i am looking at options to take my mav around and need some advice. i know a car trailer is the best way to go but i am on a limited budget and VERY limited parking area. i was concidering a tow dolly but have heard some bad things about using them. on the other hand i see car being pulled on them behind r.v.'s all the time. what damage (besides wear and tear) can using a dolly cause? it seems like if the car was in neutral there would be no damage. please correct me if i am wrong. any experiences with using this equipment?
You would have to pull the driveshaft on an automatic tranny car. Oh.......and plug the tranny so it doesn't leak.
i have heard about pulling the driveshaft but my question is WHY. what damage does it do to the tranny since it is in neutral. i was told if you pull with the front wheels on the ground you have to tie the steering wheel or it will wander over the road. is this true?
Many of our cars have locking steering wheels. I don't think it would swim too much if you locked it straight up and down...
You have to tow a car on a dolly with the front wheels on the dolly and the steering unlocked, Otherwise it wont steer correctly. I know almost nothing about automatics but I seem to remember in the 60's the transmissions had what we called a rear pump and you could actually jump start an automatic once you got it up to about 40 mph. I know that much because we did it more than once. I dont think a C4 has this pump so I'm not sure why the drive shaft would have to be removed.
i have been told that flat towing an auto trans car will generate heat in the trans & without the pump being turned by the engine to pump thru the cooler, there will be heat damage. dont know it for a fact. i do know that every manufacturer says dont flat tow an automatic very far or very fast. according to some dolly makers, you can tow from the rear. others say no. probably just a liability issue. never trust the ign lock for towing from rear. always tie the wheel off, too. i learned this long ago when i did towing. the lock can break loose.
I see tow trucks pulling cars all the time with the front wheels down... Just throwing that out there...
i dont know , i just came up with that in my mind all i can see is a car going side ways beside the truck thats pulling it
Seen it happen once.... Very ugly situation on the freeway one morning heading to work. This individual was towing a chev beretta behind a 1/2ton-ish van and the car started to fish tail a bit. He picked up speed (i'm guessing) to straighten the thing out but it got waaaay worse. He was using a dollie with the rear tires attached. Car got around him and it was all over but the crying. Man I remember that like it was yesterday. Very ugly mess.
My next door neighbor who tows for a living My next door neighbor who tows for a living told me you can tow from the rear and be sure to leave the car in park and tie down the steering wheel. He said you can even use the seat belt to tie it down. If you tow from the front you have to disconnct the drive shaft. jamescomet
Borrow a trailer from a friend or someone you know. Heck, get them to tow it for you. Do them a favor in return.
if the rear wheels are turning, the driveshaft is turning also. which, in turn, turns the rear pump in the tranny with no fluid circulating. this will damage the tranny. i believe there are some newer cars that are towable, but you have to check tha mfr. recommendations. i don't believe the maverick qualifies to be 'toad' that way.
There are 2 types of tow dollies. The cheapest is a fixed bed where as the axle and bed are one unit. You have to tow with the front wheels on and the steering unlocked. Think about this, if you took a piece of plywood, put an fixed axle at each end, attached a handle, then tried to pull it around a turn, how hard do you think it would be? Yea, it could be done but lots of strain on tires and the rig itself. The second tow dolly has the bed pivoting on the axle. Those kind can tow with the rear wheels on the dolly because the dolly itself provides the steering. THat would be the kind to get. Then you dont have to worry about the drive shaft
