Anyone ever hook a tow bar to the front of your Tacoma?

I have not been on the forum for a while because I have been fighting with dealership over what I found in my engine after head gasket replacement. (Picture attached). The MORONS at the dealership machined my heads! Under no circumstances should you ever machine the heads on a 1GR-FE! At minimum your timing will be a hair off forever! Well... they machined the heads, but didnt clean them properly! So ALOT of aluminum shavings got into the engine. I did not know this until about 2500 miles later when I changed the oil and drain pain was full of aluminum shavings and glitter from the bearings being shredded. I have basically left the Tacoma parked. Long story short, the dealership is 128 miles away. I also have a 2011 Ford crewcab F150. and they wont pay for a tow. Anyone ever hooked a tow bar to the front to pull your Tacoma?

Thanks guys!

 

The black stuff is remnants of the old cam chain guides they replaced. When they removed the old guides, they cracked. No one bothered to see if debris was left.

Northshore Toyota, Covington, LA, NEVER GO THERE! WE HAVE PURCHASED AT LEAST 10 BRAND NEW CARS AND TRUCKS IN THE LAST 15 YEARS, THIS IS THE FIRST SERVICE EXPERIENCE!

 

It's probably doable, but why not just load it on a trailer or u-haul dolly?

 

Think that would be easier? A dolly? I dont have a trailer that could handle that.

 

dolly or flatbed will be much easier.

 

Flat bed... easy... but at cost from a friend who owns a tow service would not be cheap. Anyone ever use one of the U-Haul dollys mentioned? Any idea of cost and how hard to load?

 

You can rent flatbeds from uhaul as well as dollys. Either will be a bear to load if you cant start the rig unless you have a winch. I've managed to load a few cars onto dollys by chalking the rear wheels and slowly backing the dolly up but its far from ideal and somewhat sketchy

 

Why lookee here... @JDEMELLO

 

No, lol! I meant, I have a friend with a tow service. At cost, after paying fuel and driver for 128 miles there, 128 miles back, plus expences, with no markup, at his cost... still not cheap.

 

Around here the tow dolly goes for about $45. It has little ramps, you just drive right up. Think flatbed trailer but just for the front half of the vehicle. For $10 more, you can rent their auto transport (basically a low floor flat bed trailer that can hold a vehicle).

https://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/Tow-Dolly-Rental/TD/

https://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/Auto-Transport-Rental/AT/

 

So in you guys opinion... majority says best, cheapest way is to rent U-Haul dolly and deal with loading being a 'bear'?

 

The low haul seems pretty good, I'll check that out! Thanks bro!!!!

 

This ^ And he is insured to do this incase of a problem.

 

Of course, hense expences mentioned...

 

do u have 4x4? I have always been told u have to flat bed a 4x4 or is that a myth?

 

You got a Ford F150, plenty big to do the tow dolly....used one several times...tow bar not recommended on your Taco as the rear end of pickups are light, cornering can be uber scary, makes towing a harrowing ride, trust me, been there...your costs for the dolly will be cheap compared to a tow truck move...

Just get the dolly, once fixed, you can have a friend drive your Ford home while you drive your repaired unit (hopefully, fingers crossed, warranty fix for free)...

 

Get a replacement engine.

Timing will adjust due to variable intake, on intake side. If the heads are machined, then a gasket needs to be ordered accounting fornthat material loss. That will account for both intake and exhaust.

I have had plenty machined on the 1GR. They simply were reluctant to be thorough. Ehich is shit.

 

If you're looking to have them replace the engine and don't really trust them, I'd mark the head and block somewhere with a prick punch. That way, if they do say they'll replace the engine, you can easily verify it vs finding the numbers...

 

I would say true. When I had my old truck towed, the driver said it had to go on a flatbed since it was 4x4.

Also.

The uhaul website says driveshaft has to be disconnected on 4x4 vehicles that use a dolly. Flatbeds you do not have to disconnect.

 

yeah I was thinking about the possibility of doing it with the driveshaft disconnected, makes sense haha thanks!