I just saw a car being towed by a line go by the house. Seemed a bit fast, and they were headed for the hill down to the beach.
Do you know how to tow a car, or be towed in a car, with a tow line? My first cars being MGBs, I had a bit of practice back in the day.
I’m pretty sure you need to keep them in the same order of which you started.
I have been pulled successfully when necessary but I can’t say that anyone ever taught me how to do it. The best I could figure, the things to avoid are slamming into the back of the tow vehicle when it is slowing down or hitting the brakes hard when the tow vehicle was trying to pull. It always worked so I guess I did OK.
I’ve done it Shagnasty style before, but I believe the correct way is a tow brace of sometype in conjuction with lines/chains.
I have done it a couple times, both towing and been towed. It’s not so difficult, just have to go slow and pay attention.
I have moved many cars that way. I did not enjoy doing it, but it was the cheapest way I could get them home. Towing cars like that is now illegal in Georgia. A tow bar is the minimum legal rig.
There are some things to learn and do correctly, like keeping the chain/rope relatively tight. It’s tricky to do in most real-life scenarios where acceleration isn’t constant, hills exist, and turns need to be made. I hate that “thud” that almost inevitably happens after you see your tow line go slack and you gain a few feet on your tow vehicle. And the vehicle in front usually can’t see the line go slack or begin to tighen, so they get those periodic jerks somewhat randomly… not pleasent. It’s hard to drive smoothly getting pulled. And yes it’s illegal here now too which I don’t think is such a bad thing.
I thought that was true here in Washington as well. Tow bar required. For obvious reasons.
The way you get around that is to use the car that is being towed to slow or stop both vehicles. Usually both drivers know when a stop or potential stop is coming, and the driver in the car being towed can apply brakes (well in advance) to bring both vehicles to a gradual stop. This will keep the line taut. If an upcoming stop is not known, then the driver in the towing car can signal the driver in the towed car to apply brakes.
It’s legal if you use the metal bar…I don’t know what it’s called but a metal H frame of sorts. Normally if your on a tow line, you ride the brakes a lot to keep it tight as you come towards stops, basically as if you are trying to stop them.
Trickiest one we did at work was that we needed a truck on a trailer but had to use the truck attached to pull the broken truck onto the trailer (rear end seized up). So we unhitched the trailer and and I had to steer it up onto the trailer. He had to pull hard and get some momentum going cause a seized up rear end plus going up onto a trailer was gong to take some power…quite a scary ride up and he almost pulled me off the front. My ass was puckered up so tight, you couldn’t drive a nail in it.
Might be. I haven’t done it since I lived in California. (And I used to ride in the beds of pick-up trucks, too! 
) But where I live ain’t exactly Seattle. The sheriff’s deputies and State Patrol will pull you over for speeding or not using your directional indicators, but they might (or might not) be more forgiving of towing with a line on residential roads.
Must have been a hell of a heavy trailer to not seesaw at the axle with nothing holding the hitch end down.
Older cars, sure. I even towed one once with my Harley. But new cars? I don’t know if I could find a place to tie off the straps.
Even glider pilots get specific training and practice in being towed at the end of a rope, including how to avoid and properly recover from slack lines!
YouTube video: Glider training flight with stalls, boxing the wake, and slack line recovery. (“Boxing the wake” is another towing practice maneuver.)
The mention of gliders reminds me of some trivia that I think I picked up here.
When an airplane picks up a banner (the kind you see flying over stadiums and beaches). They pick it up ‘backwards’. That is, When the plane is coming in, the end they want to grab is facing them. When they grab it, it then sort of rolls over itself. If you think about it, if it was laid out the ‘right’ way, when they grabbed the loop it would jerk it off the ground and probably ruin it, but this way it was some time to get up to speed.
It’s a bit counter-intuitive, and I’m guessing the people that first started flying with banners ruined quite a few before they figured it out, but it makes sense when you see it.
Possibly also, for the same reason, the drag of picking up the banner that way would drag the airplane out of the air.
I also have towed cars with motorcycles. I once pull started my VW diesel Rabbit Pickup with my CB750A.
When & where I grew up it was a rite of passage for All of us kids, boys & girls alike. All of my sisters can either tow or be towed! This, among other things, used to intimidate their boyfriends a bit.
It is a handy skill to have.
In my youth, I was both tower and towee… on motorbikes. Scares me now to think about it.
The most important part of towing with a tow rope is to not get caught. Well, not really, bit it is illegal in most states now, but they still are allowed to sell tow ropes. (?) I have always been told that keeping tension on the rope was essential, so the car being towed had to do the braking for both cars. The tow car would apply light brake pressure to light up the brake lights when a stop was desired, and the person driving the car being towed would have to stand on the brakes, as most brakes are vacuum assist, which doesn’t work very well if the engine is not running.
Something many people don’t realize is that towing cars with automatic transmissions is a very bad idea, unless it just a few hundred yards. :smack: