The Wrong Way to Tow a Spider

Last year, I needed to have my spider towed, they sent a flatbed truck over. The driver greeted my with the friendly grunt then proceeded to access the situation. He then decided to use the tie down hook located on the spare tire well to pull the spider onto the flatbed. I warned him that the hook was not strong enough, nor was it intended for this purpose. He insisted by asking me �How many cars do you tow a day?�

I sat by and watched him. He sucessfully pulled the car onto the flatbed using the tie down, in the process he bent the tie down and ripped the spare tire well out of my car. While the flatbed was still tilted at 30 degrees and the edge about 3 feet off the ground, the tie down hook ripped free, sending my car bouncing down the street.

After chasing my car down (oh, it was also out of gear still, so free rolling toward the freeway on ramp) I was very unhappy and requested a regular cradle tow truck.

From that day forward, I will always use a cradle, and make them put the rear wheels up on the dollys for towing.

By the way, I ended up having to sue the towing company to get them to pay for the damage to my car. Beware.

[I've had cars towed on a flat-bed tow truck and believe it's the best way to tow a car--provided the tow-truck driver is not an idiot!--RHH.]

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