loading "A" on a tilt bed hauler

[oldforder]

So, I have Hagerty insurance with the tow option, and am figuring that the local yocal that will come to load my car (a 29 Tudor) won't know the proper place to hook the chains to pull it on the truck. Since it is a steep climb to load onto those tilt trucks, where should I make SURE they pull from. I am not in need of a tow today, just for future possibility. I don't want any damage from having it loaded.

[jwilliams81]

I would think axles as the frame was designed to flex... but let's wait for someone who has some experience.

[Gastrap]

I wouldn't pull on the front axle, maybe a sling around the differential housing and out the front, not backwards. Front axles bend really easy fore and aft.

[Keith True]

Hook around the axle at the spring perches.Both if you have the right stuff,but an A will pull easily from one.It is only a 2200 pound car going up a ramp.Don't pull from the middle of the axle.It will pull easy enough if there are no obstructions, but if it stubs it's toe when the front wheels hit the edge of the bed there will be a sudden spike of resistance.Then the axle will bend in the middle.I've loaded thousands of cars on ramp trucks,but I did very little roadside recovery work.99% of what I've done was picking up old stuff from barns,garages,backyards,fields,etc.Flat tires,stuck brakes,no wheels,no steering.A's and old Volkswagens were always the easiest to haul.If the wheels are stuck they weigh so little they just slide right along,just have to keep clearing the dirt from in front of the tires.

[1928Mik]

I have winched mine up on a trailer when it was not running, hooking two straps to the front axle at the spring perches like Keith said.

[oldforder]

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I figured that the axle at the spring perches was the right place, but was reading some posts from years ago, and somebody said that by pulling on the axle anywhere that you are really just pulling on the ball of the front yoke, and you could break the housing. Any chance of that, or just one persons opinion?

[Big hammer]

Remember the ford ad that show a wheel spoke holding an A up! I think pulling at the spring perches would be ok lf the car rolls easy.

[denis4x4]

Had my F-150 flat bedded the other day and noticed that driver had a bridal set up with two hooks to catch the a frames. Asked him if that was a typical set up and he looked at my A’s and said no sweat. I think that the OP may be overthinking the situation and not giving the tow operater any credit.

[40 Deluxe]

You may want to get the cell phone out and document the process, especially if the driver seems about to do something stupid and won't listen to you.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

You may want to get the cell phone out and document the process, especially if the driver seems about to do something stupid and won't listen to you.

The challenge will be in communicating with the driver. They have "their" way of doing it. "I have been doing it this way for 35 years" And you can just about bet on them hooking tie-downs to the frame and cranking it down so it won't move. Pity the springs, that's the way I do it, for 35 years...

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

That’s better than this.

[chap52]

What a silly way to haul a tractor.

[Keith True]

That's right.Why haul that tractor in the back of the truck when you have a perfectly good trailer right behind you?It looks like the hood is buckled,like he rear-ended something.

[desotoguy]

Don't worry about how the tow truck driver hooks the car to get it up on the bed of the truck, when he hooks the chain at the rear and starts to tighten the cable, you may want to look the other way. "It's got to be tight, insurance" is what the driver told me.