messerschmitt owner Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/8053748.stm bet that was fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Shropshire, eh. Mmmmmm ... Anyone we know, I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapido-lass Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Thankfully no-one hurt, but I bet it spoilt their outing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aljen Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Hi. Yes i am glad noboby was hurt, thats one reason i bought a trailer rather than an A - Frame. With my memory i would forget to take it out of gear too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J9withdogs Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Not me (lol) Was it you, Dave? *-) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Advice from Mercedes has always been to NOT tow a Smart car with an a frame. The quite plausible reason is that the drive axle gear train relies on the engine running to maintain oil pressure. Without the engine running the gears get starved of lubrication, get hot .... you know the rest! But so many seem to get away with it - but not all it seems. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Interesting ... I wonder if this will now get the 'powers that be' thinking that they should be looking into whether or not this should be allowed at all .... :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messerschmitt owner Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 Clive - 2009-06-09 4:49 PM Advice from Mercedes has always been to NOT tow a Smart car with an a frame. The quite plausible reason is that the drive axle gear train relies on the engine running to maintain oil pressure. Without the engine running the gears get starved of lubrication, get hot .... you know the rest! But so many seem to get away with it - but not all it seems. C. nope, not true - Getrag, who make the box, say you can tow the smart with all wheels on the deck at normal speeds and the smart manual says you can tow for 30miles at 30mph. However you have to ensure the car is properly in neutral! The smart gearbox is an electrically-operated manual box with normal gear oil in it, and the clutch is controlled electronically using an electric clutch actuator. If the car is truly in neutral, the gearbox is lubricated by the motion of the car, there is no pump in the gearbox, manual, hydraulic or electric that needs pressurised! What I think has happened is that the car has been switched off while still in gear, even though it shows neutral on the dash (if you do the switch off quickly enough you will get this). It has been towed in gear while the owners thought is was out of gear, thereby causing the problem. The only way to guarantee a smart is out of gear is to press the brake and wait a sec after changing into neutral. Of course, as a smart has no steering lock, it should always be locked in reverse if parked to deter theft! Again, this could be another cause of it catching fire... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Nothing to do with me either, I really don't like the Smart having fitted cruise control to one and subsequently road tested it on the back lanes of Suffolk and I'm not overly enamoured with A frames either. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messerschmitt owner Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 davenewell@home - 2009-06-09 7:08 PM Nothing to do with me either, I really don't like the Smart having fitted cruise control to one and subsequently road tested it on the back lanes of Suffolk and I'm not overly enamoured with A frames either. D.how much did you charge for fitting it - a cruise control stalk from smart is £45 and £60-90 to TAN it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 messerschmitt owner - 2009-06-09 7:13 PM davenewell@home - 2009-06-09 7:08 PM Nothing to do with me either, I really don't like the Smart having fitted cruise control to one and subsequently road tested it on the back lanes of Suffolk and I'm not overly enamoured with A frames either. D.how much did you charge for fitting it - a cruise control stalk from smart is £45 and £60-90 to TAN it This was done way back when I worked for someone else so it cost a few hundred quid, about similar to what I'd charge today if I were asked to do one but it was such a bitch of a job I'd rather not do another one. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 "nope, not true" Well, you may be right but the advice I was given having asked the franchise formerly was quite straight forward, it was what I posted. But I agree with Dave, the Smart car is a mobile crumple zone for sensible vehicle drivers. I wouldn,t allow my wife to drive one. Just imagine, a Smart in between two proper Mercs!! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messerschmitt owner Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 Clive The information I have is based on fact, not a 'franchise's' duff info. Smart say 30miles, 30mph and Getrag say, go for it! I wouldn't trust anything a mercedes salesman tells me - that's coming from experience of dealing with them - even in the parts dept I know more about the parts and EPC than they do! having been in two crashes in a smart roadster - in one the VW GOlf was written off and in the other the 7.5 toner caused minimal damage only in the rear end shunt! I have seen a smart vs mercedes C Class crash and the smart came off quite well. Against any other small-medium sized car, the smart's occupants will come off best! And I'd rather be in my smart in an accident than my Mercedes motorhome! Have you ever seen the type-3 VW van crash test! here's a smart one and a fiat vs smart one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHpUO-S0i8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35GLdl479Y8 Now tell me which car you'd rather be in! Smarts use decent steel in a triple layer in the steel safety shell. All you're doing is perpetuating the out-dated 'it must be small, therefore it must be unsafe' attitude. The engineering in a smart is fab - I am pushing 170bhp a ton out of my engine (an engine that costs less than a grand to rebuild too) - and that is supercar territory! They're safer than many other cars on the roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Hi, I have have had to replace a few gearbox's that did not come off to well after being towed on an A-frame through France and Spain and back. Regards, Brendan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itexuk Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Hi, I tow my 7 year old Smart Car on an A-Frame and never had a problem. I quite often tow for 250 miles none stop on Motorways. You MUST make sure it is in neutral and that the hand brake is off. If towing on an A-Frame you should also check the oil level and top up if required before you set off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potjoe Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 HI,it was not me !.I to tow on "A" frame (smart) just last week went the M6 to J33 and all OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 So towing a Smart car at 30mph on the motorway for 30 minutes is OK according to Mercedes handbook. Do you have to pull into every service station when your 30 minutes is up? I've yet to see one being towed at that speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Hi, Looks like some can be lucky and some not so lucky. You take your chances. I will take mine on a trailer. Regards, Brendan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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