VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions HOW FAR CAN A CAR TOWED ON A DOLLY

Does any one know of any negatives about towing a car on a tow dolly? I wen to a lot of expense to get me a top-of-the-line Kar Kaddy (the heavy duty one with the chrome wheels and folding tongue) but now have reservations on using it for long distance.

I was thinking that if you just put the car in neutral and with the rear wheels on the ground you could tow that sucker anywhere. No limit. I am now thinking that the U-Joint and the bushings in the torque tube, and the bearings in the transmission may suffer if towed too far. Trouble is I'm not really sure how any damage can occur.

Anyone have any experience towing a straight drive vehicle with the rear wheels turning and not splitting the U-Joint or removing the drive shaft, etc.

Any thing to worry about?

Charlie

A lot of us in the west have used a car dolly since many of us could not afford trailers.
Be aware that front wheel drive cars with radial tires are the intended use of car dollys, and that is not what you are doing when towing a Chevrolet of the 50s or earlier.
There are three main issues to be aware of:
1) tires. a) A dolly usually comes with radial tires. If you tow a car with bias ply tires you can have control problems due to how the different types of tires track the road. b) The dolly tires must be able to handle the weight of the dolly and the front of the car. A dolly weights about 1,000 pounds. a 1950 Chevrolet sedan might weigh 3,500 pounds ready to drive. Your dolly tires must have a weight rating higher than 1,375 pounds (3500/2 + 1000)/2 = 1375. Ask me how I know about these issues...
2) Transmission and Drive line lubrication. In normal operation a 40s - 50s Chevrolet will be, on average, going both uphill an down hill an equal amount. The amount of time going exclusively up or down will probably not be more than 10 miles. When being towed on a dolly your car will be at a constant uphill angle for hundreds or thousands of miles. From my experience and those of others, 500 miles each way to a meet is certainly not a problem, assuming you made sure the transmission and rear end lubricant levels were topped off prior to the trip. Note that your odometer will be recording mileage, and your speedometer will be working, not that you can see it, while you are towing on a dolly. For trips longer than 500 miles I would recommend either renting an open trailer or do as I did going to Flint, MI from Denver, CO and disconnect the u joint after loading the car on the dolly, and after getting to your destination, reconnect it and add lubricant. That is a lot of messy, hot work, done 4 times on the trip. If I were doing a trip like that again, I would certainly spend the $400 my local independent trailer dealer wanted for me to rent an open trailer for 14 days.
Another possible issue is that, due to jostling during towing, your transmission might slip into gear and be turning the engine over with raw gas going into the cylinders. To prevent that I made up a clamp of plywood, carriage bolts and wing nuts to lock the transmission shift arms on the steering column so the transmission could not go into gear.
3) Locking the steering mechanism. You have to do this. The cheap easy way is to wrap the driver's seat belt through the steering wheel and tighten it. A better way is to cut some plywood and use carriage bolts and wing nuts to clamp the steering wheel against the front seat cushions to prevent rotation.
In summary, a car dolly is an inexpensive but viable way to get a collector car to/from a meet or tour, but you have to be careful.

Can't speak for a tow dolly.In my early drag racing days (50's &60's trailers were scarce))when using a tow bar I always removed the drive shaft.

Jim and Dan,

Thanks for the excellent responses. Good points to consider.

Jim, you went to a great deal of time typing all that experience for us to consider. I, for one, didn't know hardly none of that. I really appreciate you taking the time to share.

Charlie

Back in the'20's and early thirties the new cars were often delivered to the dealer from the factories by one car towing another. This could be for perhapes up to 500 miles or more. As far as the towed car goes there should be no drive train /engine problems as long as the transmission is full of gear oil.

I think what Chev Nut is talking about is called "flat towing". A form of this is to use a tow bar. It eliminates most of the weight of a dolly, as a tow bar usually weighs less than 75 pounds. The steering mechanism of the towed vehicle is not locked so it can caster to follow the tow vehicle when turning.
Both vehicles should have the same type tires.