Author Topic: Safety Chains when towing. (Read 2318 times)

barrie1 · « **on:** June 08, 2005, 12:00:22 am »

I just read an article to-night that says that if you have a vehicle towing make sure your safety chains are not dragging on the road. Apparently some of the newer ignitions can pick up the vibrations of the chain dragging. It sends a false signal to the computor which in turn alters the timing in the vehicle and makes it burn more fuel. They figure up to 5 miles a Gal can be lost because of the false signal. Source is Performance in Motion Mag.

ovr50 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 08, 2005, 12:11:48 am »

Pretty soon cars will be so smart, that they'll drive themselves - hopefully none of us car-buff types will have to endure that - I can see agruments - car says "we're turning right" and driver says "straight ahead" - car wins.

A brave new world !!

tenpenny · « **Reply #2 on:** June 08, 2005, 08:39:22 am »

Just like an Airbus, fly by wire. The controls are not mechanically connected to the flaps and rudder.......

Seen that 380? It's the SUV of the air.....

ovr50 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 08, 2005, 10:26:53 am »

Most new vehicles are "drive by wire" or "electronic throttle" these days. Is anyone aware of new vehicle today that has the older mechanical throttle linkage?

tenpenny · « **Reply #4 on:** June 08, 2005, 10:39:15 am »

What about steering? That'll be interesting....

random006 · « **Reply #5 on:** June 08, 2005, 10:46:21 am »

Ovr,

It'll only get worse. Before you know it, the cars themselves will be posting to this forum!

ovr50 · « **Reply #6 on:** June 08, 2005, 10:58:06 am »

There's a couple of Model Ts posting here already...........

Interesting, drive by wire steering is also coming. I read just the other day about that, but can't remember where. IIRC, it is already in one vehicle. God help us if all computers get sick at once - we'll be back to the Stone Age in an instant..

There may be some benefits to that tho, as Bridgey could get herself a real CaveMan.

wing · « **Reply #7 on:** June 08, 2005, 11:32:49 am »

Ovr50, there are lots of cars that are still drive by linkage still. Especially the low-mid range cars. Even my lovely S2000 is drive by linkage.

weebl · « **Reply #8 on:** June 10, 2005, 01:09:21 pm »

Drive by wire steering??? God help us!!!

tenpenny · « **Reply #9 on:** June 10, 2005, 02:40:27 pm »

Ovr, your comment about computers all getting sick at once isn't far off the mark.

I recently had a conversation with a person who was working on a project in Texas, funded by the US military, for a super flux generator bomb....the concept is, generate a huge electromagenetic pulse which messes up all the electronics of your enemy.

Think about it - what could you do if all of your electronic devices didn't work?

mrthompson · « **Reply #10 on:** June 10, 2005, 02:45:54 pm »

"Think about it - what could you do if all of your electronic devices didn't work?"

Ask the insurgents in Iraq or Afghanistan.

woodendart · « **Reply #11 on:** June 30, 2005, 01:35:13 am »

Here is a very good idea. This product will help reduce towing accidents and make towing someone out of the ditch much safer. http://www.ditchhitch.ca

mrthompson · « **Reply #12 on:** June 30, 2005, 07:57:33 am »

That's an interesting looking product. It would also come in handy when extracting stuck vehicles when offroad.

However, no advertising is allowed.

articsteve · « **Reply #13 on:** June 30, 2005, 12:48:39 pm »

I already use one of those wide band fabric tow ropes. I think mine is 25ft. It has 2 loops and I just loop it over the ball receiver or a front tow hook. You don't need the metal part which is where the cost is.

mrthompson · « **Reply #14 on:** June 30, 2005, 01:20:56 pm »

Don't loop it over the tow ball! They make 'great' projectiles....

articsteve · « **Reply #15 on:** June 30, 2005, 01:28:51 pm »

Don't loop it over the tow ball! They make 'great' projectiles....

?

Expand your statement.

mrthompson · « **Reply #16 on:** June 30, 2005, 01:34:16 pm »

If the tow strap/rope ever becomes slack, then tightens suddenly, the 'jerk' action can snap the stem of the tow ball and send the tow ball flying. This has been witnessed (not personally) during offroad events.

articsteve · « **Reply #17 on:** June 30, 2005, 01:57:22 pm »

If the tow strap/rope ever becomes slack, then tightens suddenly, the 'jerk' action can snap the stem of the tow ball and send the tow ball flying

That can happen with anything like with big huge chains I used in farming. We always kept an eye for those snaping on us. I would say my receiver pin would shear before my ball hitch would shear as the receiver pin is half the diameter. Of course, most ball hitches now come from Asia and are weak in comparison to the ones once forged in the USA. I have a 1 7/8 ball hitch with no nut. It uses a bolt that threads up into the ball hitch fitting. Must be 35 years old. Good stuff.

I dunno, maybe the entire bumper would come a flying if it were a ball hitch thru bumper set up.

For folks that worry about ball hitches shearing I would recommend staying away from chainsaws.

mrthompson · « **Reply #18 on:** June 30, 2005, 02:31:24 pm »

Just passing along info that was obtained from offroad oriented forums...

barrie1 · « **Reply #19 on:** June 30, 2005, 03:19:28 pm »

We used these style of straps for very heavy lifting large objects including the entire locomotive bodies around the plant and I do believe the Canadian Military has used them for stuck vehicle removals for a while as well. I hate carrying around a pile of rusty chain and these take up a lot less space.