We had a pretty good snow storm here in Michigan yesterday, and I had a lot of fun pulling stuck cars out of snow banks.

I'm SHOCKED at the lack of tow points on so many cars! There's nothing to hook to under there! What are the manufacturers thinking?

The worst one was a Honda Odyssey minivan. Thankfully a guy came by with a plow on his F250 and back-bladed a spot for the Honda to back up and get a running start.

There where two Jeep Compass's that were a joke. They were both stuck on a hill in my subdivision. I pulled them out, but they immediately got stuck in the middle of the road again. I ended up tugging them over to the side of the road, and giving them a ride home. They had all wheel drive, but it didn't help at all because of the lack of ground clearance. IMO they don't deserve to have the Jeep name!

A cool one was a BMW 750i. It's the biggest BMW and he had huge high performance tires that just SPUN in the snow. To pull the BMW, we removed a small plastic insert on the bumper, and threaded in a steel tow loop. VERY COOL! I pulled him all the way to his driveway.

In many, many years of helping people stuck in snow, nobody has ever offered up cash in appreciation until yesterday. The guy in the BMW gave me $40, insisting I take it.

This made me curious. How often do you get rewarded for pulling stuck cars out of the snow? I certainly don't do it for the money. IMO it's just good to help people. I sure appreciated the cash yesterday.......

 

Hell, if he was driving a 750, you should have charged him $100!

Back in high school a buddy of mine had an old 1980's Bronco, and while it doesn't snow much here in NC, we got a few storms and even an ice storm back then. We'd go driving and pull people from ditches and whatnot and never once was offered anything more than a "Thank You", and we never expected anything more.

- NCSU

 

lol..... we got hit hard too! People were stuck everywhere! I was in a hurry to get where I needed to get and I just plowed right up and over front lawns through what must have been at least a foot of snow, easily, to get around all these cars stuck in the middle of the road. The truck and Firestone Destinations are awesome in this stuff. We got a lot of snow! I didn't use my tow strap, although I agree, if I did it would be tough to find a place to attach it on most vehicles, but I did have my neighbor follow my rutts all the way to his house after we pushed him out.

BTW, I actually did get stuck myself for about 30 seconds. I had to do some rocking in some really deep stuff, but she got herself out. We're expecting more snow tonight and a bunch more shortly after that.

Where did you attach your strap to other vehicles, for future reference?

BTW, a buddy goes around in his Dodge pulling ppl out for money. I don't have the heart for it.

 

Oh yeah; SUV's weren't cutting it either. I should say "crossover" type all wheel drives. Pathfinders, Escalades and those types did okay, although neighbor with his Z71 had a bit of a rough time. He had Goodyears of some sort on his truck, likely stock. Crossovers, like the Edge, etc etc, just didn't have the clearance and you coud see all 4 wheels spinning. I noticed many crossovers going nowhere. With some work they could usually get them out. My neighbor got stuck in her Buick, whatever it was, all wheel drive. She eventually worked it out, but it took a while.

 

Yeah we got a good amount of snow yesterday. Will have to post some pics once I get my new PC up and firing.

 

We got a lot of snow last night! The truck had no problems neither did the Pontiac G5. That little car is great in the snow. It only has all seasons on it too.

 

We've got a Jeep Compass, and it sucks in the snow. We just put a set of 4 new Yokohama's on it, and it almost got stuck for my mom yesterday when we had a big snow storm. My truck on the other hand, with my procrastination on the balded Hank00ks, I didn't even slip, and drove through parking lots with 6-8" of snow no problem. Not to mention when everyone was going sideways, I was going straight.

I agree on the lack of tow points... I say if all else fails... attach it to their axles. If you rip their car in half, say, "I ripped a new one...." haha

 

ya theres not much else you can do if they dont have a tow point.


do you guys use your front tow hooks? or your hitch.

 

Guy just got dead doing that -

http://www.centredaily.com/129/story/1015654.html

That would suck.

 

awesome

 

My daughter's 07 Kia Optima has one of those. Won't be using it much down here though.

 

the last time i was offered cash was by a college kid delivering the morning paper in his samuri. he was in a bad way, slid off the driveway he delivered to into the ditch and tree.
he looked at me really funny when i asked in my probe if he needed help and drove off when he said yes. lol

 

Nissan Altimas also have a hook in the front, hidden behind a plastic cover.

 

lol. well what bothers me is a lot of the cars that do have hooks are unusable without damaging the front bumper skin, or rear.

 

Last year my neighbor tried to pull his wife's Dodge Caliber out of the ditch with his 4 wheel drive Cheby. I took my Kubota RTV over with a tow strap. I leave some slack in the strap and get a run for it. I pulled her out of the ditch and could have pulled her down the highway with her brakes on. I then plowed the drive for them and he insisted on giving me $20.00. I rather pull with the RTV than my truck if possible. If the other driver does something stupid, I rather wreck the RTV than my truck.