Don't tow your automatic by the front!
 

They said that this 8 was towed by the front because of some front end damage.
The tranny may have been in gear, but they were not sure.

The Tranny siezed, cracked the housing, and caught fire.

http://208.62.166.66:82/guest/pics/rx8/RX-8_fire1.JPG

http://208.62.166.66:82/guest/pics/rx8/RX-8_fire2.JPG

wait, isnt that common sense? someone should get sewed.

wow the intelligence of some people in todays workforce.

Thats common sense.

but I gotta say the owner should take part of the responsibility. the other half goes to the tow truck guy.

The wheels seems fine tho, can I get them ? :D

and IT'S SILVER i think

There is no "the tranny may have been in gear" to it. The person who did the tow needs fired and the company needs to pay for the damage, simple as that.

I wrecked a Cadillac one time, and the car was still driveable, well the tow man tried winching the car onto the flat bed with the tranny in park. Needless to say I blew up.

pretty stupid. not sure who "they" are, but if "they" are correct and all of this is b/c someone didn't realize that you NEVER tow a vehicle on the drivetrain wheels - well everyone involved should be neutered/spayed so they don't go propagating and spreading the stupidity.

So how do AWD cars get towed?? Of course I would insist on the tow truck guy to tow using the free wheels but just for argument sake I would think if the car was in Neutral it would have been OK for both MT and AT trannies...

As was said, with front end damage, it should have gone on a rollback.
I saw the tranny. It was split all the way around the beltline.
The salvage yard sold the short block to someone who is going to put it in an RX-7.
About the only other useable parts may have been the rear axles, diff & subframe.
Sad..

For 4WD vehicles it's flatbed time. I'd assume the same for AWD, tho I can't say I'm 100% sure on AWD.

With FWD or RWD I believe it's a precautionary thing. Maybe 90% of the time you'd prlly get away w/o any issues, but there's still potential for damage if the car slips into gear. AT or MT, no tranny/drivetrain likes to slip into gear while being towed at ~50-60 mph. ugh. Just typing it makes me shiver.

What a waste of a perfecaly good 8. Silver or not...

You think someone should be fastened with stitches?

K cause I always wondered how do ppl tow their cars when relocating? I have seen a couple of RVs with cars attached to the back, so I always assumed they were put in neutral.

Sorry about your 8. Time to get a manual. Let us know what happens.

It wasn't mine. I just was scrounging the local salvage yard for some Cadillac trim parts. They were using it for a trash bin. I was surprised at how easily they unzipped the roof.

I have the manual (link in sig).

I am looking for an inexpensive RX-8, but it needs to be in a lot better shape than that one :)

Argh Junk yard.

Hmm I might need to visit my local junk yard. I need some wheels for winter. (as my OEM ones were bent)

gotta love NYC.....lived there for a few years. Had a car with new rims, went over a pothole or rather a series of potholes on the FREEWAY...blew out all but one tire and bent all but one rim. I later joined the flat tire party on the side of the road.

The sad part was, it was my first car and I just saved up for those rims and expensive Pirelli's for a year....o well life goes on.

tow truck driver prolly thought RX8s were FWD like most people. :P

:spank: the best way and only way my car will be towed is on a roll back tow truck and i will be there the whole time it is put on and taken off.i towed cars long ago and if you did not have any pride in the job you did you were not working there at all.so sad that the good times went out and the asses took over.common sense rule if you don't know how to tow ask someone who will tell you how.or even better never tow unless you know!(sorry this kind of thing really piss me off) :wallbash:

^ ZING!! lmao.

^^ Most cities/towns will pay for replacements. It's a giant PIA, but the alternative is paying outta your own pocket.

I'll sell you my '04 for cheap - pm me :-)

Maybe now would be a good time to learn how to drive stick

The customary RV towing setup is mini trailer tow bar thing (gotta be a proper name for it) that the front wheels rest on, and the car is generally front wheel drive. As long as the parking brake is off that works well.

The problem with flat towing, or front towing a rear wheel drive car, is that the transmission is lubed by the input end turning. Even with a manual transmission, lubrication is splash from the countershaft. Countershaft does not turn when in neutral.

Ken

I've never had to tow the 8, but on my other car (which is FWD), I always used a flatbed. Then, you only have to worry about loading and unloading as opposed to X miles of bouncing your ground trim (front or back) off the pavement.

I believe when towing a RWD automatic vehicle you are supposed to keep speeds low (below 35mph) and not exceed 5 miles in distance. I suppose this keeps heat from building up in the AT, and the leftover lube from the last time it ran will suffice for that speed/distance before burning off.

I have towed hundreds of RWD manual cars with a dolly, rear wheels on the ground at 70-85mph and never had any issue. The manual trannies are a gearbath and will lube themselves anytime the driveshaft is spinning.

IF I had to tow an auto RWD vehicle (I have before) I would either use a towdolly backwards (steering wheels on the ground) or a trailer/rollback.

A 4wd vehicle in 2wd mode is just like any other 2wd vehicle. A 4wd vehicle in 4wd mode, or an AWD vehicle like my denali or a subaru, cannot be towed and must be trailered/rollbacked.