Re: Boating with an S4

[OorQue@aol.com]

> He hooked up his winch and dragged  the car about a foot when the rear-end 
let go as did his exhaust and 
> trailer hitch. Btw - the front-end didn't look that healthy either.  The 
bottom of the car from rear wheels and back was > nicely crimped.  The rear  
wheels were jammed into the back of the wheel wells.

Without doubting the truth of this story -- stranger things *have* happened 
-- I find it hard to believe that the S4 lost the rear suspension under these 
conditions.  I once towed a 5ktq out of a 45-degree ditch by wrapping the 
rope around the rear suspension (the rear tow loop had been cut off to 
install a hitch) and it didn't even go out of alignment.  According to my 
calculations, the S4's tires (225/50-16) have an overall diameter of nearly 
25" so they should  have been able to roll over a 10" ledge without too much 
difficulty... 

As for needing a crane, I don't think so ... why didn't the tow-truck driver 
lift the front of the car and slide a pair of 4x4s under the chassis as far 
back as possible?  This would have raised the pan off the concrete as well as 
the rear wheels and then made it possible to drag the car up the ramp without 
doing much damage to the underside.  Worst case, the additional clearance 
should have been enough to get a jack underneath and raise the car even 
further if necessary...

Still, I'm sure it would have been nice to have a video camera handy...  :^)

JG