May be dragging home a RWD Celica. Manual trans. If I dolly tow it, can I just push it onto the dolly and leave the trans in neutral. If I tow it backwards, do I need to rig the steering wheel to keep it straight?
May be dragging home a RWD Celica. Manual trans. If I dolly tow it, can I just push it onto the dolly and leave the trans in neutral. If I tow it backwards, do I need to rig the steering wheel to keep it straight?
glueguy wrote: If I tow it backwards, do I need to rig the steering wheel to keep it straight?
Yes.
EvanB wrote:glueguy wrote: If I tow it backwards, do I need to rig the steering wheel to keep it straight?Yes.
Oh, Yeah. Absolutely. Positively for sure. No question whatsoever.
Signed, The guy who thought the steering was locked in a Volvo 262C once.
Spend the extra money to rent a proper car trailer. I've heard too many horror stories with dollies.
glueguy wrote: May be dragging home a RWD Celica. Manual trans. If I dolly tow it, can I just push it onto the dolly and leave the trans in neutral.
Certainly.
I've pulled with a dolly some.
Toyota truck I pulled with manual trans in neutral.
87 944 I towed backwards with steering locked. The sunroof blew out, but that was the only issue.
60 VW Beetle. Towed in neutral
79 T/A I pulled the driveshaft.
Two ratchet straps will lash the steering wheel nice and tight.
Neutral works for most manual transmissions for quite a number of miles.
The full trailer costs $10 more than the dolly when renting from u-haul.
I towed a 92 Toyota Truck with likely the same transmission as your Celi, on a tow dolly with the front wheels on the dolly, in neutral for 535 miles, no problems except the tie downs coming a bit loose once, but caught it in time. It was behind rental truck #2 of the caravan.
When we towed home my Miata parts car with the dolly, we just put it in neutral and hauled it the ~10 miles to my house.
When we hauled my RX-7 GSL-SE down to FL to Señor Voth, we just pulled it onto the dolly and removed the driveshaft.
From what I've been told, if you're just pulling something around town, most cars will be fine in neutral. For longer distances, I was told it was better to pull the driveshaft. I've never liked the idea of backing something onto the dolly, personally.
I had a to call a third person to try to push the Mustang II up onto the car dolly. Just be carefully that it's lined up before you commit to pushing with all your might or it might fall off like mine. It did take a couple tries, but I got it on and I towed it home in neutral with the rear end hang off. One thing I didnt expect was not being able to back up the dolly with a car on it. It was like trying to shoot pool with a piece of rope, since the wheel pads on the Uhaul dolly had a joint in between it and the axle and the wheels on the car turned and the ball hitch joint....
How far are you towing it? I've done RWD on a dolly but really long trips I would remove the driveshaft. Cheap insurance.
I'm nervous pulling backward. Too many opportunities to fail. That's just me.
Dan
If you tow backwards on a dolly you have to get the steering wheel VERY TIGHT.
Ive only done it once with mine but it was nerve-wracking, LOTS of sway, very unstable.
Manuals can be towed in neutral indefinitely, because they are splash-lubed. Automatics really shouldnt be towed in neutral at all unless you have the engine of the towed car running.. The bushings in an auto are lubricated by fluid pumped through holes on the shafts they ride on from the pump turning. The pump is never turning unless the engine is turning. It does take a while to ruin those bushings, but if you DO ruin them, itll cost you.
My tow dolly only sways when I don't have the car centered.
I had zero sway towing the 944 backwards. This was with a Dodge dually over 100 miles or so. The dolly tracked just fine. I normally would have used a trailer, but the place I pulled this car from barely had room for my truck and there was no way I would have got in there with my truck and car trailer.
Vigo wrote: Manuals can be towed in neutral indefinitely, because they are splash-lubed.
This isn't always true (especially when talking about a RWD trans), and not terribly good blanket advice - it's dependent on the specific manual trans model. A good method for confirming whether it's OK or not is to check out the RV flat-tow reference lists that can be found on various tow-bar manufacturer web sites. Blue Ox is one that comes to mind.
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