Saw something curious on the freeway
 

Was just driving on the freeway and I noticed a constant cloud of dust coming from the next lane up ahead. Usually it is someone burning thru all their oil in their crankcase but this was a light brown dusty smoke. Coming up on it, I see a big old 4 dr Mercedes being towed by a smallish tow truck. I recently was broken down and when the tow truck came, it was either flatbed or for a short tow, raise the drive wheels, tie down the steering wheel straight and go. This Mercedes was being towed front wheels up and as I passed, I could see why. The right front tire was shredded and spinning lazily and occasionally touched the ground because the car was barely raised by the tow truck. And the dusty smoke was coming out of the tailpipe!

Was this car being accidentally towed in gear? Yikes!

I hope the tow truck driver took the driveshaft off or that tranny will be shot.

Yep, doesn't even matter if its in gear or not, if its in neutral and the tires are spinning fast enough it'll burn up the transmission fluid and consequently ruin the transmission. If these cars have to be towed with the rear wheels on the ground for more than say, a mile, better remove the driveshaft. If the engine is running and its in neutral it is okay since it would spin the front pump but that's not very practical...