Towing with a dolly

Colin · Post by **Colin** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 8:55 am

Or you can just crawl underneath and unbolt your driveshaft, avoiding all the rope shenanigans...

Colin

Post by **DPDISXR4Ti** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:06 am

Colin wrote:Or you can just crawl underneath and unbolt your driveshaft, avoiding all the rope shenanigans...

The only thing is, in some cases the exhaust is in the way, so that's not as quick and easy a task as you might think. That said, I would never tow an XR that far again without unbolting the driveshaft and pulling it the "aero correct" way. My fuel mileage literally halved when I was pulling that thing backwards.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:52 am

Exhaust? Whassat?

MerkXRTurbo · Post by **MerkXRTurbo** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:14 pm

Also, the tranny fluid is likely to drain out unless you have a yolk to plug it.

Post by **anglin** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:26 pm

MerkXRTurbo wrote:Also, the tranny fluid is likely to drain out unless you have a yolk to plug it.

The idea is that you unbolt the driveshaft from the differential, but leave it in the transmission, tying the driveshaft off to the bottom side of the car. No leakage and no spare yoke needed.

Ray · Post by **Ray** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 1:06 pm

Unbolting the driveshaft isn't a bad idea, but the thing is this is a bimonthly event that i might be towing to, and unbolting/ rebolting the driveshaft that often doesn't leave me with thrills.

Post by **John Brennan** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 1:17 pm

Spend a little more mazuma on a trailer vs. the dolly, and do it right the first time.

Ray · Post by **Ray** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:54 am

John, i've got my eyes open. I just happened to stumble across a really good deal on a dolly.

The trailer i want is around $2400 with all the hitches, etc.

The (used, needs work) tow dolly is like 150

vcallaway · Post by **vcallaway** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:53 am

I think I paid around $200 for mine. Much cheaper than a trailer.

I bought one to take the car to the track. So far I've used it for everything BUT that. A trailer would be better, but I'm not sure I can pull the extra weight. I tow with my wifes Jeep Grand Cherokee. It has a 4.0 6 cyl with over 200k miles on it. I'm not really wanting to stress it too much.

KhanTyranitar · Post by **KhanTyranitar** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:30 pm

I towed my Merkur with a dolly. I was going about 80 miles. I unhooked the driveshaft and secured it. That way the transmission was not spinning, so no risk of bearing damage. A full trailer would exceed my tow limitations.

Post by **lowered86** » Mon Aug 27, 2012 3:42 pm

I've towed them on a dolly facing both directions. The first time was an auto parts car that I towed across town. I figured I wasn't going far so I could get away with the rear wheels on the ground and the trans in neutral. I got maybe 2 miles down the road before the driveshaft broke the tail housing off the trans. The trans oil got so hot it was blowing out the filler neck like a smoke stack. Lesson learned on that one. The next time I towed one, I backed it onto the dolly, straightened the front wheels and locked them in place. The only issue I had this time was a lot of front to back movement with the front tires because the control arm bushings were shot. I stopped at WalMart and bought some heavy duty tie straps. I hooked one end to the control arms and the other end somewhere near the back of the car. This method worked fine and I made the 4 hour trip back home without issue. The last time I towed one, it was another auto and I had a 12 hour drive so I decided to pull it onto the dolly facing forward and I disconnected the driveshaft and tied it up under the car. I made the 12 hour trip home without issue. After towing them facing both directions, I prefer forward facing with the driveshaft disconnected.

Dan

The Merkur Club of America Forums

Towing with a dolly

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