How do you hook up a car to tow it?

[Jorbar1551]

After our last call out, we had a little training session taught by the towing company. They taught us that you can wrap the chain around the axles, through one/two wheels, through the doors or if its a truck, by the tow hitch if it doesn't have a ball on top.

The last way to get a car out surprised me and a lot of other divers the most...You can tow a car by the seatbelt. a car can be picked up by the seatbelt and held off the ground, if the seatbelt is in good condition. They said if you can, try to buckle the belt, but otherwise, we can use it if we have no other way to hook a cable to the car

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

A lot of 4x4s have a tow point on the front for getting unstuck. And a lot of cars that came over on
a boat have tiedowns. My 240Z had two in the front for sure, and IIIRC, two more
in the back.

Why does having the ball installed negate using the tow hitch? And a fair number of cars have hitches
too -- I know a guy who tows a big Boston Whaler long distance with an old Caddy. And my
Corvette has one (though it's only a 1500 pound hitch)

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

After our last call out, we had a little training session taught by the towing company. They taught us that you can wrap the chain around the axles, through one/two wheels, through the doors or if its a truck, by the tow hitch if it doesn't have a ball on top.

The last way to get a car out surprised me and a lot of other divers the most...You can tow a car by the seatbelt. a car can be picked up by the seatbelt and held off the ground, if the seatbelt is in good condition. They said if you can, try to buckle the belt, but otherwise, we can use it if we have no other way to hook a cable to the car

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I posted this on the deco stop in November. It had to do with a trapped diver during a recovery, but the meat of what you are asking about is here.

I have raised at least a hundred cars on OC (sometimes using and EXO or bandmask on scuba with a comm line), as well as 20 or so boats (Up to 46") after Katrina. I am not sure what would cause a diver to become trapped, and I don't mean this to sound as if I am saying anyone is doing anything wrong.

The reason I say that is I have a system that keeps me out of harms way even if there are cars stacked on each other. When I locate said vehicle I shoot a bag and tie or clip my reel to the car. I surface and then return with a small rope attached to a float. I removed the bag and reel after attaching the new heavier line. This is my downline as well as marker if the chain, cable, or strap comes loose. I prefer to use a strap for attachment to the vehicle. Chain is heavy and tends to get lost and come loose. I use a large float ball to attach the tow hook and cable. I swim to the downline with a floating rope that is attached to the ball. At this point I descend and using the vehicle for leverage I pull the rope until it is straighht up. This is always in no vis water. I secure the rope, leaving a small amount of slack and let the rest float up and out of the way. I go up that line and remove the hook and cable. I pull the ball to the downline and using it, I head down. I usually shackle the eye of the hook to the strap with a shackle that is already in place on the strap. If I an on an EXO or bandmask I will tell the operator to pull the slack in and wait to make sure I have a good attachment point. If not I will surface and have the operator start pulling. The markerball will tell you what the car is doing and usually you can get out of the way. I have never been in more than 40' of water for a car recovery so surfacing and descending on the line is not a problem. I guess what I am saying, is this: Here is another option if you are not using this one. It has been very safe for 10 years now, with no close calls, and maybe it will eliminate the issue of a trapped diver. A contingency plan for a trapped diver still never hurts. A large bag would still have to be secured, airlines run to it, a cradle or attachment point to keep it from just rolling around and other options would make this a time consuming effort. The best way is always slow and methodical keeping our divers out of harms way from the get go. Hope this gives another perspective. On another note my team (police dept) only recovers vehicles if there is a body inside or it is a crime scene. If it is only stolen and not going to be processed or accidentally submerged the towing company or insurance company is responsible for the diver, which fortunately here is me. Mark

 

[fppf]

Most of the time if a car is in the drink, its most likely a loss.

However, don't take those lessons to heart. If you wrap an axle or wheel on the rear of a newer vehicle you will most likely bend up the control arms and do major damage.

I drove wreckers for years doing lights, mediums, and heavies. I have also seen many of drivers just hook the cable anywhere and damage vehicles and get hurt. I would say if you can't do normal vehicle recovery you should not do underwater vehicle recovery.

 

[grumpie]

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I posted this on the deco stop in November. It had to do with a trapped diver during a recovery, but the meat of what you are asking about is here.

I have raised at least a hundred cars on OC (sometimes using and EXO or bandmask on scuba with a comm line), as well as 20 or so boats (Up to 46") after Katrina. I am not sure what would cause a diver to become trapped, and I don't mean this to sound as if I am saying anyone is doing anything wrong.

The reason I say that is I have a system that keeps me out of harms way even if there are cars stacked on each other. When I locate said vehicle I shoot a bag and tie or clip my reel to the car. I surface and then return with a small rope attached to a float. I removed the bag and reel after attaching the new heavier line. This is my downline as well as marker if the chain, cable, or strap comes loose. I prefer to use a strap for attachment to the vehicle. Chain is heavy and tends to get lost and come loose. I use a large float ball to attach the tow hook and cable. I swim to the downline with a floating rope that is attached to the ball. At this point I descend and using the vehicle for leverage I pull the rope until it is straighht up. This is always in no vis water. I secure the rope, leaving a small amount of slack and let the rest float up and out of the way. I go up that line and remove the hook and cable. I pull the ball to the downline and using it, I head down. I usually shackle the eye of the hook to the strap with a shackle that is already in place on the strap. If I an on an EXO or bandmask I will tell the operator to pull the slack in and wait to make sure I have a good attachment point. If not I will surface and have the operator start pulling. The markerball will tell you what the car is doing and usually you can get out of the way. I have never been in more than 40' of water for a car recovery so surfacing and descending on the line is not a problem. I guess what I am saying, is this: Here is another option if you are not using this one. It has been very safe for 10 years now, with no close calls, and maybe it will eliminate the issue of a trapped diver. A contingency plan for a trapped diver still never hurts. A large bag would still have to be secured, airlines run to it, a cradle or attachment point to keep it from just rolling around and other options would make this a time consuming effort. The best way is always slow and methodical keeping our divers out of harms way from the get go. Hope this gives another perspective. On another note my team (police dept) only recovers vehicles if there is a body inside or it is a crime scene. If it is only stolen and not going to be processed or accidentally submerged the towing company or insurance company is responsible for the diver, which fortunately here is me. Mark

i spent the first three weeks after katrina in jefferson parish and ward 9 doing recovery work. we brought 100 body bags with us. we camped out at the staints practise field. we went through the cematry where the two police cars were.
grumpie.....

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

I was in Slidell (still am) north of the lake. Hope to never go through anything like that again. People can't even begin to imagine what happened in such a large scale. Thanks for coming down and helping, we were so overwhelmed as most of us suffered total losses as well as doing rescues and recoveries while being unable to tend to our own families and losses. Much appreciation to those of you who stepped up. This is off post, but I will never forget those who came here after Katrina and wil never miss a chamce to say so. Now, back to topic.

 

[Missdirected]

After our last call out, we had a little training session taught by the towing company. They taught us that you can wrap the chain around the axles, through one/two wheels, through the doors or if its a truck, by the tow hitch if it doesn't have a ball on top.

The last way to get a car out surprised me and a lot of other divers the most...You can tow a car by the seatbelt. a car can be picked up by the seatbelt and held off the ground, if the seatbelt is in good condition. They said if you can, try to buckle the belt, but otherwise, we can use it if we have no other way to hook a cable to the car

It would be a whole heck of a lot easier and cause a lot less damage on your part if you used the two tow points on the front of my M3. As someone mentioned, many newer cars have these.

 

[Lucy's Diver]

Factory tow points will work, but not all cars have these. Before you start hooking to axles, you need some understanding of what the suspension of the vehicle looks like. Normally almost anywhere on a solid axle (i.e. old fashioned 4x4, larger trucks) will work so long as you are pulling to the rear when attached to a rear axle or to the front with a front axle. Reverse this and you may well tear the axle from the frame as you will pull against the direction the link design suspension is designed. This is not a concern with leaf sprung suspensions (really old 4x4s and really large trucks).
If the car is on its wheels you are going to have a really hard time getting to the axles.
If it has a receiver (to tow with) with nothing plugged into it you can run a strap through that.
Before you start hooking up to what you think are axles on most modern cars you need some idea of what's down there and how it works. Most newer cars are independent suspension. Lower "a arms" area strong, but stub axles are not and steering components are not and you have a really hard time telling the difference in low viz. Most new cars are also unibody design, so there is no real frame to wrap anything around.
I've often thought that DOT hook points would work, but they are hard to find and you need a DOT hook. DOT hook points are strong ovals cut in frame or the unibody that a special T hook is inserted into for transport on car carriers.
If the car is on its wheels you may be able to just tow it out. If its too stuck for this we stuff it with lift bags. Use a heavy duty tow truck if you can, I've seen two standard duty tow trucks break stuff (on the tow truck) on what should have been an easy recovery (towing a medium pickup truck on its wheels up a mild slope).

My other really expensive hobby is rock crawling, so I routinely recover rolled vehicles on land, as well as building suspensions and drivetrains for trucks in my and my friends garages. I also am a PSD and have recovered vehicles in that role.

 

[Rick Murchison]

... I have raised ... 20 or so boats (Up to 46") ...

Really???

(Sorry, but the image was just too funny!)
Rick

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

Really???

(Sorry, but the image was just too funny!)
Rick

Now those are small boats. Oops. That is funny!!!!!

Hope to get back over this month. My Gavin is wanting a maiden voyage. Mardi Gras sucks if you are the po po. It is almost over.