All -

Yesterday I was at a client for work, and I parked on a street in downtown Chicago. I was illegally towed by a non-flatbed towtruck, the one where two wheels are still on the ground, even though I broke no parking laws. Luckily he picked up the rear end, so only the front wheels were in contact with the ground during the tow, but my question is, was my car damaged? The parking brake was set, but THANK GOD the car was not in gear (the stick-shift was in neutral, which I have gotten into a habit of doing due to my worries about getting towed and damaging the car).

Does the parking brake lock the front wheels as well, or just the back ones? I want to know, so I can figure out if my parking brake and/or wheels were damaged. Thanks.

 

No, the parking brake is a mechanical linkage hooked to the rear brakes only. Your front wheels free spin so I doubt there was any damage done to your car. The only way they could possily damage it by towing it by the rear end is if they use a sling type tow truck. They actually attach the sling to the pumpkin of the diff, it can damage bushings in your upper and lower control arms.
-P.

 

Ok I'm at a loss as to why you think leaving it in gear would have cause a problem?
(assuming you were thinking that)

Oh and No towing your car from the rear will NOT adversely affect your car at all! (unless the tow truck driver is clueless and does body damage while lifting or towing but that’s beside the point)
Heck it’s rumored that driving backwards will add life to your tires! lol j/k

 

What bastards. Gotta hate parking in the city. I still refuse to take my stang into the city because someone is bound to hit it when street parking. Unless he crashed your car it should be fine from the tow. Just be glad he knew it was rear wheel drive.