I Have a 62 Corvair with a 4 speed manual trans. Should I tow it with rear wheels on ground and front wheels on dolly or front wheels on ground? Any issues with manual trans? I know driving it is the best not this trip. Any info will help a lot. Thanks Bill
You can tow it around the world with the rear wheels on the ground and not hurt the manual transaxle.
Don't tow it with the front wheels on the ground. You don't want those wheels steering around when you least expect it or want them to. Take my word for that... Just don't ask me how I know.
Minnesota to Symco 6 hour drive. Do tell, cuz I could use some humor,thrashing on motorhome,not going smooth. Thanks Bill
Let's just say I had a parts car that I towed from the rear with the front wheels on the ground. It ended up in the OTHER lane when I rounded a corner. Learned my lesson on that one. Thankfully nobody was in the other lane at that moment.
Thats why they take a rope and tie the steering wheel in place, tow truck drivers do it all the time just open the door and then shut it with the rope in the jam
My mistake was thinking the column lock would work (yes, not a "traditional" car)... It didn't. What a maroon! Not the only dumb arse thing I've been guilty of doing. One day if I live long enough I might actually get smart. If I survive that long. LOL!
What rainhater1 said. We had a camaro delivered from southern Ohio (9hr trip) and that is how it showed up, they even let us keep the rope!
We used to use an old long fan belt , loop it thru the wheel, pull it up tight, slam the door on it, always worked. dave
Use a length of rope looped around the steering wheel spoke nearest the driver door when the tires are completely straight. Pull the rope tight, shut the door on it and knot it so it cant pull back through. I would also take the factory lap belt (if it has one) and run it around the bottom of the steering wheel as many times as possible while still being able to buckle it. Let me know if this doesnt make sense and I'll get a photo posted for you. Muttley - former tow truck driver
I've towed many semis many thousand miles using the seatbelt method. Works great! Only bad experience I had with a car dolly was trying to pull my newly purchased 89 mustang 5.0 home from Virginia beach to Michigan. Loaded it up ass end first, and the first time I breached fifty miles per hour, I felt like I had a tiger by the tail, in all three lanes at once. This was because the majority of the weight was at the end of the "train" of multiple pivot points, giving it that crack the whip effect. I have towed other vehicles with the rear end on the dolly without problem, but they were SUVs and other vehicles with a closer weight distribution. None of this really relates to you because your engine is in the back half anyways! I would load it up in reverse and take it for a test spin before you leave on the trip and see how comfortable you are with it.
I get stuff that wants to accordian at speed towed flat the right way to, I can't imagine towing something front wheels facing back. It seems to me you want the front wheels to be able to turn some on the dolly when you go around corners, as long as it's not going to whang the car on the dolly fenders.
your right. i was thinking using a wrecker. problem with towing the corvair, the ass end overhangs the rear axle quite a bit, and is low. putting the front wheels up on the dolly would put it close to the ground. this car might be better off towing it with a tow bar.
A guy I know used to tow a VW bug behind a motor home with a tow bar. Well he forgot to take it out of 1st gear after doing the hitch. About 30 miles down the interstate at 75 mph in 1st gear that little bug motor was just dust. About every part in the thing was broken and had no oil from rods knocking big holes in the block.
A couple years ago a picture was circulating of a ford sport trac behind a motor home and the owner left it in park and forgot to put the transfer case in neutral. Drug it through the tires, wheels, and half way through the differential. Oops lol
I'd be real careful about towing it with the rear tires on the ground, 1st, most standard transmissions don't lend themselves to flat towing, in most, the mainshaft is above the oil level, the engine needs to turn the input and countershaft to throw oil to lube upper bearings. 2nd, somebody mentioned VW, the VW is a totally different design spinning ring gear throws oil as it's towed, VW is one case full of oil / covair as I remember is a trans case and a differential case bolted together, separate oil and gear sets 3rd, Car Dollies are designed to have weight on them, without the engine/trans weight it might be real squirrely.... In mho I'd use a transporter or a flat car trailer, and yes I learned all this the hard way.
U-Haul rents out car carriers for a good price. $65 is worth the piece of mind. When dragging a car, there's always the possibility that you'll blow a tire, seize a wheel bearing or some other random event that could be prevented by having the whole car on a trailer. Especially when dealing with the most dangerous car ever built.
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