Car dolly advice

Some AWD vehicles like mine can't be towed very far without damaging the drive train and require a flatbed.

-jsw

"Jim Wilkins" fired this volley in news:mnjike$6qj$1 @dont-email.me:

Jim, some RV-related companies sell VERY expensive "drive train disconnects" you can add to vehicles like that to make them towable.

Lloyd

The procedure for towing it on four wheels behind a motor home requires running the engine and cycling through the gears every 300 miles to spin the transmission oil pump. It assumes the engine can run, there is a safe and legal place to pull over and stop, and the driver will do it.

I have business cards from the local towing companies in both vehicles, just in case. They all use flatbeds exclusively. Rates start around $70, which doesn't justify more than normal maintenance precautions and always carrying my $7-per-month non-smart cell phone.

Speaking of which, I just acquired a NOS MetroPCS LG Optimus for $5. It's unusable as a phone, but I got it to play with Android and local networking. What's a good development system?

-jsw

I can that you're someone of the frugal bent. So, let me recommend PagePlus Cellular. I have their $10/4 mo plan ($30/year) & I never use the 100 minutes I get. It is a Verizon reseller, so the coverage is excellent.

Can't help with the LG Optimus.

Bob

"Jim Wilkins" fired this volley in news:mnjljr$ii1 $ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Nooo... You completely missed the point. These attachments entirely disconnect the wheels from the drive train. Especially on AWD vehicles, they're quite expensive (often multiples of them on one vehicle), but they make virtually _any_ vehicle "dead towable". And they're pretty easy to use for someone not afraid to lie on their back for a few minutes.

LLoyd

To me the plans are WAY more complicated than needed. What's with the "pivot" & "tilt" parts? It pivots and tilts? It doesn't need to do that.

Now, about the question that you didn't ask: "Should I build a car dolly?". No, unless you need a tow more often than once every 5 years. I run old cars and I've needed a tow twice in 30 years.

Bob

Or you can drop the drive lines so only the differentials are spinning. For short runs I've seen tow truck drivers tie off the steering wheel and tow a rear wheel drive automatic with the rear wheels in the air. For a front wheel drive its just dead easy to lift the front and go.

I've got a flatbed trailer and a set of ramps for hauling cars when the need arises. It also doubles for hauling my scissor lift to job sights, and buying a heavy piece of equipment and hauling it home. It will handle my big 4wd pickup just barely, but my tractor is a little heavy for it. It will do in a pinch for slow local hauls though. The 4K Hurco mill came home on that trailer. For that matter the Charter Oak TKCNC mill got hauled from the depot to my house on that trailer too.

Why not buy a rollback and use it for the business? They come in real handy for moving equipment. Need to move a fork truck to a place without a dock, want to move a lathe or mill, They are great for that.

In either case though, you need a way to get the equipment to you.

AAA is a good deal some times.

I don't need an expensive drive line disconnect if all the local companies use flatbeds and it can be towed up to 300 miles behind a friend's pickup.

My point was to suggest that Stryped determine what he really needs.

Thanks!

-jsw

"Jim Wilkins" fired this volley in news:mnk4eh$m26$1 @dont-email.me:

What Stryped needs is to get a grip. For as often as he'd tow, he could hire a wrecker company to do it!

Lloyd

I'm sure that in the long run, its cheaper to lease a car than buy one.

I tried that a few years back - paid the $40.00 /year (five free calls per year) fee out of accumulated surplus. Used their services three times the first year for friends cars, four times the second year; third year I got a hard time every time I called, one call, I spent three hours with my cell in one ear talking to the cellular provider and friends house phone in the other talking to some gal from the deep south working for IIRC "Assurion" passing messages back and forth before I finally got a tow truck to show up. Fourth year I athorized the deduction but was never able to verify coverage so have since dropped the option - they provide great coverag as long as you don't need it.

But you are going to install them just to make it possible to tow your vehicle yourself if and when it breaks down????? Penny wize and pound foolish.

You DO need the pivot. Try towing what basically ammounts to a four wheel trailer with all 4 wheels fixed straight ahead.

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I didn't suggest installing them. I informed him of their availability, because -obviously- he was unaware of them. He even refuted their effectiveness after the first volley, because he has no idea what they are! (well, he may now, since I explained it).

No... one should not buy $3000 worth of 'accessories' just to tow a car when it breaks down. One should either join AAA, or just call a towing company. Both (either) are far less expensive than the RV-towing toys.

Lloyd

stryped wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

A membership in AAA would be a lot less expensive, and much more convenient. For example, what if your car quits on you when you're a hundred miles away from home *and* from your dolly and tow vehicle? AAA is only a phone call away.