New England B.S. Thread

There was a Civic in the last storm that apparently missed a corner and went about 50 ft through a field. Looked like it had been there a while (snow on the car), so I didn't stop. Plus on the corner it was on I'd be worried about someone hitting me if I were in the road trying to pull them out. They had to have been going pretty fast, weren't paying attention, had junk tires, or maybe all three.

 

Personally, I wouldn't offer to pull someone out unless it was in a very remote location. I'll stop to make sure they're alright, let them use my phone, etc. Generally, if someone went off the road, there's a reason and, as long as they're ok, that's the safest place for them to be. Pulling them back out so they can have another go at it isn't always a good idea. Plus, there are some really shitty people out there, god forbid you do any damage to their car trying to recover it and they come after you for the cost.

 

I typically make the judgement based on the conditions, the condition of their car, my mood, the location, and what sort of vehicle it is. It's a very complicated, highly subjective system of decision making

 

Where I grew up, it was very rural and I wouldn't think twice about pulling someone out of a ditch. Around Boston though, help is never too far away so it'd have to be a really special situation for me to even offer to pull someone out.

 

you could get the baseline and toss the components you want on it. might be a littlw more expensive, but youd have exactly what you want

 

Gotta be the new regs, mine failed for that 2 years ago. I almost knocked someone out when they popped the taillight fuse replacing it and said "oh gee we checked all the fuses, it's those aftermarket tails you have..you'll have to leave it". My tails are the OEM LEDs

 

If it's a newer car, forget it. They're crumple boxes and I'd probably damage something pulling them out. Same thing if they're way off of the road, I saw them driving like an idiot, etc; they're a menace and they can stay there. Blind corner? Nope.
But if we're someplace rural, they're in the ditch 'softly' (like, 1 wheel hanging over from a low-speed slide) and I can tell that they weren't bombing along, and they've got an older car with a solid hitch point I'll pull them out. Likewise if I'm downtown and somebody they're on the road but aren't moving and are blocking traffic, I'll stop, strap onto them, drag them into the nearest parking lot and tell them to call a cab (I did that a couple of winters ago with a Nissan Z with New Jersey plates that couldn't make it up the hill on Western Ave in Augusta; I dragged them into the parking lot of the nearest hotel and told them to get a room until it was done snowing )

And there's exceptions to all of these rules, too. For instance, a woman with kids in the car or an elderly driver would get pulled out faster than a younger person on their own would.

 

These days, I'd be afraid of someone suing me for helping them.

 

Some don't even have tow hooks on them anymore!

A few of us were at a friends and a guy with a newer Sonata was there. The driveway was icy and he couldn't get back up it onto the road with the factory all seasons. I thought no problem, I'll just pull him up with the tow strap. Turns out I couldn't find anywhere to safely attach it! A few of us looked for quite a while. No idea how they'd pull one onto a flatbed. I guess the older ones had a hole in the bumper and an eye hook you could thread in, but they did away with even that at some point.

 

A lot of the newer ones only have it on the rear bumper now. Not sure what they do if it goes off the road backwards; hook on where the suspension mounts to the frame, I guess.

 

I pulled 3 cars out of ditches/snow at the end of my driveway last year with no hook up. First thing I do to a car that doesn’t have an obvious point is ask for their owners manual.

No joke, the emergency tow precedure on these things? “Call a tow truck”

I inform the owners I can attach to certain points if they aren’t stuck bad and give them a light tug. This may result in possible damage, do you wish to proceed or should we go to the house and call a tow truck?

Usually they say “pull me out I don’t want to wait two hours”

 

It's crazy...kind of like how so many vehicles don't have spare tires. Though I guess at this point the average person may not know how to change one anyway.

 

Is anyone close to New Freetown, MA that can pick up a set of tires for me? And then we TW Express them to Rausch or AOAA? I sent you a PM as well Rob @mach1man001

 

Or can get them to Lloyd @Subway4X4 at zip code 10920 and he will bring them down. This will make him come see me so I can finally weld his sliders to his truck haha.

 

@DrFunker @Unchained 5150 @m603holden @Skierrichy

We can make this happen!

If you or someone in the New England gang can somehow get this to me.

I’ll get it to Mobtown

 

New Freetown?
You mean Freetown?



Im on call, or I would swing over and grab them on my way out of here.

 

I'll bring them down if you weld my sliders on my truck

 

Sorry, typo. East Freetown is where the tires are.

 

Beat me to it

 

I am nowhere near there but will keep my eye on helping if I can