Was moving my brother in laws 75 Malibu Classic yesterday. He was driving the truck and I was in the 75 being pulled by a tow rope. The 75 has power brakes and steering, but with it not running it was Very hard to turn and Stop as you know.
We were going about 45MPH and coming up at a red light. I was having to pull on the steering wheel to press the brake pedal HARD and about that time,, POP went the steering wheel. I went across two lanes of traffic into a vacant lot ,,,,,,,it spun the 3\4 ton truck around and broke the tow rope and I don't know I'm still alive.
My brother in law FORGOT to tell me that it wasn't bolted on!!!
He was actually getting an attitude with me like it was my fault,,, till I went the F$$$ off on him.

jeez that would have been good to know BEFORE you got behind the wheel of his car!

at least you're both okay.

how's the car?

Yea, would have been nice to know.

Still, I dont think its legal to use a tow rope on the street, nor should you really be going 45 mph. It was a bad idea to start with I think. I'm surprised the car didnt stay mostly straight and allow you to come to a stop.

The car is BIG :). Its fine,,,, it is definitely BB material. He let me get the SBC out of it for $25. It's a California SB,,, I guess it has a lot of smog crap on it and has no HP.

Yea I live in MS,,, so we have alot of crap on the road. The car would veer to the left. I believe it has front end problems.

My brother in law FORGOT to tell me that it wasn't bolted on!!!
He was actually getting an attitude with me like it was my fault,,,

I would have "reattached" the wheel just above his shoulders!! http://bestsmileys.com/hitting/24.gif

At least neither of you were hurt

Did you soil yourself??

Did You ask someone to hold Your beer just before all of this happened.:D

I'm glad You're all ok, just thought that sound's like something My brother and I would do.:yes:

Here, hold my beer and watch this.

No offence but why didnt you just call and have the car towed by an actual tow truck/wrecker?:sad:

No offence but why didnt you just call and have the car towed by an actual tow truck/wrecker?:sad:

Good lord, have You no sense of adventure, Boy!!

Tow Truck???

We had a Truck In Tow,, :)
We had been drinking and we only had to go 3 miles or so. I mean I had three or so in me. I was fine,, it was that damn steering wheel :).

No offence but why didnt you just call and have the car towed by an actual tow truck/wrecker?:sad:
those things cost money... besides, he only went 3 miles.. as long as you have a pickup and a rope or chain, no self respecting car guy calls a tow truck to get a non running car any less than 20 or so miles.
i once towed a non running 94 mazda 323 about a mile by myself using a heavy duty ratchet strap, an old tire, and my 82 Ford F250 pickup.. a cop even drove by as i was hooking it up and just waved..

I generally limit my flat towing to five miles or less. That said, we have a lot of mountains around here, and inevitably, we'll go up or down one half the time. I remember one, an '83 Jetta, towed behind a '72 Riviera, down a couple of hills. He was driving normal, but the Jetta was constantly catching up, so I had to keep braking. By the time we got down, sitting at a light, some kids on the sidewalk said "hey, your brakes are on fire". That's when I saw the smoke from both front wheels. :D Had another guy, towing an '85 Z/28 with a Dodge Daytona turbo. He forgot he was towing, took off from the light like he was just driving, ripped the bumper right out from under the bumper cover. :clonk: Ahh, the adventures of towing with inexperienced people. :rolleyes:

Had a loose nut behind the wheel, huh !:wacko:

jeez that would have been good to know BEFORE you got behind the wheel of his car!

at least you're both okay.

how's the car?

um.. not to be mean.. but

I'm doubting the stearwheel "horn button" was put back in (and aplo. if it was)

your looking at it..
wheel,check
shaft check
NUT um.. missing..

i know, i know there only what,7/8"
but it's kinda hard to miss it missing..

but then again 45mph rope tow....

man .where was the vid. camera...

um.. not to be mean.. but

I'm doubting the stearwheel "horn button" was put back in (and aplo. if it was)

your looking at it..
wheel,check
shaft check
NUT um.. missing..

i know, i know there only what,7/8"
but it's kinda hard to miss it missing..

but then again 45mph rope tow....

man .where was the vid. camera...

True,,,, but we got the rope on tight. We already knew the brakes worked, So I jumped in,,, put my seat belt on :). I press the brake\pulled on the wheel many times before it came loose.
The nut on this wheel is deep in the wheel about two inches or so. It wasn't easy to see even if it was in there...
Tho I will look for now on :)

Joey (Troutdog):

I'm from up north of you near Memphis (Senatobia MS) and have done the "tow with a rope" thing myself. Knew from the get go that you were going to get razzed about the towing. Anyway, don't try using a towbar on a car without an engine should you ever have that oportunity unless someone is behind the wheel of the towed car.

Borrowed my F-I-L's tow bar on several occassions and noted the cars seem to follow well when an engine is over the front end adding weight. However, when making turns cars without engines don't turn and straighten back out unless you go REAL SLOW.

FWIW, my brother and I towed his 69 Chevelles SS from north Memphis to our small town in MS (about 45 miles) with a tow strap. Bought the car and thought we could drive it home on the interstate even though it had a 5:13 gear. Lucky for us, the guy who owned the car bought us the strap and helped us hook it up to the truck we were in. He could have just said good luck but he was looking out for us "young rookies" and took pity.

Glad to hear no one was hurt.......


Durand