures I can take. Here's the story, Will- Will, Manual trans cars do not have an active FWD fuse, so there's nothing you can do there. I would suggest parking in neutral and setting the parking brake if there's a likelyhood of being towed. Given that the mainshaft of the transmission and the front wheels will both be free to rotate, this would put the bare minimum of load on the viscous coupling during a two wheels on the ground tow. I very much doubt being towed a block or two this way would do any drivetrain damage whatsoever. There is, of course, a risk of damage to the parking brake shoes, but they're pretty cheap and separate from your regular rear brakes. (The parking brake is a tiny drum brake inside the main brake disc, unlike many other cars.) You could also put a sign on the car stating that it has AWD and extensive damage will result from towing, car must be flatbedded only, etc. Might be enough to scare some tow operators off. You could even include your cell # and hope for the best (and the minimum of prank calls from people screwing with you!) Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapdaddytatum Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 so i spend a bit of time in NYC and my trick is to do this 1. turn wheels to full lock and let the catch set 2. set brake, leave in gear 3. big red sign that says car has AWD and damage WILL occur if towed yes my car has been towed like this but they have to put dollies under the front wheels(becouse they are turned to lock) so this gets me towed with out damage if they slim jim the door they are fully responsible for all damages (according to NYC law I believe but dont quote me on that) i know here in town (central va) the sign is enough, they will not tow it here, fear of lawsuit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthe202 Posted February 10, 2008 Author Share Posted February 10, 2008 Thanks Hank, thanks Nipper, I figured there wouldn't be a good answer, but one can always hope. Seems like undesired towing is common enough that Subaru would've made some provision for it. But there's always compromises even in the best designs. thanks! Will- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthe202 Posted February 10, 2008 Author Share Posted February 10, 2008 so i spend a bit of time in NYCand my trick is to do this 1. turn wheels to full lock and let the catch set 2. set brake, leave in gear 3. big red sign that says car has AWD and damage WILL occur if towed yes my car has been towed like this but they have to put dollies under the front wheels(becouse they are turned to lock) so this gets me towed with out damage if they slim jim the door they are fully responsible for all damages (according to NYC law I believe but dont quote me on that) i know here in town (central va) the sign is enough, they will not tow it here, fear of lawsuit This is a good idea. Not sure about the slim jim laws here, but looks like a big red sign is in my future. thanks! Will- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruplatt Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Will, Manual trans cars do not have an active FWD fuse, so there's nothing you can do there. I would suggest parking in neutral and setting the parking brake if there's a likelyhood of being towed. Given that the mainshaft of the transmission and the front wheels will both be free to rotate, this would put the bare minimum of load on the viscous coupling during a two wheels on the ground tow. I very much doubt being towed a block or two this way would do any drivetrain damage whatsoever. There is, of course, a risk of damage to the parking brake shoes, but they're pretty cheap and separate from your regular rear brakes. (The parking brake is a tiny drum brake inside the main brake disc, unlike many other cars.) I was told that you had to put the car in neutral while still running and then after turning off the car it would remain that way. In Toronto if you apply the parking brake they use rear dollies (which the charge you extra for). Most Tow truck drivers wouldn't dare to tow a four wheel vehicle without all wheels off the ground any-way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruplatt Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Will, Manual trans cars do not have an active FWD fuse, so there's nothing you can do there. I would suggest parking in neutral and setting the parking brake if there's a likelyhood of being towed. Given that the mainshaft of the transmission and the front wheels will both be free to rotate, this would put the bare minimum of load on the viscous coupling during a two wheels on the ground tow. I very much doubt being towed a block or two this way would do any drivetrain damage whatsoever. There is, of course, a risk of damage to the parking brake shoes, but they're pretty cheap and separate from your regular rear brakes. (The parking brake is a tiny drum brake inside the main brake disc, unlike many other cars.) I was told that you had to put the car in neutral while still running and then after turning off the car it would remain that way. In Toronto if you apply the parking brake they use rear dollies (which the charge you extra for). Most Tow truck drivers wouldn't dare to tow a four wheel vehicle without all wheels off the ground any-way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthe202 Posted February 10, 2008 Author Share Posted February 10, 2008 I was told that you had to put the car in neutral while still running and then after turning off the car it would remain that way. explain please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 explain please? Yes i was wondering that too. I suggest the poster try that and then try to put his car in gear, it will go in. Looks like a big red sign is in my future. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skip Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 maybe he was refering to an automatic? Still do not know how that would help. ref: Nipper's post #2 Being a certified "country bumpkin" I'll just avoid the "big city". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 I used to do business with the hospitals in NYC. I had a sign on my car reading " EXTREME CAUTION RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES IN CAR". For some reason, no one ever screwed with my car. Like a little ionizing radiation is going to hurt someone. Whimps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankosolder2 Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 I used to do business with the hospitals in NYC. I had a sign on my car reading " EXTREME CAUTION RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES IN CAR". For some reason, no one ever screwed with my car. Like a little ionizing radiation is going to hurt someone. Whimps. I think nowadays with that sign, your car would either be broken into by terrorists looking for fissionable material, or it'd be impounded by Homeland Security! Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapdaddytatum Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 I think nowadays with that sign, your car would either be broken into by terrorists looking for fissionable material, or it'd be impounded by Homeland Security! Nathan HLS needs no reason to tow, they just do it to keep their techs busy logging loads of useless hours so they can fatten their budget......LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 I used to do business with the hospitals in NYC. I had a sign on my car reading " EXTREME CAUTION RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES IN CAR". For some reason, no one ever screwed with my car. Like a little ionizing radiation is going to hurt someone. Whimps. We are used to that, as we assume any car from NJ is radioactive nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nkx Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Heres a sticker you can put on your windshield to let the half-wits know that they need a flatbed to tow a subaru. http://www.fastwrx.com/awdtowdecal.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 I think nowadays with that sign, your car would either be broken into by terrorists looking for fissionable material, or it'd be impounded by Homeland Security! Nathan It was over twenty years ago. It's a whole different world today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthe202 Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 Heres a sticker you can put on your windshield to let the half-wits know that they need a flatbed to tow a subaru. http://www.fastwrx.com/awdtowdecal.html Oooooo, I like this, thanks! Will- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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