Funny towing story.
My first year of college (1991) my roommates girlfriend decided to pay a surprise visit. She was driving a 78 Grsnd Prix with the might 301 engine. She called out apartment (this was a Wednesday about 4:30 in the afternoon) made some small talk, and oh by the way, her car stopped running, could we come pick her up at a rest stop? We drove 45 minutes to get her, looked the car over, the engine is locked up tight as a drum. We leave the car, go back to the apartment. On the drive we make out plans to get her and the car home.
We are broke college kids, with all the ambition that comes with that age. I tell my buddy to get a tow strap, we will pull the driveshaft, and take every country road we can. No big deal, it’s only a 185 miles!!!
Next day, we meet at the rest stop. My buddy didn’t buy a tow strap, he bought a rachet strap!!! At least he had the state of mind to buy the 15 ft one! Too bad that didn’t turn out to be nearly enough. More on that later.
My buddy and his girlfriend are riding in the tow vehicle (a 86 firebird) I take the first tour of duty in the Pontiac. Immediately, I notice the speedometer is working, meaning the driveshaft is still in place. My buddy didn’t feel like crawling under the car. Can’t say I really blame him, it was 15 degrees and had been snowing.
The plan was to switch drivers every 20 miles. In the cold, with no heat, that’s about all we could handle before the fingers stopped working. Unfortunately, the first stop came after about 10 minutes. My buddy failed to consider the hot exhaust aimed directly at the strap. It quickly melted. We tied it back together, which unfortunately made the 15 foot strap a couple feet shorter.
It took 6 hours to drive the 185 miles home. I ended up buying that Grand Prix and swapped in a 425 olds and 350 trans. Had a lot of fun with that car.
I’m betting your tow goes MUCH smoother!!