Can't Believe this happened!!

[stocknlocked94]

So I left my LC overnight in a safe parking lot after a concert. Little too much fun so driving home was out of the question. Anywho, went to go pick'er up and found that my cruiser had been moved. Some f@*^in tow truck driver lifted the back wheels and drug it about seventy yards before realizing the front wheels weren't rolling. I plan on contacting the venue first thing tomarrow but what I need to know is there anything that could have been damaged from dragging the front wheels around seventy yards. Transmission shifts fine I put it into low and everything sounded fine I just dont want something to pop up later and be out of luck. I have a stock 94 with 110,000. Preciate the help!!

[landtank]

parking pawl in the tranny is all I can think of.

[stocknlocked94]

Thanks landtank are their any signs to look for that would indicate the parking pawl is damaged?

[ontherox]

Pay attention to how it acts upon shifting to park.I would try putting into park while moving just a little bit...i dunno,it should be fine.

[informationjunky]

flat spots on tires?

[cruiserdan]

Possible damage to the viscous coupler although unlikely. Why would they attempt to tow it unless it was illegally parked?

[ontherox]

holy crap you have 13,000 posts!!! ^^^

[IdahoDoug]

You drove it away from the scene and skid marks = they won't even return your phone call. Should have called the police and taken photos before moving it.

DougM

[reffug]

Originally Posted by ontherox

holy crap you have 13,000 posts!!! ^^^

what can he say..........................

he's a chatty sort of fella.

[stocknlocked94]

Guys thanks for all the input and to be honest it was not illegally parked. I had a pass hanging from my mirror for that exact spot and there are signs up saying you have 72 hrs to move your car. Also, I did take numerous pictures (of original spot, skid marks, tires, and marks on the pavement where the tow truck lifted my rear end).

[peepers]

i think you will be fine. this happened to me once when it was illegally parked. it was about a 30ft skid on just one tire. picked it up at the tow yard, drive it home, have been "fine" ever since.

[e9999]

if nothing else, you should throw the book at the tow driver who did this. Not only are some of these guys the worst bottomfeeders but this one also could damage AWD trucks by sheer incompetence. So proctect your fellow cruiserheads and make sure he doesn't forget about flat towing LCs...

[stocknlocked94]

So I finally heard back from the venue and they were very appologetic for what happened. I was told that the GM knew of the situation but they needed to dicuss how they were going to handle the situation. My car drives fine with no new noises but I found out that the reason my car was moved was so the local police force could train their new motorcycle cops and took actions into their own hands when my vehicle was in their way. Instead of contacting the venue mgr. they just called some to get it out of their way. The operations mgr said this has happened in the past and they usually use their regular company to move cars that might be in their way. So what type of demands should I make? Or is their anything, I mean anything, that could pop up later from this mistake the local blue and white made??

[jfz80]

ahhh Raleighwood cops..... gotta love it. And this whole time i had my thoughts on the brentwood boys downtown. Was this out at the creek?

as mentioned above i would make it know that you are not pleased in a polite fashion; and try to get your point across to the responsible party. Even if its finding out who towed you for the 5.0 and letting them know their drivers are incompetant and putting their organization at risk of law suits for their negligence while doing their job.

i suppose the get outta jail free card is out of the ? but maybe you can have them agree to pay for an inspection and or brake service. Kinda tricky seeing as you got nothing wrong to show them but still in your boat id be wanting some sort of compensation for their general lack awareness. Did they move other cars??? cause thats a huge lot and i cant see one 80 being in the way of manuevering training excersises.....if anything it could have served as a giant cone for them to avoid, and if they dont have that amount of confidence in their riding skills....well, dont know i want those jokers on the road w/ me.

i guess next time their is a police motorcycle in your way...........................

[stocknlocked94]

Yep this was at the Creek in the VIP lot, so I thought for sure I would be fine. But you can imagine my face when I pulled up and saw my car in another parking spot and skid marks leading up to it. I thought maybe new tires are in order since there are 2 nice flat spots on the fronts, but that could just be wishful thinking. I am supposed to har back today, heck maybe they will throw in some season tix for the rest of the season. Keep yall posted.

[Atticus]

You can ask for new tires if you'd like, but I'd let it go.

[cruiserdan]

Originally Posted by Atticus

You can ask for new tires if you'd like, but I'd let it go.

As opposed to tires I think an agreement of some sort re repairing the vehicle if someting crops up (that can be linked to the act) in a reasonable ammount of time.

The "let it go" part comes from a lawyer so he may be on it something there.

[Atticus]

Originally Posted by cruiserdan

As opposed to tires I think an agreement of some sort re repairing the vehicle if someting crops up (that can be linked to the act) in a reasonable ammount of time.

The "let it go" part comes from a lawyer so he may be on it something there.

I wouldn't agree to repair the vehicle in the future, even the near future, because so many things can happen. That's an unknown amount of liability to agree to undertake.

I think that tires are your best bet if you are a vulturous dingo looking for hand outs.

[-Spike-]

Tires. Without question. No reason you should have to deal with damaged goods.

-Spike

[e rock]

I'd inform the venue (or whomever is taking responsibility for the screw-up) that you would like to take it to a "qualified and reputable" shop (dealership) asap for an unbiased opinion on their dime. I'd get the t-case and tranny checked out (park pawl) and ask for an honest assessment of the tire damage.

Use that assessment to determine what you pursue. I'd generally be inclined to let it go with an apology unless there is demonstrable damage.

[Ebag333]

Originally Posted by Atticus

I think that tires are your best bet if you are a vulturous dingo looking for hand outs.

If the tires look fine, then I agree on the letting it go part.

If they're significantly worn or flattened where they were drug, then I think there's nothing wrong with asking for those two tires to be replaced.

Without pics of the tires there's no way for us to tell the damage. But at $150-200 a pop, it's not a cheap part to replace (at least for me).

My guess is (again without seeing pics) that the tires aren't any worse off than a typical day on a trail, as far as removing rubber goes. In which case I probably would simply let it go.

[-Spike-]

You drag a truck 70 yards without the tires rolling, and tell me that the tires don't have flat spots. I wouldn't just 'accept' flat spots on my tires. That's rediculous.

-Spike

[Ebag333]

Originally Posted by -Spike-

You drag a truck 70 yards without the tires rolling, and tell me that the tires don't have flat spots. I wouldn't just 'accept' flat spots on my tires. That's rediculous.

-Spike

Neither would I. (Which is why I addressed both scenarios.)

But again, without being there, there is no way for us to see if there are actually flat spots on the tires.

The real question (to me) is if it's worth going through the hassle of trying to get some $$$ out of whoever is being held responsible. Which should really be the folks who towed it.

But good luck getting $$$ out of them. You could take them to small claims court over it (as the "loss" is at most $300 for the tires and maybe a couple hundred for the parking lock pawl), but then you're dealing with cops who are upset at you. Not something I'd want.

['74 UA FJ]

Originally Posted by -Spike-

You drag a truck 70 yards without the tires rolling, and tell me that the tires don't have flat spots. I wouldn't just 'accept' flat spots on my tires. That's rediculous.

-Spike

If you drive the vehicle and there are no vibrations, then the tires are absolutely fine.

[sseaman]

Originally Posted by ontherox;[URL="c2c://3479675"

3479675][/url]holy crap you have 13,000 posts!!! ^^^

I'm still stuck on the fact he can't believe Dan has this many post. Just think if he counted phone calls also.

[Atticus]

Originally Posted by e rock

I'd inform the venue (or whomever is taking responsibility for the screw-up) that you would like to take it to a "qualified and reputable" shop (dealership) asap for an unbiased opinion on their dime. I'd get the t-case and tranny checked out (park pawl) and ask for an honest assessment of the tire damage.

Use that assessment to determine what you pursue. I'd generally be inclined to let it go with an apology unless there is demonstrable damage.

That's good advice.

Originally Posted by -Spike-

You drag a truck 70 yards without the tires rolling, and tell me that the tires don't have flat spots. I wouldn't just 'accept' flat spots on my tires. That's rediculous.

-Spike

Yeah, it sucks. It's also probably true that dragging the truck did cause some flattening. How much? Don't know. Enough to justify buying new tires? Probably not. I don't think that it's reasonable to say that the towing company did ~$400 worth of damage to his tires (2 tires x $200/each). It's an understandable argument, but you've got to look at the actual damage caused.

Again, I think it's a good call to get them agree to get it checked out. However, this is how this deal usually works (OP means original poster; C means company):

OP: "You dragged my truck for no reason."
C: "We are sorry."
OP: "That's not good enough."
C: "What can we do to make it up to you?"
OP: "I want you to agree to fix any damage that you did."
C: "OK."
OP: "I want you to pay to get it inspected."
C: "OK."
OP: "The inspector says that the parking pawl is damaged."
C: "Did he say how and when the parking pawl was damaged?"
OP: "No."
C: "How old is your truck?"
OP: "Thirteen years old."
C: "How many miles does it have?"
OP: "150,000."
C: "How many people have owned your truck?"
OP: "Six."
C: "Have you ever had any work done on the transmission?"
OP: "I don't know." OR "No."
C: "Then how do you know that we did that damage?"
OP: "Uh..."
C: "How much does it cost to repair?"
OP: "$1800."
C: "And how much is two new tires?"
OP: "$400, but since it's an AWD vehicle, I really need four new tires, so $800."
C: "So, you want us to give you $3000 for towing your truck across the yard?"
OP: "Yes."
C: "F*ck off." OR "*Click*" OR "That's fine. Please call Mr. Poundsand at 555-1212. He is our attorney, and will handle it from here."

The problem is that, unless you have a clearly demonstrable injury to your vehicle, you're going to have a hard time getting them to cooperate. You could hire a lawyer, but it would cost to get me, for instance, to do it, somewhere in the neighborhood of $700 in time. That does not include how much it would cost if litigation were involved. You could get someone to send a letter for you, and that might help, but you've got to realize that you are making a major demand for a minor injury. Tough row to hoe.

[sseaman]

how much do you charge for that conversation?

[stocknlocked94]

Funny someone in the legal field would use the word "vulture" to describe someone else. Prob just tired of hearing the lawyer=vulture reference that goes along with that profession. But, no i'm not looking for any handouts just don't want to get another 200 miles down the road and have my transmission start slipping or uneven tire wear, both expensive replacements. Thanks for all the input thus far and I will keep everyone posted.