Preparing a Smart Car for Towing with an 'A' Frame.

[StitchUp]

I omitted a question mark from the title of this post as I discovered THIS PREVIOUS THREAD, now I'm completely confused

 

[StitchUp]

Can anyone with experience of towing a Smart Car confirm the notes provided by the previous owner or add to them if necessary?

Notes made by previous owner.
Towing a Smart Car on an ‘A’ Frame

1. Check oil level.

2. Check handbrake is off.

3. Check gear lever is in ‘N’ car is in Neutral ’N’.

4. Double check – car won’t start if in neutral ‘N’.

5. Turn off and remove key, this will lock the gear selector.

6. On a braked ‘A’ frame check the brake cable isn’t to tight, otherwise the Smart car will have it’s brakes slightly on, if to slack, the brakes won’t work.

7. Do NOT lock the doors as the alarm will go off.

 

[SheikhLala]

I towed my Smart car recently to Devon and back from Essex. Put the ignition on and move gear selector into, then out of gear to make sure that N is displayed and turn off, remove key....all seems to be ok.
If I'm doing it wrong, then I'll be expecting a hefty bill soon

 

[StitchUp]

The thread I referred to THIS PREVIOUS THREAD gave details of a Smart Car being 'totalled' - destroyed clutch & gearbox!!! I want to avoid that I read the entire thread but still left uncertain of the best method.

 

[bobandjanie]

Smart Car catches fire

Armitages A Frame - Smart Car Fire - Locksmiths Bad Luck Strikes again. After the Brownhills are Downhills saga I hoped for a quiet life, Mandy is now in remission and we are trying to make the most of our motorhome that Brownhills supplied to us with the very best after service possible. Last...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

There's all sorts of horror stories, we had both and the a frame was the early car a tow with the cable, our brakes were binding because the cable jammed but not enough to notice but enough to make the brakes hot enough and the only reason I stopped was realised I had lost a wheel trip that turned out to be both front, could have been nasty.
When we changed to a new smart in 2009 we went down the trailer route, and at that time Spain had really clamped down and to be honest we preferred. Bob.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[StitchUp]

bobandjanie
Thanks for the reply, yes, I've read some of the horror stories and that's why I'm doing a bit of research hoping it doesn't happen to me

Bought our 08 plated Smart Car a few weeks so never towed it yet. I came fitted with an Armitages 'A' Frame that the previous owner used for towing, he left a note with info for towing and I'm inclined to follow that.

I'm sorta wishing I hadn't started researching now and just stuck with the note

We don't plan on travelling abroad with it so the 'A' frame will do us for now.

 

[bobandjanie]

We carried on towing after our incident, but it was not uncommon the cable jamming and advised to put a bungee from the drivers seat to the brake pedal, and that's what we did.

The Smart advice was to push it in neutral just to be sure, and not rely on the dashboard indicator.

Many tow cars without incident so you might be one of those. Bob.