Stuck!

[Pitter]

The other day I slid into a ditch on passenger side as I was trying to maneuver around a branch in the the road. As a result I was good and stuck. Fortunately some campesinos came to help as well as I guy with a Landcruiser. However when I checked the toolkit I didn't find a screwdriver to pop open the panel over the eye bolt receptacle. Luckily one of the guys had a machete and poped it open with the tip which was thinner and pointier than a screwdriver. The passenger side was just inches from the embankment and at one point there was a small tree so the front fender was pushed in as I was pulled past it. Anyway the point of the post is to complain about the panel covering the tow bolt openings. I wish they were better designed for easy opening and also attached by a small cable or something as mine got lost in the extraction effort.

 

[HyFlyer]

Ope! Bummer about the unplanned off road excursion!

Mazda tells us that the threaded port on the front and rear bumper is to attach hold down eyelets for transport on the ships and is not designed for use in vehicle recovery.

Will it work for recovery? Maybe. Could. Might. Words that convey " don't blame us if your car gets messed up using the eyelets for recovery "

 

[Pitter]

I didn't know that. Odd. How else is the car supposed to be pulled out of a ditch? There are no other attachment points for a tow cable that I can find. Also why are the eye bolts included in the tool kit if not for extraction?

 

[Geluk]

Ope! Bummer about the unplanned off road excursion!

Mazda tells us that the threaded port on the front and rear bumper is to attach hold down eyelets for transport on the ships and is not designed for use in vehicle recovery.

Will it work for recovery? Maybe. Could. Might. Words that convey " don't blame us if your car gets messed up using the eyelets for recovery "

I believe you're wrong; see https://owners-manual.mazda.com/gen...nts/08060200.html?kw=TOW EYELET&hw=TOW EYELET

 

[Pitter]

Only problem with that is at least in my case there was no possibility of pulling my car straight back. The vehicle pulling me out couldn't have been positioned directly behind me instead it was to one side however the eye bolt didn't bend nor the receptacle so far as I can tell.

 

[HyFlyer]

I believe you're wrong; see https://owners-manual.mazda.com/gen/en/cx-5/cx-5_8ft1ee17b/contents/08060200.html?kw=TOW EYELET&hw=TOW EYELET

Must be a USA thing. Our owner's manual instruct not to use it for recovery towing. Ha! Because .... Lawyers . Just like everywhere else in the world the cx5 can tow about double the weight of the USA models.

So we can both be right haha . (I understand Pitter is in Columbia )

 

[N7turbo]

I believe you're wrong; see https://owners-manual.mazda.com/gen/en/cx-5/cx-5_8ft1ee17b/contents/08060200.html?kw=TOW EYELET&hw=TOW EYELET
View attachment 380389

That's old and was removed from the manuals. Here is the current language.

https://www.mazdausa.com/static/manuals/2023/cx-5/contents/08060100.html

 

[Pitter]

That still leaves the question. What do you hook on to to pull the car out of a ditch?

 

[stickerbush]

That still leaves the question. What do you hook on to to pull the car out of a ditch?

You would use a soft towing strap attached to the chassis underneath the car.

 

[Pitter]

Very good though in some cases (like mine) it could be very difficult to get a strap under the car.

 

[GFrosty]

That's old and was removed from the manuals. Here is the current language ...

It does, however, beg the question of why that original language was in the earlier models in the first place.

Could have been due to legalize from the Marketing/Legal departments. Could have been simply the recognition by the Engineering group that the original beefing-up in those "hook" areas wasn't (at the time) stout enough to tolerate even lightweight towing. I wouldn't know. Possibly, if someone were concerned enough about a given model's stoutness for being towed via those things, Mazda's customer service might have the correct answer.

Have always admired the beefier bumpers on certain rigs, and the towing-specific points on them. While I suppose I wish all vehicles had that, that the CX-5 doesn't pretty much is inline with its CUV/SUV category designation.

 

[stickerbush]

Very good though in some cases (like mine) it could be very difficult to get a strap under the car.

Yeah...every situation is different.