First let me say that if any of you are running around with out some
kind of roadside asistance program you are very foolish. Their are many
available ie: Allstate/Sears, Nationwide Signature Club which handles
AARP, Montgomery Ward, Amway and many others and of course AAA, which
by the way, is the most expensive of the lot. The first thing I hand my
son, upon getting his license, was a club membership card.
Upon calling for asistance you need to know how these cars are best
towed cause alot of the operators out there do not have a clue. Here
are a few tips:
1) If you have wire wheels or minilites w/ spin offs NEVER allow the
car to be lifted from the rear and towed with front wheels on the
ground. Spin offs are designed to tighten while traveling forward and
subsequently will loosen while going in reverse.
2) Spin offs: if it's a short distance, your best bet is a wheel lift
from the front and for longer distances a flatbed.
3) Lug wheeled cars are best wheel lifted from the rear and towed and
distance doesn't matter. I would prefer having my cars lifted by the
tires and towed than any other method and that goes for other than
British cars as well. Why?.....
4)Sling trucks, which are the trucks you see with the two straps and
winches are almost obsolete and are very difficult to operate with
damaging the rubber and urethane bumpers found on the road today.
Even the Chrome bumpered MGs were not designed with sling lifting in
mind.
5)Flatbeds have the potencial to do the most damage to your car. You
know those guys who go nuts with the air impact gun on your wheels,
that you curse when you try and change a tire? Well there are lots of
guys that get a little carried away with the winch tightening and the
resulting damage is not always immediately apparent. On MGs the most
damaged item is the rear brake lines. There are more MGs on the road
with crimped rear brake line due to them being hooked on a flatbed than
there are with out these lines crimped. The best way to secure the
rear of a MG is with tire slings or hooking the spacer between the
springs and the rear end housing. Do not trust the flimsy hold down
brackets that are on many of the later Bs. It is always best to secure
the suspension rather than the chassie. I have had several cars become
unsecured by a couple of good bumps bouncing the car on the bed enough
to give the T-hook or S-hook enough slack to become undone. secure the
front on the lower arm and make sure the operator doesn't over tighten
the winch. It just should be snug. The chassie can just bounce on the
suspension this way.
If you're doing a brake line replacement in the rear consider
relocating the lines to the rear of the housing. This will also cut
down on wear or damage from road hazards like rocks and ice.
I hope that this helps a little. As for price, the standard in my area
is $50 for the pick up and first mile + $3 a mile beyond that. GET THE
RATE WHILE YOUR ON THE PHONE. Middle of the night and holiday rate will
be slightly higher.
I drive 60 hours a week for a very honest company. The thievies pay
better but I would not be able to sleep nights if I had to rip people
off all day. The majority of our calls are club calls and the company
also has a contract with Bell Atlantic, a large local cab company and
school bus company. I do between 10 and 15 calls per day including the
jump starts, tire changes and lock out calls.
Safety Fast,
David Deutsch
Long Island Tow Truck Operator AKA Roadside Asistance Engineer :-)
You wrote:
Finally gets in touch with Mom, who then calls the towing company
>at about 1:00pm.
> Somewhere around 3:30pm, the tow truck shows up - and takes one
>look and decides that he has to have the flatbed to haul it. Why? It's
>too low for him to get under with a dolly. After another 45 minutes,
the
>flatbed shows up, loads the car, drives the half-mile to the house and
>unloads. Cost? $97.00!
> When I returned from Seattle, I asked my wife if she called AAA
>to get the tow truck. No, she says, because Loyal Son doesn't have a
AAA
>card. When we called to request one, the very helpful agent said that
>since my wife was present when the tow truck arrived, AAA would cover
>it. So, all I wound up being out-of-pocket was the difference between
>the Flatbed and a standard truck.
>
>Dan Pockrus
>'74 CBB
>
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