I've read many posts where other 914ers have been saved by AAA, but I just got left stranded

I called for a flatbed to come out and pick up my teener. After waiting 3 hours, the guy takes one look and says there is no safe way for him to winch the car up onto the truck. He calls someone on the phone and talks for a few minutes, then comes back and says that if I sign a damage waiver, he'll "figure out somewhere to hook on"...um, no thanks, sorry to have wasted both of our time

Has anyone else had this problem? If so, what did you do? Yes my car has that front ring underneath (and is not rusty) but the driver was reluctant to consider that as an option.

I've got plenty of beer if there is anyone in the Indy area who might be able to help me get the car running again...

AAA tow #1 a few months ago...........


and AAA tow #2 a few weeks later......

use the a-arms (doh!!!!) to pull the car up.......

mine has a hook on the bottom of the front trunk that they hook onto. I can grab pics if intrested.


i always get mine flat-bed towed.

QUOTE (bd1308 @ Aug 2 2005, 06:19 PM)

mine has a hook on the bottom of the front trunk that they hook onto. I can grab pics if intrested. i always get mine flat-bed towed.

did you read his post?? he says he knows he has that ring

I wouldn't trust that part unless you knew for sure the trunk floor was very solid...being back East, chances are............

oh....

hmm....
i guess i lucked out with a good front pan.

has anybody ever tried to pull a 914 with the rear tow eye system?

QUOTE (Mueller @ Aug 2 2005, 08:22 PM)

I wouldn't trust that part unless you knew for sure the trunk floor was very solid...being back East, chances are............

Come on now, don't be too hard on the little shaver, he is from Kentucky after all

My car does not have the typical midwest body rot, and the pictures of your car being lifted up in such a manner made my skin crawl. If that is what the guy tonight had in mind, there is no f'in way I'm signing any damage waiver

QUOTE (mudfoot76 @ Aug 2 2005, 08:56 PM)

I called for a flatbed to come out and pick up my teener. After waiting 3 hours, the guy takes one look and says there is no safe way for him to winch the car up onto the truck.

part of the issue is that when the car is heading up the ramp, the angle of the winch cable will want to foul (and rip) the bottom of your air dam. remove your spoiler/air dam/valence and you'll eliminate that as an issue.

if you don't need to go very far and your rear suspension is sound and front roadwheels installed, a cradle is a perfectly acceptable tow technique. they tend to roll flatbeds any time they hear the word 'Porsche' but it's not always the best method, due to the winch.

QUOTE

has anybody ever tried to pull a 914 with the rear tow eye system?

sure. i dragged my 6 on its shipping dolly halfway across my silty, sandy yard. bent the tow eye in the process, reminds me - i need another one. use common sense and no shock loads. when i redo my rear suspension, i'll install the lower mount tow eyes...

Is there anything to grab onto in the front trunk? That would eliminate the air dam issue.

QUOTE (ArtechnikA @ Aug 3 2005, 07:41 AM)

part of the issue is that when the car is heading up the ramp, the angle of the winch cable will want to foul (and rip) the bottom of your air dam. remove your spoiler/air dam/valence and you'll eliminate that as an issue.

The air dam didn't seem to be the problem. The driver said that the front tow eye underneath the car was, in his opinion, not suited for winching the car onto the truck. I had even asked him if it was the air dam he was concerned about, and that wasn't the case.

The cradle idea might be workable. I also know a few people with lawncare businesses that have RO/RO trailers for their mowers and tractors. That will probably be the quickest solution to this problem...

Geoff,

Uhaul auto transport or tow dolly work just fine. I have used both. Ya gotta friend with a truck? If i was closer I could give you a hand.

Edit - I have pushed many a teener up on a autotransport by myself. Wasn't easy, two people work better.

Been towed twice by AAA. The first time it was winched onto a flat bed with the hook under the front trunk. No problem! The second time it was with a cradle under the front wheels. The guy lifted the front end and we took it out of gear (that tow was very short 1 1/2 miles). Everything was fine both times.

Remember, these guys see Porsche on the call and most think of the wine and cheese crowd so, they are pretty nervous about hooking up. I lucked out with both drivers. The second one's mom had a 911 so they had no fear.

Dave

QUOTE (mudfoot76 @ Aug 3 2005, 10:25 AM)

The driver said that the front tow eye underneath the car was, in his opinion, not suited for winching the car onto the truck.

First off....as one that has had MANY '14s and '11s on the hook....a flat bed is the ONLY way to have it towed.

Decreasing the angle of the bed dropping it onto a couple of 2x4s is the best loading method.

As to "AAA"...the guys are contractors NOT AAA....if one guy can't do it, call AAA and get another guy out there that can. ALSO, unless you are in EASTJESUSBUMFUCH nowhere....3 hours is bullshit....

QUOTE (itsa914 @ Aug 3 2005, 12:38 PM)

Uhaul auto transport or tow dolly work just fine. I have used both. Ya gotta friend with a truck? If i was closer I could give you a hand.

Good info, and thanks for the offer....i'm just a little irritated to be paying for AAA+ specifically because of the 914 only to have them dispatch someone who was inept.

Maybe I can get AAA to cover the costs of the uhaul since they can't find a local provider who is of any assistance to me I know many people with full size trucks

The tow hook tab on my yellow daily driver was at some point in the past used for either moving the car, or pulling a tree out of the ground. Either way, it suffered serious damage. It basically pulled out a sizeable section of floorpan as it disconnected from the body. So when I bought the car it had this huge hole in the front trunk. So I would be careful about using the front trunk tow hook.

-Tony

QUOTE (TonyAKAVW @ Aug 3 2005, 01:06 PM)

Either way, it suffered serious damage. It basically pulled out a sizeable section of floorpan as it disconnected from the body.

Argh...this is what I am afraid of happening...gots to get AAA to cover a trailer...

have a competient body guy look at the hook...mine said it was strong. they are there for a reason and designed to pull the car. if it broke, there is also a reason for that. just take it slow and dont use that hook to pull trees.

QUOTE (bd1308 @ Aug 3 2005, 10:25 AM)

have a competient body guy look at the hook...mine said it was strong. they are there for a reason and designed to pull the car. if it broke, there is also a reason for that. just take it slow and dont use that hook to pull trees.

Actually I think they were put there for tie downs during trans atlantic shipping....

mercedes had the same hook--and its there for towing.

i'm using the front hook, you all can pull the car with the rear hook if you want.

I had my car towed last year due to a broken throttle cable. I would have had a hard time getting the car up on the flatbed, but my V8 has enough torque to roll up onto the bed in first gear with the engine just idling. Then the second problem is tie downs. They have to carefully strap the car down through the wheels (if you have Fuchs). I don't like doing that but had no choice. I had to wait another 30 minutes for a second tow truck that could handle my car. The first truck could not do it.

Sometime I want to mount some strong hooks, one on each corner, to pull the car up on the tow truck bed and to tie it down.

QUOTE (914GT @ Aug 3 2005, 03:02 PM)

...They have to carefully strap the car down through the wheels (if you have Fuchs)....

i have never had a tow guy want to attach anything to the 911's wheels (Fuchs...)
they've always attached to the A-arms in front and the trailing arms in back.

i keep expecting one to want to wrap a tie-down onto the halfshaft but so far, (must be all the front-wheel-drive cars...) they've known what they were doing, stayed away from those, and gone right to the suspension members.

I had mine towed about two years ago when my clutch cable broke.
Towed it on a flat bed hauler ass end forward.
The operator tied onto the engine support beam to winch it on.
I had him carry the car backwards so when we got home I could coast it directly into my garage. No problem.
No attachments were made to the wheels. Hooks were set to suspension instead.

Wheels or suspension - they are not the greatest places to tie a car down. I'm sure it does not do the alignment any good.

QUOTE (SEEMORE BUTZ @ Aug 3 2005, 11:27 AM)

Actually I think they were put there for tie downs during trans atlantic shipping....

OK Combat boot dude...what;s YOUR explanation? It's not a tow eye that would be used on a regular basis...plus any AC car gets it cut out....

QUOTE (SEEMORE BUTZ @ Aug 4 2005, 08:41 AM)

what;s YOUR explanation? It's not a tow eye that would be used on a regular basis...plus any AC car gets it cut out....

Yes please, an inquiring mind would like to know

QUOTE

has anybody ever tried to pull a 914 with the rear tow eye system?

Somebody had tried to pull mine with the rear hook sometime before I bought it. The hook broke off and the dumb s**t left the broken part in the threads. Not very sturdy I think.

QUOTE (SEEMORE BUTZ @ Aug 4 2005, 06:41 AM)

OK Combat boot dude...what;s YOUR explanation? It's not a tow eye that would be used on a regular basis...plus any AC car gets it cut out....

QUOTE

It's not a tow eye that would be used on a regular basis

Regular use???

They are not meant to be used everyday, just as a quick and easy attactment point if the car needs to be towed out of harms way. Sure the a-arms work fine, but for the average person, seeing a "hook" or ring, placement seems pretty obvious without them having to have any knowledge or experiance with towing the vehicle. Even for the screw-in type hooks, the owner "should" know what needs to be used and where it goes. I have not looked at an owners manual, but you'd think it mentions it.

QUOTE

.plus any AC car gets it cut out...

Well, you can blame that one on bad engineering of the aftermarket A/C manufactures since they should have re-installed a real hook or ring once the front trunk floor was cut.