Towing Fiesta - No brakes? IDK!?

[Ollyfp]

Modern cars have massive servo ratios. Typically around 8 : 1, so without the servo, you'll have to press the brake pedal 8 times harder for the same deceleration. There is a type approval test where you have to achieve a minimum amount of deceleration with a failed servo and the vehicle fully laden, without exceeding a given pedal effort, but the required deceleration is pretty gentle.

On the plus side, you don't die of asbestos dust when you change the pads, and your brakes don't see much of an efficiency reduction when you drive through a flood!

And that's why I think the days of towing in the traditional sense are numbered. It's a pity though, because the cost of vehicle recovery is eye-watering.

 

[Avocet]

And that's why I think the days of towing in the traditional sense are numbered. It's a pity though, because the cost of vehicle recovery is eye-watering.

As far as I'm aware, it's not illegal to tow a broken-down vehicle on a rope. I think it's more a societal thing where we're just more risk-averse and less self-reliant than we used to be? Plus, of course, more complex vehicles that are harder to tow (and heavier). I've had some pretty hair-raising tows in the past, but lived to tell the tale!

 

[morqthana]

I don’t think I've been flat towed for about 15 years now. The last time a mate towed me, he had a spring loaded solid bar connected to both towing eyes so he did the braking.

I thought with a rigid tow bar it was the towee who had to do most of the braking?

 

[Mottie]

I thought with a rigid tow bar it was the towee who had to do most of the braking?

Yep. My mate did most of the braking.

 

[Avocet]

It's a difficult one, really. If the bar (or rope) is at a steep angle, you need to be quite gentle on the brakes as a "towee" or you risk pulling the back end of the towing vehicle (depending on its weight) sideways. Certainly the towee should always keep the rope taut, and if it' all in a reasonably straight line, then the towee doing as much of the braking as possible was what I was taught...

 

[morqthana]

Yep. My mate did most of the braking.

Your mate was the tower - you were the "towee"

The last time a mate towed me,

So with a rigid tow bar I always thought it was the person being towed who did most of the braking, as a bar can't go slack.

 

[morqthana]

It's a difficult one, really. If the bar (or rope) is at a steep angle, you need to be quite gentle on the brakes as a "towee" or you risk pulling the back end of the towing vehicle (depending on its weight) sideways.

Ditto with the front of the vehicle being towed on a bar.

Certainly the towee should always keep the rope taut, and if it' all in a reasonably straight line, then the towee doing as much of the braking as possible was what I was taught...

Ideally, with a rope, once breaking starts the towed vehicle should close slightly on the one towing, and each should be responsible for their own breaking, keeping the rope slack. Then when moving off again the tow vehicle very carefully takes up the slack before moving off in earnest.

 

[Avocet]

Ditto with the front of the vehicle being towed on a bar.

I've never had a problem that way round, because the front of the vehicle being towed has almost always been heavier than the back of the vehicle doing the towing.

Ideally, with a rope, once breaking starts the towed vehicle should close slightly on the one towing, and each should be responsible for their own breaking, keeping the rope slack. Then when moving off again the tow vehicle very carefully takes up the slack before moving off in earnest.

Gosh no! That just wastes so much time - especially if the towing vehicle is trying to pull out of a side road into traffic. It's hard enough to find a gap big enough for both cars, without having to slowly ease out of the junction to take up the slack first! And then, if the situation changes, you've got the towing vehicle sat in the middle of the main road when another car comes int view.

Mind you, funny story from many years ago in Liverpool...

My dad was being towed in a broken-down car by my mum. She had stopped at some lights and he'd kept the towrope tight as he came to a stop. At the lights, there was an old lady who was trying to cross the road. Being the chivalrous sort of chap that he was, my dad hopped out to help her over the tow rope - which she was struggling with. She thanked him and went on her way, but as my dad turned round, the lights changed and my mum (who hadn't been looking in her mirror and was oblivious to all this), set off, with him running up the road after the vehicle that was on the end of the tow rope, and then hopping alongside it, frantically trying to get in!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I've been towed a few times on ropes, probably towed an equal number of times using one. I was only once towed by the AA with a bar. The latter, was a month old car, where the ECU had died, in lane 3 of the M62, at speed. I was lucky to have enough speed to be able to drift it across to the hard shoulder. I must say, I found the (solid) bar inspired more confidence, as I was dragged off the motorway, but I found I had fewer clues as to whether I needed to be trying to brake, or not, I was so very close to the AA van. The rope at least, you can see it going slack, and have a little more warning.

My dad was being towed in a broken-down car by my mum. She had stopped at some lights and he'd kept the towrope tight as he came to a stop. At the lights, there was an old lady who was trying to cross the road. Being the chivalrous sort of chap that he was, my dad hopped out to help her over the tow rope - which she was struggling with. She thanked him and went on her way, but as my dad turned round, the lights changed and my mum (who hadn't been looking in her mirror and was oblivious to all this), set off, with him running up the road after the vehicle that was on the end of the tow rope, and then hopping alongside it, frantically trying to get in!

Not just the elderly....

Towing the caravan, through a busy city centre one evening, the lights changed and I was about to move off. Lucky I glanced in my RV mirror, to spot a youth, attempting the clamber over the A-frame.

 

[Ollyfp]

I've never had a problem that way round, because the front of the vehicle being towed has almost always been heavier than the back of the vehicle doing the towing.



Gosh no! That just wastes so much time - especially if the towing vehicle is trying to pull out of a side road into traffic. It's hard enough to find a gap big enough for both cars, without having to slowly ease out of the junction to take up the slack first! And then, if the situation changes, you've got the towing vehicle sat in the middle of the main road when another car comes int view.

Mind you, funny story from many years ago in Liverpool...

My dad was being towed in a broken-down car by my mum. She had stopped at some lights and he'd kept the towrope tight as he came to a stop. At the lights, there was an old lady who was trying to cross the road. Being the chivalrous sort of chap that he was, my dad hopped out to help her over the tow rope - which she was struggling with. She thanked him and went on her way, but as my dad turned round, the lights changed and my mum (who hadn't been looking in her mirror and was oblivious to all this), set off, with him running up the road after the vehicle that was on the end of the tow rope, and then hopping alongside it, frantically trying to get in!

Lol. Funny afterwards, but at the time... no.

 

[Ollyfp]

I've been towed a few times on ropes, probably towed an equal number of times using one. I was only once towed by the AA with a bar. The latter, was a month old car, where the ECU had died, in lane 3 of the M62, at speed. I was lucky to have enough speed to be able to drift it across to the hard shoulder. I must say, I found the (solid) bar inspired more confidence, as I was dragged off the motorway, but I found I had fewer clues as to whether I needed to be trying to brake, or not, I was so very close to the AA van. The rope at least, you can see it going slack, and have a little more warning.


Not just the elderly....

Towing the caravan, through a busy city centre one evening, the lights changed and I was about to move off. Lucky I glanced in my RV mirror, to spot a youth, attempting the clamber over the A-frame.

Foot down? Lol