No tow points!?!

Jampy00

Jampy00

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Well, bound to happen wife's 2014 Ford focus titanium got stuck coming up our slushy gravel driveway.
Proceeded to back up and got really stuck. Figured no problem pull it out with tractor only needs to move about 2 feet to get unstuck. No tow points at all !?!

So is there another place on the rear I can attach a chain to?
Oh yeah anyone around Erin for a bit as I can't do both things at once. Wife is at work.. 😂
 
mimico_polak said:
There’s typically a small round piece that can be popped out with a screw driver.

Then there’s a tow hook near your spare tire / trunk that screws into that point.

Easy peasy.
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Imagine my surprise when I helped push out a stuck civic that had no tow point, last week before heading to the bike show.
 
Evoex said:
Imagine my surprise when I helped push out a stuck civic that had no tow point, last week before heading to the bike show.
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I thought most cars have it in the bumper! The last few I've had all had a spot in the bumper to screw the hook into.

In this instance...the hooks literally screw into the bumpers as per the user manual.
 
Jampy00 said:
Well, bound to happen wife's 2014 Ford focus titanium got stuck coming up our slushy gravel driveway.
Proceeded to back up and got really stuck. Figured no problem pull it out with tractor only needs to move about 2 feet to get unstuck. No tow points at all !?!

So is there another place on the rear I can attach a chain to?
Oh yeah anyone around Erin for a bit as I can't do both things at once. Wife is at work.. 😂
Click to expand...
Bring out your inner farmer. Tractor in gear, hop off and go drive car. My uncle used to bale hay that way single handed.

Are you still stuck? Just got home and saw this.
 
Jampy00 said:
Well, bound to happen wife's 2014 Ford focus titanium got stuck coming up our slushy gravel driveway.
Proceeded to back up and got really stuck. Figured no problem pull it out with tractor only needs to move about 2 feet to get unstuck. No tow points at all !?!

So is there another place on the rear I can attach a chain to?
Oh yeah anyone around Erin for a bit as I can't do both things at once. Wife is at work..
Click to expand...
Did you get it out I can stop by tomorrow sometime if you are.

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Scuba Steve said:
Did you get it out I can stop by tomorrow sometime if you are.

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Click to expand...
Yes, got dark so we quit. I'm home all day. Thanks.
 
mimico_polak said:
I thought most cars have it in the bumper! The last few I've had all had a spot in the bumper to screw the hook into.

In this instance...the hooks literally screw into the bumpers as per the user manual.
Click to expand...
I assumed the same and was wrong. I did find there is a point on the frame that is used to tie car down when in transport. To be honest I think this is something I would ask about when buying another vehicle.
 
If you can’t find the screw in eye , which should have shipped with the car new , it’s in the spare tire well , you can hook onto the lower control arm on suspension, make sure your hook doesn’t touch the drive shaft for the front wheel drive , on the back end you can look at the rear A arm . Pull slowly and gently . Use as short a chain as practical , the shorter chain applies weight to the tractor wheels , long chain makes car act like a boat anchor . When you can go the princess auto or CTC and buy a 30ft nylon tug strap , it’s less violent when pulling .
You don’t need two people , but it’s better , car in neutral , tie the steering wheel straight using the seat belt , pull. Yes , I used to drive a tow truck in a previous life .
If you do find the tow screw that shipped with the car , they made them left hand thread so it is useless for anything else ( which is good) . But it’s not righty tighty.


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mimico_polak said:
There’s typically a small round piece that can be popped out with a screw driver.

Then there’s a tow hook near your spare tire / trunk that screws into that point.

Easy peasy.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's what is supposed to be in the trunk. I bought my CX3 used and that tow hook was missing. Real handy when you end up in a ditch. Tow operator had to loop a tie down strap through a front wheel and drag my car out of the ditch back in January.
 
Malks said:
Yeah, that's what is supposed to be in the trunk. I bought my CX3 used and that tow hook was missing. Real handy when you end up in a ditch. Tow operator had to loop a tie down strap through a front wheel and drag my car out of the ditch back in January.
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Ya, unfortunately people steal / misplace those small items all the time.

I've learned my lesson when buying a new car...check everything before taking possession / signing the contract.
 
Jampy00 said:
Well, bound to happen wife's 2014 Ford focus titanium got stuck coming up our slushy gravel driveway.
Proceeded to back up and got really stuck. Figured no problem pull it out with tractor only needs to move about 2 feet to get unstuck. No tow points at all !?!

So is there another place on the rear I can attach a chain to?
Oh yeah anyone around Erin for a bit as I can't do both things at once. Wife is at work.. 😂
Click to expand...
That’s a bugger. My CTS lost its mind and is stuck in immobilized condition in the middle of my driveway during the last snowstorm. No place to attatch a strap or chain without destroying the bumpers.

I had to jack the car onto dollies.
 
Mad Mike said:
That’s a bugger. My CTS lost its mind and is stuck in immobilized condition in the middle of my driveway during the last snowstorm. No place to attatch a strap or chain without destroying the bumpers.

I had to jack the car onto dollies.
Click to expand...
Trailer hitches ftw. My wife used to drive a lot for work and one day the odds caught up with her and she ditched it in a horrible snowstorm on hwy 11. Thankfully so much powder she was just stuck in a cloud with no damage. A rotator showed up and connected to the trailer hitch, lifted the thing straight up and swung it back onto the road. Wtf. I installed that trailer hitch. I'm surprised it put up with that load. It held though, just bent safety chain eyes.
 
I had to use the “ring screwed into the front bumper” thing on our Volt a few years ago. We were early season camping at a provincial park and got stuck in a muddy site that rightfully should have been closed. Didn’t need much of a pull, but needed a pull - the ring did the job perfectly, walked it right out.
 
Scuba Steve said:
Car is back in it's parking spot lower front arm tow point.

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Thanks again for your help.
I don't think I could have done it with just the tractor.
 
Good job lads . For you folks the end up ditched and get the local guy . Tow drivers are often very lazy and don’t want to get wet/muddy . If it looks like it’s going to a body shop anyway they don’t pay much attention. Many have a steel J hook welded to a chain ( industry standard) and if they don’t pay attention when they hook the upper of lower control arm the tension hits the rubber boot of the CV joint , small cut that lets water in and in three months your don’t a CV joint . Same with the nylon tug strap looped through your modern aluminum wheel , it’s fast and if it a straight pull of low resistance, Oky doky , but any side load and your getting a front end alignment in a couple weeks .
My worst pull was a fifty foot float with a Caterpillar dozer sideways in the median of the four O one right by Kelso lake . Nobody would slow the F down and we were right over the crest of a hill , since the dozer was half off anyway , backed it out and pushed the float around straight . Pre cell phones thank God . Second place goes to a friend of the owner that buried a loaded eight ton combine in a field near Freelton. Sank past the axles. International tandem long bed tow truck and six hundred ft of chain to a tree in the fence line as an anchor . Pulled the combine backwards so we didn’t trash the corn head assembly. I think I had to move the seat forward to reach the pedals when we were done . Being a rural kid, best money was pulling drunks out of the ditch at one am on weekends .


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