Experience with tow straps?

[strat61caster]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway

OP, careful about what you buy, I've seen tOOner tOw hOOks snap in half when actually being used by a tow truck. Just 'cause it looks cool doesn't mean it's actually useful. The best tow hook is probably the one that comes with the car in the trunk.

[Leonardo]

Why isn't there a threaded spot for the hook in the middle of the car. Like behind the rear license plate or in the black mesh in the front.




On Ebay, a New OEM BRZ Tow hook costs more than most of the aftermarket ones.


The Beatrush one looks nice, but it's $131

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Leonardo

Why isn't there a threaded spot for the hook in the middle of the car. Like behind the rear license plate or in the black mesh in the front.

Tradition.

You don't see it much any more, but when I was growing up, if you broke down you would call a buddy to come out and tow you home using a chain, strap or even rope. Your buddy would drive his car, and you would sit in the towed vehicle to steer and brake. It could be every bit as harrowing as it sounds.

An inexperience tow driver might think the best way to do that would be to run a line from the center of the first vehicle to the center of the second vehicle, but it's not. Instead, you attach the tow line at an angle from the driver's side of the first vehicle to the passenger side of the second vehicle. This has two purposes:

First, the angled line helps cushion impacts from starts and stops. If you have a center to center tow line and the guy in front takes off too quickly, it will pull taut and jerk the shit out of the second vehicle. If the second guy brakes to quickly, it will jerk the shit out of the first vehicle. You can get into an oscillation where you're alternating jerking the shit out of each other. Having the line at an angle shifts the momentum sideways, creating a natural cushion.

Second, with the line run from driver's side to passenger side, the line will tend to pull the second car out so that the second driver can see past the first vehicle. That helps the second driver anticipate when he'll need to stop. The first driver hugs the side of the road, while the second driver watches past the first car, but still with enough maneuverability in the steering to dodge back behind the first vehicle if necessary.

By having the built-in cushion and arranging your line so that the second driver has maximum visibility and maneuverability, you make it much easier for the two drivers to work as a team. Hard points for tow hooks are often mounted at the corners based on tradition growing out of best towing practices.

[JohnnyK]

Originally Posted by Warlin

Installing primarily for appearance, though I would appreciate it to be functionally sound.

Experience? The world will laugh at you and know you're a young kid with a sideways hat.

Don't do it, it looks stupid. These cars are getting embarrassing enough without more of this nonsense. Lol

[venturaII]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Tradition.

You don't see it much any more, but when I was growing up, if you broke down you would call a buddy to come out and tow you home using a chain, strap or even rope. Your buddy would drive his car, and you would sit in the towed vehicle to steer and brake. It could be every bit as harrowing as it sounds.

An inexperience tow driver might think the best way to do that would be to run a line from the center of the first vehicle to the center of the second vehicle, but it's not. Instead, you attach the tow line at an angle from the driver's side of the first vehicle to the passenger side of the second vehicle. This has two purposes:

First, the angled line helps cushion impacts from starts and stops. If you have a center to center tow line and the guy in front takes off too quickly, it will pull taut and jerk the shit out of the second vehicle. If the second guy brakes to quickly, it will jerk the shit out of the first vehicle. You can get into an oscillation where you're alternating jerking the shit out of each other. Having the line at an angle shifts the momentum sideways, creating a natural cushion.

Second, with the line run from driver's side to passenger side, the line will tend to pull the second car out so that the second driver can see past the first vehicle. That helps the second driver anticipate when he'll need to stop. The first driver hugs the side of the road, while the second driver watches past the first car, but still with enough maneuverability in the steering to dodge back behind the first vehicle if necessary.

By having the built-in cushion and arranging your line so that the second driver has maximum visibility and maneuverability, you make it much easier for the two drivers to work as a team. Hard points for tow hooks are often mounted at the corners based on tradition growing out of best towing practices.

An inexperienced person in the driver's seat in the car being towed will cause those problems. The rear driver's responsibility (in addition to steering and not running into the tow vehicle) is to keep slack out of the tow rope. The easiest way to do this when approaching a stop is for the rear vehicle to perform the majority of braking for BOTH vehicles once the road speed is down to the last 10mph or so. It's also the job of the front driver to not out-brake the towed vehicle. Rope towing is definitely a team sport, if it's done right.

[dowroa]

Originally Posted by JohnnyK

Experience? The world will laugh at you and know you're a young kid with a sideways hat.

Don't do it, it looks stupid. These cars are getting embarrassing enough without more of this nonsense. Lol

I get tired of people who act like internet heroes and slam others on a forum.

Have you been to an autoX? Have to seen what cars there look like? Those are racecars and they are ridiculous looking.

Let him do what he wants. I would much rather have a person asking OPEN and HONEST questions looking and asking for information than acting in the above manner.

People, just because you have First Amendment rights doesn't mean what you are saying is valid or useful.

If he is a stereotype, which most people are not, he is. Who cares. Let him be himself. We have ALL looked back at the stupid things we have done and groan. That is part of life and LEARNING.

Let him learn his way.

I know I would still do what I did as the experiences I did when I was "dumb" had to be done to learn.

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by JohnnyK

Experience? The world will laugh at you and know you're a young kid with a sideways hat.

Don't do it, it looks stupid. These cars are getting embarrassing enough without more of this nonsense. Lol

You should probably never post again, you're making us from the GTA look bad.

[JohnnyK]

Originally Posted by Jordanwolf

You should probably never post again, you're making us from the GTA look bad.

Don't worry about me. I don't think you need any help from me to do that.

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by JohnnyK

Don't worry about me. I don't think you need any help from me to do that.

Why can't I worry about you? You seem to worry about what others are doing.

[JohnnyK]

Originally Posted by Jordanwolf

Why can't I worry about you? You seem to worry about what others are doing.

Your inability to understand what 'worry' is, is intriguing. He asked for feedback. I said it looks stupid. I don't quite understand how that is worrying about him.


Sorry, I didn't realize he was only looking for positive feedback. My mistake! I will know better for next time someone wants to make their car ridiculous. Only praise. Gotcha.


Are you done here? I don't think your final sig line applies to you. You should probably remove it.

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by JohnnyK

Your inability to understand what 'worry' is, is intriguing. He asked for feedback. I said it looks stupid. I don't quite understand how that is worrying about him.


Sorry, I didn't realize he was only looking for positive feedback. My mistake! I will know better for next time someone wants to make their car ridiculous. Only praise. Gotcha.


Are you done here? I don't think your final sig line applies to you. You should probably remove it.

Oh man, you really got set off here. You didn't really just say it was stupid, you kinda went full knuckle dragging caveman.

It's very simple really, you are indeed worried about how he wants his car to look, you have made that apparent. You also wish to cloak your bad attitude by calling it feedback, it's like you didn't even read the OP, lol.

Here to make it easier: he posted asking about what brands some may recommend, the difference between tow strap and hook and the overall durability of these tools.

Appearance, although his main goal, wasn't his question.

[mav1178]

The main thing with tow straps is that it's designed to be pulled horizontally, not vertically. The only solution is to have it so that the load is pulled vertically from the mounting point, which means you have to figure a way to mount it onto the tow hook bolt point.

In the context of our cars, have it is about as useful as using zip ties to mount a front lip, it will fail when you need it the most.

It looks fine, just don't kid yourself trying to tow your car with it.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by dowroa

We have ALL looked back at the stupid things we have done and groan. That is part of life and LEARNING.

Yes, and I've also looked back at a few things I did and thought, damn, I wish someone would have told me how fucking stupid that was instead of letting me walk/ride/drive around like that laughing at me behind my back.

Rip off the bandaid. Tow straps are stupid. Now he's been provided a clue.

[dowroa]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Yes, and I've also looked back at a few things I did and thought, damn, I wish someone would have told me how fucking stupid that was instead of letting me walk/ride/drive around like that laughing at me behind my back.

Rip off the bandaid. Tow straps are stupid. Now he's been provided a clue.

I would have ignored you and done it anyway.

Acting like and ass to people never helps as people ignore the message and just see the emotion.