Dear Tom and Ray:
I have an all-wheel-drive 2005 Mitsubishi Endeavor, and I was wondering if there is a good place to hook a tow rope so I can help pull my wife's car when she gets stuck in the driveway? I know most SUVs have a hook on the front or a hitch on the back, but I cannot seem to find anything on mine. Where can I safely hook up a tow rope?
-- Kyle
Tom: If there's no tow hook, Kyle, and you want to use a rope or chain, you really have to hook it to the car's subframe.
Ray: How do you find the subframe? You crawl under the car, look around, scratch your head, and then you drive to your dealer and ask for an oil change. While the car is up on the lift, you ask the mechanic to show you where the subframe is.
Tom: Yeah. We could try to describe it to you, but it's not easy to explain. And we'd feel terrible if you misunderstood us and ended up yanking off your radiator. So it's best to have someone knowledgeable actually point it out to you.
Ray: There are a lot of things you shouldn't hook a tow rope to. There's the bumper, the exhaust system, the axles, the suspension parts. You don't want to try to pull your wife out of the snow only to end up with two disabled vehicles. So much for Prince Valiant.
Tom: So ask someone to point out the frame members to you. This is a "better safe than sorry, embarrassed and out a thousand bucks" scenario.
Ray: Also consider getting your wife some good snow tires, Kyle.
(Car Talk is a nationally syndicated column by automotive experts (and brothers) Tom and Ray Magliozzi. Write to them at the Car Talk website.)
1 Comment
By Walt Dorsey on March 17, 2011 3:27 PM
In reading your suggestion to hook to the subframe for towing out a car stuck in the snow out using a all-wheel-drive 2005 Mitsubishi Endeavor....
There likely isn't any good location to "hook to the subframe" - this isn't an older vehicle where you can wrap something around some sort of frame member...
The best answer would be to hire a professional Tow Truck Driver to do the job safely and correctly.
But, if that isn't an option, the right to do it with the all-wheel-drive 2005 Mitsubishi Endeavor would be to have a mechanic install a commercial hitch receiver on the vehicle - like one made by the Cequent Performance Products, Inc. group of companies (aka Hidden Hitch, Reese, Draw Tite, etc) and then use "Receiver Shackle Bracket" like part number 29312 from Warn Industries. The hicth part number is 70759 and it is "bolt on" with no drilling required.
That is really the "right way" to do the job, and having a hitch reciever adds value to the vehicle, as adding the hitch, and a trailer wiring electrical adapter (simple plug and play unit is available) would add towing capability to the vehicle.