Tow dolly question

I have to drag two rusty Datsun Z parts cars from my old house to my new house. A friend offered his truck and suggested that I get a tow dolly from UHaul.

My question is, can I simply put the transmissions into neutral and dolly them on their rear wheels or will I have problems? One is a manual, the other is an automatic and I don't care about either gearbox. Normally I would try to unbolt the driveshafts but my air tools and compressor are at the new house while the cars are not and I really don't feel like trying to do it by hand. I'd try the shotgun approach if I thought that it had any chance of working.

Thoughts?

The tow Dolly's are $50+ or so. Can you rent the full trailer for $100+ and not worry?

We saw a Datsun 510 last week on the dolly backwards going across North Dakota last week.

If you can push them up onto a tow dolly, then you can push them up onto a trailer. U-Haul rents those too for not much more than the tow dolly. Borrow a come-along or a winch to pull them up on to the trailer, strap them down and problem solved. Unless the truck you are borrowing isn't big enough to tow a trailer, the U-Haul spots around here won't rent you a trailer unless you have a full-size pickup with a 5000 pound rated hitch.

You should be no problem using a tow dolly with the Z in neutral... I've used them several time to move my Z cars behind the Maxima and my van....

Rear wheels up, strap down the steering, off you go. But yeah, if you're renting anyway I'd just go with the trailer.

Its not good for the output shaft bearings. Under 30 miles it should be ok, over I would unbolt the drive shaft.

The truck is a 2005 Nissan Frontier V6 automatic. I doubt UHaul will rent me a regular trailer. I need to go about 35 miles one way. Backwards on the dolly might work.

Last weekend I put Scooby Doo in neutral and U-haul tow'dollied her 250 miles home to Atlanta.

Agree, they probably won't rent you a trailer for that. Too low a towing capacity. Backwards on a dolly works fine, done it many times myself. Just look at the tires and wheel bearings first. In fact, I'd check them before picking up the dolly.

jimbob_racing wrote: The truck is a 2005 Nissan Frontier V6 automatic. I doubt UHaul will rent me a regular trailer. I need to go about 35 miles one way. Backwards on the dolly might work.

They rented me a trailer to tow a Spitfire with a 4runner. Actully I had to put Midget into the page to get it to accept it.

Go online and try it.

Pulled an S13 backwards for a pretty good distance. I wouldn't suggest it. Pull the shaft out or get a full trailer. Can't get it up on? Get a cheap winch even if its a hand crank.

N Sperlo wrote: Pulled an S13 backwards for a pretty good distance. I wouldn't suggest it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlBDF-Po89M

Pull the shaft out or get a full trailer. Can't get it up on? Get a cheap winch even if its a hand crank.

+1.

If I could do it at 5am on the coldest night of the year in central Wisconsin with a 6' long come-along, you can do it in June.

Dolly towing assumes that the car will roll easily, which it may very well not.

Another issue that may turn up is,many states have laws that say, in effect, anything with wheels touching the ground has to be registered. That includes cars being flat-towed or on dollies.

Knurled wrote: Another issue that may turn up is,many states have laws that say, in effect, anything with wheels touching the ground has to be registered. That includes cars being flat-towed or on dollies.

That is technically true, but almost universally ignored.

I towed a Volvo 240 with a manual over 300 km with the rear wheels on the ground, no issues.

Can't do that with an autotragic though. Backwards or pull the drive shaft.

NGTD wrote: I towed a Volvo 240 with a manual over 300 km with the rear wheels on the ground, no issues. Can't do that with an autotragic though. Backwards or pull the drive shaft.

After we got the rear wheels of my S13 on the ground and pushed it, the transmission locked up.

Manual transmission , no problem. Automatic, depends. No, if you want to keep it.

I towed a 740iL backwards behind a Envoy. It was the most unnerving tow experience I've ever had. I made sure when I towed a Montero behind a Montero I pulled the driveshaft.

m4ff3w wrote: I towed a 740iL backwards behind a Envoy. It was the most unnerving tow experience I've ever had. I made sure when I towed a Montero behind a Montero I pulled the driveshaft.

Did it wiggle?

I loaded backwards once. It starting wiggling on its own. I had to run cars off the road and use both ditches to get it stopped. Ruined a new pair of boxers that day.

In reply to foxtrapper:

IIRC in MI it can be either the dolly or the car being dollied, but doesn't have to be both. again, almost universally ignored. you could sue uhaul if they don't have a tag on the dolly.

I called UHaul and they approve the Frontier for towing a trailer. $55 for the day. The truck is actually a 2009 2wd with a v6 and auto. Seems to have made a difference.

Now I just need to get a winch or come along. Good thing that a Harbor Freight it right down the road from UHaul.

Thanks for all the help!

In reply to jimbob_racing: Just a note, i tried a Harbor Freight come along and it failed miserably, actually pulled the cable anchor out of the spool. Got a good 4000 lb capacity one from Tractor Supply for about $60. Don't know about Harbor Freight winches though, i'd try them before buying a Harbor Freight come along.

Glad to hear UHaul worked out. They have some odd rules on towing with respect to vehicles, engines, etc. that don't always make sense. My 2007 Ford Explorer V8 - they won't rent me ANY trailer. A 2007 Mercury Mountaineer, no problem. My Jeep Grand Cherokee (lower tow rating), no problem. Fall out from Explorer/firestone roll over I guess, although that was 2 generations of Explorers ago.

jimbob_racing wrote: The truck is a 2005 Nissan Frontier V6 automatic. I doubt UHaul will rent me a regular trailer. I need to go about 35 miles one way. Backwards on the dolly might work.

Tell them you are towing a 1987 Ford Festiva. Its in the system and about the lowest weight vehicle you can come by that they may readily have there.

All I used to tell them so they had no other questions.

Gasoline wrote: I loaded backwards once. It starting wiggling on its own. I had to run cars off the road and use both ditches to get it stopped. Ruined a new pair of boxers that day.

It certainly did.