2006bf Turbo Ute

[Caghan]

last night I was backing out of a club car park when I got bogged in the sand pretty badly. I was shocked to have found no tow points for the car where we could pull the car out of trouble from. is it just me or have ford neglected to put such things into the design of the car??? it took 8 people to push and 2 hours of shoveling to get my car out of trouble. no major damage but some scratches on the wheel from the rocks embedded in the sand....

when I couldnt find it, came to mind that maybe ford tried to eliminate the conventional towing ways of pulling and tried to make everyone call a towing specialist. because what I had also noticed is that the power steering pump tends to stiffen up even if the ignition is on and unless the car is turned on the hydraulics dont ease steering. what if your car engine is blown and u need to tow it home tied up to your friends land rover?? I dont think the streeting wheel locks up up its damn hard to steer it.

[jason_85]

haha why were u in that sand?

was there a single front tow point but just wasnt practical for the bog you were in?

you could be right though... I have a relitive that is a trucky for a car transport company and he reckons more and more cars are coming out with no tow/tie down points which is a pain for him cause he has to use wheel braces.

Edited 13/08/07 08:22 AM by jason_85

[mbjunior99]

Damn, that would have given you a fright!! Glad not much damage was done to it.

[Caghan]

  jason_85 said:

haha why were u in that sand?

the club I went to was next to the beach. I parked my car and couple hours later I went to leave the car park but a guy was parked behind me so I had to go around. little did I know it was worse than the sahara deserts sands!!!!. I was in for a shock and a half

[Goobz]

  Caghan said:

when I couldnt find it, came to mind that maybe ford tried to eliminate the conventional towing ways of pulling and tried to make everyone call a towing specialist. because what I had also noticed is that the power steering pump tends to stiffen up even if the ignition is on and unless the car is turned on the hydraulics dont ease steering. what if your car engine is blown and u need to tow it home tied up to your friends land rover?? I dont think the streeting wheel locks up up its damn hard to steer it.

That is perfectly normal. They don't design the cars for flat towing cause its illegal. Have you tried using the brakes with the engine off? You get about 2 pumps then that's it. You'd be up the back of the land rover at the first(if not second) set of lights.

No car with power steering gives you lighter steering with the engine off.(Its usually 3 times heavier than a non-PS car). It needs the engine to turn the pump that pumps the fluid to provide the power assistance. The only way to do this with the engine off would be to use an electric pump, which on most cars I haven't heard of(maybe some high end mercs etc?).

Chris

[jason_85]

maybe you sould get a towbar? good for 4 things...... use to pull from when in bogs, tow things, less damage if someone runs up the back of you and in your case nudge ppl so they dont block you in!!

Edited 13/08/07 10:31 PM by jason_85

[tmac450]

I had a similar issue during the deluge we got a few weeks back.

Trying to go around a fallen tree, I got bogged.

I was stuck for a couple of hours becuase we couldn't find a tow point. In the end I had to dig and chock, then get pushed out. Luckily there was no damage from the pushung, but for manufacturers not to have a tow point is stupid. Without a tow point up front, how the hell do they get the car onto a flat bed without damage?