VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 towing

I am going to look at a 1952 styline four door 3-speed today.

I might not have the option of a trailer to bring the car home. If I remember correctly, these cars can be towed with the rear wheels on the ground. Am I correct in this or will I need to drive or tow it home. The car is about 100 miles from here.

Thanks, Pete

My advice is to tow it "flat", all four wheels on the ground. You should be able to rent a "stiff arm" that clamps to the front bumper of the car. As long as the transmission is in neutral, and the hand brake off, you should be fine. A 1952 should track behind your tow vehicle just fine.
You could rent a car dolly, but then you need to tie down the steering wheel so the front wheels don't "flop around".
Good Luck!

Just a suggestion! Before you hit the open road, make sure there is sufficient lube oil in the rear end and transmission. Also, jack up each wheel, with the car in neutral, and give it a spin to make sure there isn't a dragging/stuck brake shoe.

If the car checks out OK, just throw on a proper tow bar, magnetic 12V lights on the rear splash pan that hook into the trailer wiring plug and you're good to go.

Back in 1972 my wife and I towed Brewster's '50 convertible over 200 miles home this way with absolutely no problems.

"Am I correct in this or will I need to drive or tow it home."

I believe those two choices are the only two choices available to you.

Because the input shaft will not be turning, the folks on the Chevy Talk forum are indicating the transmission will not get enough lubrication, while flat towing.

For a 100 mile tow, assuming you check the rear axle and transmission oil levels before starting out, you should have no problem with the transmission having enough lubrication.
The only time I had a problem was at the end of a 1,600+ mile tow with a 1950 on a dolly. The transmission oil might have been low as I had not checked it in 6 months to a year or so. A dolly holds the front up, like you are on a 15% grade continuously. I believe that transmission engineers assume that uphill grades will be averaged out by downhill grades within 50 miles or less, so towing on a dolly "uphill" for over a thousand miles is not what the transmission was designed for. Anyhow, I knew I had a problem when, 60 miles from home, it suddenly became very hard to tow because the transmission gears froze to their shafts and the engine was being forced to turn over.
So, for towing on a dolly for the 2,500+ mile round trip to Flint for the 2011 Meet, I checked oil levels and then disconnected the drive shaft at the u joint before starting each leg of the trip, reconnecting at the destination. That was a pain, as you can imagine. Oh, and the car has bias ply tires, the truck has radials, the dolly has radials, and having experienced the issues that mismatched tires can cause, I switched the rear wheels of the car to a set of radials I had from another car, again at the start and end of each leg of the trip. Those precautions were rewarded with an uneventful trip.
If I had to do the trip to Flint all over again, I would tow the car "flat", or rent a trailer for the 10 days. The trailer would have eliminated all the u joint disconnect/reconnect and the wheel changing. The dolly was loaned to me for free by a fellow club member whereas the trailer rental for an open trailer would have cost me at least $400.
Decisions, decisions!

For the record, I was kind of on that drive too!

Way back when, I owned a '55, which I flat towed, back and forth to drag strips. I did not experience any ill effects.

You were hearing all about the do's and don'ts of towing, BEFORE making your initial appearance, correct ?

Your other options are:

1. disconnect the driveshaft at the transmission. Not hard to do. Then no worries about rear end lock ups

2. rent a trailer from Uhaul. For a 100 mile trip, a one way rental is not too expensive and much easier.

Tie your steering wheel with the front wheels straight. Put the rear wheels on the dolly.

Option 3!! you betcha.