Learn me: tow dollies + rwd

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heymagic

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fiasco
I think certain RWD manual gearboxes also don't like getting towed on the ground for long distances...I think the T5 is one of them, but that's going off some post I kinda remember reading a million years ago on a Merkur board.

I think that is primarily an old wives tale. Plenty of S-10s and Blazers being towed hundreds of thousands of miles cross country behind motorhomes. If the gear lube is at the correct level there is nothing going on being driven under power than being towed.

Yeah, what do you think happens when you drive the car?

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Doivi Clarkinen

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heymagic

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fiasco
I think certain RWD manual gearboxes also don't like getting towed on the ground for long distances...I think the T5 is one of them, but that's going off some post I kinda remember reading a million years ago on a Merkur board.

I think that is primarily an old wives tale. Plenty of S-10s and Blazers being towed hundreds of thousands of miles cross country behind motorhomes. If the gear lube is at the correct level there is nothing going on being driven under power than being towed.

Yeah, what do you think happens when you drive the car?

Gears are selected and the bottom gear slings oil all around and that lubes the bearings on the input/output shaft which is above the oil level and which will be turning all the way up to clutch input shaft....

But what do I know.

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
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john vanlandingham

Gears are selected and the bottom gear slings oil all around and that lubes the bearings on the input/output shaft which is above the oil level and which will be turning all the way up to clutch input shaft....

But what do I know.

And none of that is turning when the input shaft's not turning.

I saw in an owner's manual (probably a Mazda) that it's okay to flat tow for up to 100mi without pulling the driveshaft. I always wondered if it'd be okay to just start the engine and idle it while towing the car.

More freaky, GM says it's perfectly acceptable to flat-tow an automatic, but you should start the engine every two or three hours to normalize the fluid level.

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Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing)
1978
Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.

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Pete

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john vanlandingham

Gears are selected and the bottom gear slings oil all around and that lubes the bearings on the input/output shaft which is above the oil level and which will be turning all the way up to clutch input shaft....

But what do I know.

And none of that is turning when the input shaft's not turning.

I think that's what John was getting at...

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SteveL
This is the point in the killing spree when you really should turn the gun on yourself

It all depends on how far you are towing it and what it is. For most stick tranys just toss it into neutrel and go. No speed restictions usually. For automatics Gene is right, you can safely get away with under 35 on most cars. Never tow a fwd auto car backwards...does really nasty things. I would go ahead and pull the driveshaft to be safe if over 50 miles and you want to do over 55mph. It only takes a couple of minutes and you can strap the driveshaft up under the car with a rachett strap so you don't lose any fluids. I do this for a living on semi's and box trucks, 30-40ft RV's, etc. You can tow it backwards with the steering wheel strapped and locked in place. But I wouldn't recommend it for most cars and highway use.

You can drag a GM for under 100 miles under 55mph last I read. Never wanted to try it though. Only cars you can drag with the drive wheels on the ground are Saturns, Honda and some Chevy's but I wouldn't risk having to buy the tranny. Oh yeah, put some street tires on it too for the ride there and back might not be a bad idea. Hate to lose a rally tire to pavement.

Brent Dacres

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Brent Dacres
Cincinnati,Oh