Does towing behind a camper rack up the odometer?

[alena]

My festiva was towed with all four wheels on the pavement behind a camper. Would this put miles on my odometer, or would miles only rack up while it's running/being driven? I'm wondering if my odometer is true to the amount of driven miles, not towed ones. I have a 93 festiva L 5spd bare stock base trim, nothing electrical but the seat belts and stereo on the interior. Would towing put miles on it? I have no way to test this to see :p

Thanks! Any advice or ideas are helpful! Car runs great, odometer reads around 140K... I'm hoping the mileage isn't truly that high, I didn't get a chance to speak personally with the previous owner who towed it all the time.

[jawja jim]

Probably would add all the towed miles, unless the speedometer cable was disconnected when towing. That is a very easy and quick procedure, but probably wouldn't have been done. High mileage is not necessarily a big concern

[alena]

Probably would add all the towed miles, unless the speedometer cable was disconnected when towing. That is a very easy and quick procedure, but probably wouldn't have been done. High mileage is not necessarily a big concern

What I'm wondering if the high mileage really is mostly towed miles, is there any way to gauge how many driven miles it's been through? Everything works as it should in the car (besides mice chewed stereo wires :p) everything is also stock except oil & air filter change when I bought it 4 years ago.

Since it was towed so much, is there anything I should look out for?the only thing I think they did was permanently unlock the steering wheel, unless it just never locked when not running in the first place lol. Is there anything I should look out for as far as stress on the car while being pulled by a camper with all four wheels down?


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[alena]

Btw I really don't think they disconnected the odometer while towing. It doesn't seem they were very car savvy, they towed it somehow by bolting the front bumper to something to tow.. lol


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[ryanprins13]

Ill have to check if miles add up when in neutral but im 99% sure if the speedometer is moving so is the odometer.
I just bought a car that was towed a lot.
Only things are they usually have more rock chips. Wear and tear on the wheel bearings is the same but the rear ones will get greased less as they think they dont drive it. My rear wheel bearings were done.
If they towed on pavement your good but i think mine was towed a lot on gravel and the interior was full of dust.
Headlights and windshield get pitted and chipped faster.
But less miles on the engine, transmission and brakes.

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[alena]

Ill have to check if miles add up when in neutral but im 99% sure if the speedometer is moving so is the odometer.
I just bought a car that was towed a lot.
Only things are they usually have more rock chips. Wear and tear on the wheel bearings is the same but the rear ones will get greased less as they think they dont drive it. My rear wheel bearings were done.
If they towed on pavement your good but i think mine was towed a lot on gravel and the interior was full of dust.
Headlights and windshield get pitted and chipped faster.
But less miles on the engine, transmission and brakes.

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What did you buy? I may have had the wheel bearings replaced when I bought it but I can't remember, they are fine right now though I drive it daily. The only issue I'm currently having is a sticky brake on the front driver side, I'm no car expert :p it's been parked for 4 years until just a few days ago. The sticky brake is the only issue I know of, and some shaking when driving over 65mph.. but I never drive it that fast because it freaks me out a bit to be going so fast in a tiny tin can car without air bags etc xD

[william]

Yes miles will rack up when towed.
And 140 is low milage for a festiva, I've had 3 with over 350k
No issues if the car was maintained it will serve you for hundreds of thousands more miles.

[ryanprins13]

What did you buy? I may have had the wheel bearings replaced when I bought it but I can't remember, they are fine right now though I drive it daily. The only issue I'm currently having is a sticky brake on the front driver side, I'm no car expert [emoji14] it's been parked for 4 years until just a few days ago. The sticky brake is the only issue I know of, and some shaking when driving over 65mph.. but I never drive it that fast because it freaks me out a bit to be going so fast in a tiny tin can car without air bags etc xD

This is what it looked like when i bought it:
Looks much different now. I spent 6 months non-stop working on it and have been driving it for a month now. Build thread is here if your interested:

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffordfestiva%2Ecom%2Fforums%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D59836&share_tid=59836&share_fid=52837&share_type=t

Sticking front brakes is usually the sliders not getting greased. Most people dont do it and when the boots on the sliders wear out and let water in and rust. New boots, pins, bolts and a tube of caliper grease are fairly cheap if you need the works.
The whole caliper slides back and forth on 2 pins and if they sieze up the caliper will tighten but not release all the way. So check that out.
What size of tires do you have? If still 12inch rims the shake is common from the cheap tires.
Ive had a stock festiva 9 or 10 years now. Put 240,000km on my first festiva myself. I drive 70-75mph on my commute every day now, had it up to 109mph down a big hill with 12in tires but i would never do that again. Burying the speedo at 90mph is no issue though.
Some of us here (most actually) are at least a bit crazy but i for 1 dont like airbags. Actually need to get them replaced in my wifes car so they dont kill us if they go off now that the parts are finally available 15yrs later.....
Safety in a crash has a lot to do with the mass behind (or in front of depending on the way you view things) the point of impact and festivas dont have a lot of weight behind the engine. They seem to do pretty well in crashes. Ive saved photos of every crashed festiva ive seen since i joined here and they seem to do pretty good.
Anyhow, welcome to the group!



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[alena]

This is what it looked like when i bought it:
Looks much different now. I spent 6 months non-stop working on it and have been driving it for a month now. Build thread is here if your interested:

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffordfestiva%2Ecom%2Fforums%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D59836&share_tid=59836&share_fid=52837&share_type=t

Sticking front brakes is usually the sliders not getting greased. Most people dont do it and when the boots on the sliders wear out and let water in and rust. New boots, pins, bolts and a tube of caliper grease are fairly cheap if you need the works.
The whole caliper slides back and forth on 2 pins and if they sieze up the caliper will tighten but not release all the way. So check that out.
What size of tires do you have? If still 12inch rims the shake is common from the cheap tires.
Ive had a stock festiva 9 or 10 years now. Put 240,000km on my first festiva myself. I drive 70-75mph on my commute every day now, had it up to 109mph down a big hill with 12in tires but i would never do that again. Burying the speedo at 90mph is no issue though.
Some of us here (most actually) are at least a bit crazy but i for 1 dont like airbags. Actually need to get them replaced in my wifes car so they dont kill us if they go off now that the parts are finally available 15yrs later.....
Safety in a crash has a lot to do with the mass behind (or in front of depending on the way you view things) the point of impact and festivas dont have a lot of weight behind the engine. They seem to do pretty well in crashes. Ive saved photos of every crashed festiva ive seen since i joined here and they seem to do pretty good.
Anyhow, welcome to the group!



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Thank you! I will have my dad jack it back up so I can look at the brakes and learn all you've mentioned here the wheels are whatever size was stock in 93, my back tires are nearly bald and probably adding to the shaking from being worn down unevenly :p I will have new tires to replace them soon. This is my car lol I only have two photos of it right now, I'll have to take more when I get it back tomorrow, the interior is in great condition ^_^ I got it for 400$... my friends thought it was junk and were going to scrap it :0 I told them I had to have it. So I paid them just over its worth in scrap metal... lol!

[ryanprins13]

Thank you! I will have my dad jack it back up so I can look at the brakes and learn all you've mentioned here the wheels are whatever size was stock in 93, my back tires are nearly bald and probably adding to the shaking from being worn down unevenly [emoji14] I will have new tires to replace them soon. This is my car lol I only have two photos of it right now, I'll have to take more when I get it back tomorrow, the interior is in great condition ^_^ I got it for 400$... my friends thought it was junk and were going to scrap it :0 I told them I had to have it. So I paid them just over its worth in scrap metal... lol!

Right on, if you or he is not sure what to look for do a google image seach for 'caliper slider pins'
The cars were sold with 12inch rims and tires, but the festiva back in 93 was the last car in north america to use this size of 12inch tire (as far as im aware) so selection has really dried up. Yokohama makes a good 12inch tire still but their pricey.
14inch rims and 165/55 r14 achilles tires are cheap and a huge handling upgrade for these cars. The ride becomes way better just putting those tires on. If your gonna replace tires anyway.

If the rear tires are cupped it could be from the rear bearings not being tight enough, i did that once. Bad for the tires obviously and probably bad for the bearings too. Overtightening however is very bad for the bearings and spindles...
Looks like fun!
These are great cars, lots of fun to drive and work on and seem to go until they completely rust out.
This was my first festiva in all its glory 10 years and 250k ago:

And this is it now....


You cant see most of the rust but i would still be driving it if i could.


I did literally everything in it. Mudding, off roading, local 1/4 mile drag, towed trailers and other cars, road trips, got married in it, used it for our honeymoon road trip, got it stuck in a lake, stuck on top of a mountain, been on 2 wheels in it, learned how to drift..... and on and on. Turns out their irreplacable, lol. Nothing else ive driven quite matches up. Rust or no rust.

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[WmWatt]

I'd check the compression (cylinders). That should tell you how much wear is on the engine. Over time the compression goes down. So if it's still up the engine wasn't used much. I think Haynes says 209 new and 140 worn out. Mine's about 190 with 130k km (78k miles) on the engine mostly urban use.

[denguy]

I had a used 93 that came with a huge wishbone style towbar setup for connecting to a motorhome. I think it had 250k miles on it. The windshield was sandblasted from being towed, I think. I replaced it.

[alena]

Yes miles will rack up when towed.
And 140 is low milage for a festiva, I've had 3 with over 350k
No issues if the car was maintained it will serve you for hundreds of thousands more miles.

Thank you! Makes me wonder what the real mileage is on the engine, what I heard was the seller estimated 30K or under, I can't believe my friends were going to send it to the scrap yard :0

To the other poster below, my windshield looks new, so maybe the previous owner replaced it shortly before deciding they just needed a new tiny car to tow behind their camper? They bolted something to my bumper like I said, no idea what I have only seen the bolt holes in it! I will have to take more photos today when I go out to my dads. Maybe he is done with my stereo wiring


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[alena]

I'd check the compression (cylinders). That should tell you how much wear is on the engine. Over time the compression goes down. So if it's still up the engine wasn't used much. I think Haynes says 209 new and 140 worn out. Mine's about 190 with 130k km (78k miles) on the engine mostly urban use.

I'll look into this! Thank you for the suggestion ^_^ I am hoping to learn everything about this car on this forum it's small enough for me to work on myself, I have all the tools but I've never been able to strong arm anything on my other car, a luxury trim 2003 AWD Mountaineer, it also has so many electrical things and computer sensors, that's way too complicated for me so I always sent it to someone who has experience with complicated cars like that. This festiva has basically nothing complicated about it Computer and sensor wise xD and it's lightweight enough that I can move parts on it myself. I'm just a small 5'5" at 135 lbs and not much muscle lol, but I know I'll be putting more on my arms pulling my festiva steering wheel around all summer without the power steering I'm used to! I took an auto class in high school and helped my dad fix lots of different cars, but I'm hoping to learn how to do everything with this festiva myself. :>

Thanks everyone!

There is one other thing I'm having an issue with, my e brake will freeze on one side if I ever have to use it. I don't ever use it, and my dad said he knows why it's freezing, but can any of you tell me if I can fix this or if I need to replace the parts involved? I have a lot of rust under the car but it's still solid, nothing falling apart from rust and hopefully it'll stay that way lol, it will be parked anytime there's ice on the ground, hopefully I will be able to put it in a garage someplace when it comes to that time. Maybe someplace I can have my auto body repair friend help me learn how fix my rust spots and the previous shoddy body work someone else did long ago that's coming apart now.. I'm excited to learn all this stuff!


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[denguy]

Another thing, besides the windshield being sand blasted, the headlights and, basically, the entire front end had the same treatment.