What's anyone know about flat towing? I've done a search and come up with some info, but most is about towing a Model A behind a truck or whatever. I see RVs all over flat-towing all sorts of shit. I've got a '51 Ford in Wisconsin that I need to get to Toronto and I can't afford to rent a truck and a trailer to haul it. Nor can I afford to hire someone to haul it for me (gas prices have kicked the shit out of the "buck-a-mile" rule of thumb). It's about 600 miles one way. My '05 Magnum RT (HEMI! and factory installed towing package) is rated to haul about 4000lbs, the shoebox is 3700 on it's own, so forget about hauling it with a 1500lb trailer. U-haul won't rent me a tow dolly unless I have a large truck... and I don't have a large truck or I wouldn't be having this problem. Issues with flat-towing are: transmission overheating (disconnect the driveshaft), and backing up (um... don't back up). Anything else? What about steering? I'm getting conflicting info about whether to tie the steering down or let it spin free. I always thought the towed vehicle steering needed to track the tow vehicle, but I really don't have a handle on how this works. Tires on both vehicles are in good shape and I'd make sure the brakes on the Magnum are healthy. What am I missing?
flat towng can result in a very long trip if the car has been sitting for any length of time. tire blowouts,wheel bearing failures.... a couple of bungee cords from the steering wheel to a door handle work great as you have to have somethng to keep wheel centered. i would use a car dolly like the one for fwd cars.
I flat towed my Ranchero to the races for years with out a problem. Just take out the drive shaft and go. I has a light bar I made for the rear. You can tie off the steering wheel if it want to flop around. I prefer a 6ft. tow bar. You can back up a little if you're good
I can tell you many scary stories of the things that can happen when using any tow bar for more than a short tow. It took years to convince me, but I will use a trailer and not use a tow bar again. I have had towed cars that seem to be well behaved try to take over the control from the tow car. I have seen tow-bar cars twitching and pulling back and forth behind RVs without the driver knowing that his car will be soon be working the mounts loose and taking off into innocent traffic. Some of my friends swear by tow dollies, but I havent used them, so I have no opinion there. I like trailers. They are safe and predictable. If you make a mistake in how you load it or something else, you have plenty of notice and plenty of opportunity to correct it without bad things happening.
That's a good question. Any ideas how I find out? Tires on the '51 are brand new and I just repacked the wheel bearings a month ago. The steering is bugging me.
We flat towed our bracket racer for many years, always with the driveshaft unhooked. We never needed to tie off the steering, it tracked well enough to tow very well with our long 5 foot tow bar. A light bar for the rear is alot easier than trying to tie-in the vehicle lights. We towed that thing from Pomona all the way to Simi Valley one time after grenading the differential....the axles still turned free so we figured, what the hell....can't hardly hurt anything more at this point. We always towed with a 3/4 ton Suburban so stopping it wasn't that much of an issue.
I like trailers too, I'm a big fan of trailers actually. Unfortunately I don't have one, and can't afford to rent one along with a truck large enough to haul it. I'm not a big fan of tow dollies. My father has one that's not beefy enough to haul the Ford. I used it to haul my other shoebox a short distance and it was not happy.
Growing up, my dad flat towed many, many times. I have flat towed without a problem. If it were me, I would go for it. Last year I picked up an old universal tow bar that attaches to any car with a real bumper that I will use if I ever need to tow my Ranchero. Mike
Well I know certain stats say Dollies are illegal for towing,,think the reasoning is none of the wheels of any unregistered/uninsured vechile can be on teh road surface .,,or something like that.. Just call the State Police and they can tell you
Definitely disconnect the drive shaft. Hoboy56 blew the hell out of the case on his 700r4 in his S10 converted 51 Chevy truck. Regular melt down. He did tow it all the way from Detroit-ish to Iowa and back to Chicago before he had the problem. Tall shifter may have knocked it into gear or something but it got so hot it roasted the case. He didn't seem to have any issues with the tow but he was using an F150.
Don't do it. Too far. Too dangerous. If the car has been sitting for any length of time, you are asking for trouble.
Another no for the flat towing of a car that's been sitting. Yes we all flat towed eons ago, but it wasn't for the distance you're talking about and the cars weren't as old as that. Hell the last time I flat towed anything your 51 would be the same age as a 1909 was then! Consider what it will cost you, gas, food, motel, time off work and possible break down extending the trip and expenses. Then ask yourself. Is the rental of a truck and trailer or hiring someone to haul it really that much?
I remember pulling the head off of a Chevy Luv once that was flat towed behind a moving van. Only thing we can figure is that the little Luv was left in 1st gear, and was turning in excess of 8000 rpm. Have no idea how the little bastard held together, but had a helllacious ridge on the cylinder walls, a smoked clutch, pressure plate, and transmission, as well as toasted the block beyond repair. My dad bought it, and added a 350/350 in it and made it a helluva toy! I've ran into the issue with Uhaul before and their dollies. I know it's not right, and I'll probably take some flaming for it, but have a buddy rent the dolly for you then you drag it down there to get your car.
That might be an option. I can't drive it across the border, but I can get it close. I was thinking about just getting the Ford set up for towing, then only towing it if needed. Options, options...
After Manufacturing many custom trailers for 20 yrs. & fabing many tow bars too, I would recommend using a trailer with tandem axles, rated 5200lbs each axle, hyd.brakes on both axles, with Hyd.surge Actuator, 2/5/16 ball. Using a tow bar, check the rating before buying, make sure the coupler is rated for weight of towed vehicle, tow bar should always be used in conjunction with adequet safety chains (2) at least 3/8 links,------Like everyone is telling you, DON'T BACK UP more than 18 inches!!-----Remove driveshaft.---------Don
All I can say is that most of the wildest car stories all center around flat-towing. Best to start with a great sense of humor and lots of extra time.
In 72 I towed my 31 A from St.Paul, MN to Oceanside, CA behind my 70 1/2 Z28 with no problems. The A had been sitting since 62 when I went in the Army and I wanted to take it back where I lived at the time. It was at my parents house in one of two garages, and they were making noises about selling the house etc. They did not sell the house for another 15 yrs and soon as my car was gone it was replaced by relatives duck boats, half done Baja bug, bikes and just plain junk. This was my first car purchased in 57 and the last incarnation before leaving for the Army was a 335 in Olds with hydro and 51 Olds rear. I removed the motor and tranny drive shaft of course and built a simple tow bar from square tubing. I tried to pull it but the front wheel would just flop over when trying to make a turn. I had split the radius rods way back when and installed a dropped axle and it always worked great. Now without that big heavy Olds/hydro in it the caster was neutral causing the wheel flop problem. I made some simple drops for the radius rods to get them lower and that solved the problem. I replaced the front tires with some cheap used ones from a tire store, and left the 8.20 15 WW's on the back. I cleaned and repacked the front wheel bearings, made sure the rear had a liberal amount of 90W. I filled the car with as many spare parts I could get in it and we were set to go. I didn't have to tie the wheel, the caster in the front kept it tracking fine. My then 8 year old son and I made it back with no problems. I think we took 4 days and 3 nights, and I checked the front and rear bearings each morning be fore we set off by lifting the front and rear with a small jack and rotating the wheels. Oh yeah I still have the car today.
In 1985 I have to get my '67 sunbeam alpine and a '55 chevy wagon from Pensacola, FL to Orange County, CA. Flat towed the sunbeam behind the Chevy. The I6 had no problems, just slowed down a bit as we climbed Monarch pass in Colorado. Otherwise, it worked perfectly. No issues. Steering tracked well with out tying down. Had to back up a couple of times. Not more than 1 car length. Just watch what you're doing and stop if things start going wrong. Used a 5' tow bar, hooked to tabs that were welded to the frame of the Sunbeam, and disconnected the driveshaft. Tow bar was used to get my '55 Studebaker PU home, too. Still have that tow bar incase it's needed again. Though the Sunbeam and Chevy have been gone a long while. Sounds like you've done things right. Just be sure to keep an eye on it. Check all connections at each gas stop. What provisions have you made for the lights? Can the truck brake lights be seen around the car? Doubt it. Might want to put a light bar on. Also, I'm assuming that both cars are licensed, and up to date. If not, trailer is the answer. As long as both cars are licensed, there should be no legal issues. Don't know about Canada, though. I agree with the croud that a trailer would be best. But sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do. Good luck.
Like BobF says, caster is what's gonna keep it behind you. Old cars normally have caster. New Front drive mcpherson strut stuff often has real crappy front end geometry, that's why you see the new stuff jumping around behind a motorhome (enginehome?). Start out without tying the wheel, if it don't behave right, strap the wheel to the door post. try not to turn real sharp. Frank
I don't get the 'Don't Back Up' part. Why is that? The steering on the car turning? Sorry for the ignorance. I pull with a trailer typically and only a tow dolly once about 18 years ago.
just a little tid-bit but monday and today, i got up at 6 am, me and my dad borrowed my grandpas pickup, got about a 8 foot chain, tied it to the hitch on the truck, tied the other end of the chain to the frame of my 58 ford fairlane. dad drove the truck, i drove the 58. i had about 5 feet of stopping room between me and the truck. and i had to be the brakes for the truck to... not fun stuff, pretty scary, but it was fun this has nothing to do with your question im sure but just thought i'd share my lil adventure since we're talkin about towing
I've flat towed cars literally thousands of miles over the years using a big old U-haul style clamp-on-the-bumper towbar. Everything from 3/4 ton 4x4 pickups to a little freebie Dodge Omni going to the junkyard. I flat towed a '51 Chevy that hadn't been inspected since 1971 in 2005, a junkyard Hudson that hadn't been registered since 1996 in 2006, and last year another Hudson that had been in storage since 1963. Those last two both went well over 100 miles - no problems. I even towed two different Suburbans behind my Suburban that both weighed more than the tow vehicle. I've never tied off a steering wheel, either - sometimes to get them to make a sharp slow turn you have to crank the wheel manually yourself, but most of the time the wheels follow the direction the vehicle is being pulled with no issues. As long as the car in question rolls freely, has good grease in the bearings, and has some decent tires on it, and the driver has some common sense - you should be fine. Common sense meaning don't try to set land speed records, plan to need more room to stop, go slowly at first and get a feel for how the rig's going to handle, and so on. I find most cars there is a speed beyond which they want to start to sway - usually in the 45 MPH and up range. It can be different for every car, some I've been able to go right along with at 65, others I get to 50 and it wants to head for the ditch, so I let off the gas and let it roll out of the sway. Once you know where that is, stay below that speed, avoid routes with heavy traffic whenever possible, and stop every 50 miles or so to check the connections and look for problems. Manual trans cars, just slip it in neutral. Auto trans cars, you can leave it in neutral up to around 100 miles, more than that you either need to start the engine and circulate the trans fluid every so often, or unbolt the driveshaft. 50's auto trans cars with a rear pump I'd unbolt, you could probably leave them in neutral too, but it will be less rolling resistance if you're not driving that pump all the way. Don't forget to run some tow lights. You can get a cheap set at Harbor Freight for like $25 that work well. Even though they have magnets, get some cheap wire and wrap around them and run it to a trunk hinge or something. Personally, I will sooner tow a car flat than use a trailer - it's less wear and tear on my truck. And like I said we've never had a problem with the towing itself. I had one car get a flat once about a mile from where I had to go, and I had a tow vehicle blow out a brake line on me (discovered it as I started to pull away from a stop, 1/2 ton pickup pulling an S10), but that's it. And I've used all kinds of tow vehicles, from an '84 Buick with a clamp-on Uhaul hitch stuck on, to a 1/2 ton pickup with a ball on the step bumper, to my current Suburban with a class III welded on the back. The 3/4 ton Suburban I towed wanted to push me all around on curves, I had to go slow with that bastard until I got to the main road. Another one I towed I had to stop and take a caliper off, the brake was stuck on - in retrospect probably all I had to do was cut the brake hose off at the caliper, I'm sure it had collapsed inside. But something like a shoebox should tow like it's hardly even there, the Hudsons and '50 Chevy were some of the easiest cars to pull along I'd ever grabbed (it was one of those Hudsons I was tooling down the Thruway at 65 with). I even used this towbar to help a guy get rid of a '94 Saturn, the bottom chains doing all the work, the top chain used to hang the bar off the radiator support. It dug the paint up on it, but if I hadn't had someone willing to pay $200 for the car, it would have gone to the junkyard. Backing up has never been an issue. It's like backing up with a trailer. Here again sometimes you have to crank the towed vehicle's steering around yourself to help get it to go where you want - but it's not often you're backing up in a situation where there's not time to do that, is there? One more thing... in New York it must be legal, I've been passed by plenty of police with a car on the back and never had an issue. I had one Thruway clerk give me cards for both cars, but usually they give me one for towing a two-axle trailer. Other states may vary -
Pulled a '50 Olds wagon 980 miles non stop from Vallejo to Idaho using a '57 Dodge Coronet & a U-Haul tow bar. My special equipment consisted of a 12" "IN TOW" sign in the back window of the Olds and a clamp on bumper hitch. I was 21 & had no regret other than I should have towed the Dodge with the Olds.
I have backed up a few cars with a tow bar. Sometimes if you are slow and careful, and the car cooperates, you can do it. Sometimes you can do it around easy turns (backing into a driveway) if you have a helper that will dare to walk alongside the towed car and turn the steering as you back up very slowly. It doesn't take much to make you look like the Keystone Cops, or the Stooges, so you probably don't want an audience when you try it. With some cars, if you get even a little bit off the straight and narrow, the front wheels will push themselves off to one side or the other and you will have squealing tires that you are pushing sideways, and are trying to keep you from moving. It doesn't take much to make the second car suddenly yank the wheels to one side or the other. On other cars that can also happen when you are going forward and you turn gently or sharply into a gas station lot. Sometimes an uneven drainage "dip" can force the towed cars front wheels to suddenly turn sharply and leave you stuck halfway in traffic. You will haveto get out of your car, walk back to the towed car, turn the wheel straight, pull forward a few feet only to find that the wheels turned sharply again. Of course all the traffic you are blocking will be honking by now. You say a quick prayer of thanks that the lane next to you, that you were pushed into, was empty at the time... Sometimes I have had to take long sweeping turns very slowly or the car could, by surprise, push my back end way out into another lane as if I was fishtailing. Sometimes it could recover, and sometimes it required that walk back to the 2nd car steering wheel again. Some people have suggested using a cord to tie the steering wheel of the second car, often it helps, but that can also have its own new hazards of a different sort. Other times seem to go quite well on a long trip, then a surprise when you are almost home. I have had quite a few successful tow-bar trips. Most trips went pretty well.. even in winter on ice and snow, but I have learned not to count on it... I was almost relieved when my sister borrowed my tow bar to go to Arizona then announced that it was stolen in Phoenix right after she arrived.
Agreed ... my father told a "wild story" of when my parents & I moved from Minnesota to Fremont, California ... flat-towing the "Hemi32" Coupe behind their daily driver: Mom & Dad's 1959 Plymouth Sports Fury Convert I was only a baby at the time, so I can't attest to the validity of the story ... but he said that we were driving into the city of Fremont, Nebraska when the trailer hitch broke ... and that the road was curved with a slight down grade ... the Fury followed the curve ... but the Coupe went straight ... and plowed into a brand-spanking new Cadillac parked at a Gas station. The Caddy was pretty much totaled ... luckily, nothing much happened to the Coupe (the tow bar acted as a battering ram ) ... but we always cringed at the thought of "what if " the Coupe had run into the gas pump instead of the Caddy? . I'm not a big fan of trailers (Hot Rods are for driving) ... but my vote would be NO on flat towing ... though it does make for a cool picture: Hemi32 flat-towed to the 1958 NHRA Nats in OK City ... and I will concede that there are occasions when it's okay to put a Hot Rod on a trailer: Axle broke en route to the '74 NSRA Nats in St. Paul, MN ... you can see more pics of the "wreck" by clicking HERE.
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