GeneralDisorder Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 Distance matters in as much as over a short distance one can usually avoid getting on the freeway..... backroads = slower speeds = safer. Also puts less strain on the tow vehicle. Also long distances are likely to encounter all sorts of different traffic patterns. When going a short distance one can usually time it so that you miss rush hours, and other impedances along the way. Another interesting effect that most people ignore is the tendancy for a person to get less cautious after the first 10 or 20 miles. When nothing happens after that point the brain starts to have stupid ideas.... "heck - this is fine - lets pick up the pace!", or "I took that last corner at 15, but I'll take this one at 25.... people are giving me dirty looks for going slow." Etc, etc. Slippery slope - and it leads to accidents and injuries. I flat towed my friends Paseo with both my wagon, and my Brat. Both did fine, but the speeds were pretty slow, and I had an experienced towee driver at the wheel of the yota. With the wagon we did take it for a short jaunt on the freeway, but since the problem with the Paseo that time was the clutch, he had full use of the power brakes and it's lighting system to warn other drivers. I still didn't go over 45 MPH. When I towed it with the Brat it was not running, and I didn't go over 25 MPH, and never hit the freeway. Still a very scary thing and something I will likely not do ever again as I now have access to a 3/4 ton Ford for this sort of thing.... GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archemitis Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 just on a side note, i sat in a wagon behind a z71 for 60 miles one time on the highway, with a chain, at about 45mph. once you get abouve 40 you dont have to use the brakes to keep the slack up, and its just like being powered by your motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 What you said about how expensive it is. . . You could try taking a train to Portland, and then renting a truck and dolly to tow it back. Including gas and train fare, it should be under 200 bucks. I know money is hard to come by, but I think the cost of towing 2 broken brats will cost a lot more. I would advise against trying to tow a brat with a brat from OR to Seattle, there's too many hills in between, and too many places where traffic gets thick. ie: Olympia, Tacoma/Ft Lewis, Federal Way and Seattle. For the record, Ken towed both a ea81 wagon and a ea82 wagon for a few miles with his brat and they did just fine. I think you're doing the right thing by coming here and asking advice rather than trying something crazy like that without checking into it first. Good luck with getting it here. Do you know anybody with an old truck who can help you? There may just be one or two board members who own a truck and dolly who may help you for the price of gas and lunch. . . Who knows. As for AAA+, Ed is right. I've used mine 3 times to save other board members who's cars broke far away from home. It's a real lifesaver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 i'm going to guess that LPP is too young yet to rent a vehicle himself? that means he will have to involve someone else in a rental. and the bus is cheaper than the train Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepetitprince Posted July 29, 2004 Author Share Posted July 29, 2004 Carfreak85 and I were in desperate situation to get down to Oregon and move the Brat out of his neighborhood soon as we could. The owner of the Brat and the hatch wanted the Brat to be gone by yesterday because he was receiving complains. We had an access to lifted Toyota Tacoma, but it didn’t work out. We wasted about 5 hours trying to locate car dolly in Washington, and we ended up heading down toward Oregon with Carfreak’s Mercedes. With Mercedes strap towing the Brat, we managed to pull out of his street. It was obvious to us that it is impossible to strap tow the Brat from North of Portland back to Bellevue so we decided that we ask any stores which have large parking lots such as Wal-Mart if we can park the Bat for couple of day or until this weekend (thanks to one of board member who suggested this idea), but we were harshly rejected. If we asked around more we were sure we could have find a place but it was getting dark and we needed to head home. We started looking for any board member around North of Portland who would let us park the Brat for several days, and we found one (Thanks to GD). After we parked the Brat at the place, we started to head home. Nothing worked out as we hoped and planned to do, yet we still got the Brat out of his street, and came home safely, though the Brat and the hatch are still in Oregon. I think Carfreak85 and I are going back down to Oregon next weekend with Grand Cherokee and a car dolly. If there is anyone who would like to help us moving the either of Brat or Hatch to save us from making two trips from Bellevue to Oregon, we will be very very grateful. Of course gas and meals are provided Thank you so much for the advice and the help. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 so is this a parts car for the brat with the holey bed or is it another "keeper?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky_pete Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 Sorry you're having such a rough go of it. Would have been kind of funny to see a Mercedes towing a brat. lol How does the hatch look? I'd be interested in taking it off your hands, it would save you the trouble of hauling it all the way home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepetitprince Posted July 29, 2004 Author Share Posted July 29, 2004 so is this a parts car for the brat with the holey bed or is it another "keeper?" Well, Carfreak and I were little bit tempted to restore the Brat since it had straighter body panel than mine and almost no rust. But after seeing under the hood, we dropped that temptation. We was just burned so bad… it was well beyond our skill for restoration. But we’ll see, Bellevue Subaru Crew will have a meeting about this whether to try to restore it or put parts into my Brat. Sorry you're having such a rough go of it. Would have been kind of funny to see a Mercedes towing a brat. lol How does the hatch look? I'd be interested in taking it off your hands, it would save you the trouble of hauling it all the way home. Hatch looks great. Sorry for the interest but hatch goes in to the hands of Carfreak85. Thanks Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanky_pete Posted July 29, 2004 Share Posted July 29, 2004 Hatch looks great. Sorry for the interest but hatch goes in to the hands of Carfreak85. Thanks Dan No problem, good luck getting them home. My offer still stands if you guys need any help while passing through my area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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