Yesterday I was assisting a friend in towing his son's late 80's Acura Integra home when. When we were in his driveway the tow rope broke! This tow rope was purchased online and was new out of the package.

My message to all of you is how do I go about finding a reliable tow rope? Should I have used two ropes instead of just one? Can anybody point me in the right direction as I need to replenish my car kit with a new tow rope.

Thanks!

What is the "REST OF THE STORY"?

Was it rope or strap? What was the rating?

IMHO - Most tow ropes do not break. They are cut by by either the knot or what they are around. Being it happened in the driveway, I would guess the rope was around the bumper or some other sharp item.

Few tow ropes or straps are sold that have a breaking strength of less than 10,000#. Most tow straps cannot be broken with a pickup tied to a telephone pole. A 50' tow strap/rope is ready to break at ~75'. It will stop a pickup and pull it back.

The round hitch ball shaft is one good point. A round axle is another. If there is only sheetmetal, you must have a metal tow hook intended to not cut the rope. This is where the extreme danger come into play.

The metal tow hook is like a paper clip on a rubber band. It will kill you. If you must use the hook, tie a heavy jacket or the like on the rope near the hook end. That will help. Get everyone away from the rope. Improperly attached, the hook will destroy whatever it hits. Don't let it get away.

I bought mine at Tractor Supply, not sure if you have them around your area or not but any tractor/farm business should handle them. Also here are a couple links to good ones.


http://www.uscargocontrol.com/recoverytowstraps-c-48.html?gclid=CIeb1e3bppACFRuhFQod9Hac7w

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/s...matchallpartial

http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/...p;ip_perPage=20

What kind of tow rope were you using? Ordinarily I'd recommend a beefy tow strap rated much higher than than you think you'll ever need. The shock forces involved in towing a vehicle can be surprisingly strong. I think my strap is rated somewhere around 20,000lbs. I'd also stay away from the straps with tow hooks.
The tow hooks can become very dangerouse if they slip off because the tow strap will slingshot the hook at one of the two vehicles.


The tow hooks can become very dangerouse if they slip off because the tow strap will slingshot the hook.



Also I will have to respectfully disagree with the previous post about using a ball hitch as an attachment point. I have heard many horror stories about these balls being sling shotted just like the tow hooks. You would be better off removing the ball, inserting the looped end of the strap into the reciever hitch, then passing the pin through the eye of the loop inside the hitch (as if you were securing your tow ball)

In addition the tow straps that come with tow hooks attached to them tend to be weaker, lighter, and generally of poor construction. However, an Acura probably will not have tow points designed for a hookless strap, so you may want to buy a few D-rings to go with it. These can generally be found at offroad supply shops, auto parts stores, home depots, Gi Joes, etc.





How far did you tow the vehicle? Maybe the strap was damaged from being drug on the ground? Could maybe try putting a sleve over the strap.

Rio hit the nail on the head. Use looped straps with D-shackles. Never use the hitch-ball itself as an attachment point, they can (and do) break and fly off.

If you absolutely must use a strap or chain with hooks make sure the open end of the hook is facing straight up in the air (that way if the hook breaks it will usually fly downwards) and tie some heavy cloth around each end of the strap/rope near the hooks.

When you say "the tow rope broke" what do you mean exactly? Where did it break or fail? Was it in the middle? Where it crossed under the sharp edge of the bumper? Did the stitching forming the loop come out? Did it break at a hook? Or did it simply break in the middle and well away from any splices, stitching or joints?

Each of these would mean different things. If it failed where it went over a sharp edge, like the bottom edge of a bumper, then there may be nothing wrong with the tow rope. This would qualify as a user error.

I have seem a similar effect where a manufacturer used a cheap formed sheet metal hook and within a use or two the hook had already cut half way through the rope.

Failed stitching is a manufacturers defect. Even fairly high quality equipment can show this. Don't rely entirely on the name. Nobody is perfect. Always inspect closely, inch by inch, before buying.

Some people who have reason to do a lot of dragging vehicles out of holes prefer to use chains. Chains show when they are worn or have been overloaded, the links wear and/or deform. They are much more tolerant of abrasion and sharp edges. Unlike ropes, particularly nylon, if and when the chain breaks it doesn't spring back as far or as fast. It pretty much just drops with minimal spring back.

On the down side chains are heavy, subject to rust, and require both more powerful vehicles and a change in towing practice to be used effectively. With a nylon rope or tow strap you can get a running start so a small and/or weak vehicle can often shift a much larger one.

Try that with a chain and both vehicles suffer from the shock loads. Given a running start on a chain it isn't all that hard to tear off tow hooks that aren't well mounted and/or rip or distort a unibody. So using a chain you have to slowly inch along to take up the slack and then slowly add power. It takes a larger and more powerful vehicle, or winch, to get the job done.

It sounds like you were using one rope?

That's the problem. I prefer straps myself, becuase I don't own a rig beefy enough to need chains, but always run with two of them. You are less likely to have things like this happen.

And having two 18' lengths of four ton test strapping in the car is a lot more useful than one 12' rope.

Like using a come-a-long, there are some safety issues that most here have already brought up. Where to attach, using a coat over the line etc.

If you are pulling out of a hole, having the hood up will help protect the driver in the event of the slingshot picture shown.

I have used on old nylon climbing rope to tow a truck for miles. It
was worn clear through the sheath before we started and it held
up well, I believe because of the stretch. When I tried a similar
thing with a new poly truck rope of the same diameter, it broke
on first tug.

If possible use a no knot, no fastener connection. Wrap the line
around a smooth surface several times, then use the shackle to
make sure it can't come unwrapped.

Tow ropes for towing, not extracting a stuck vehicle are dangerous. The towed vehicle is at best lacking full brake capacity.

"...The towed vehicle is at best lacking full brake capacity..."

And, the towed vehicles driver is guilty of following too close, unless it is a really long tow rope. In CA, you would also have to have two ropes, the primary towing device, and a "safety chain." Towing for any distance at all, at any speed faster than a walk, is unsafe...