Technical Towing with a dolly

Someone told me these old ford banjo rear ends hold up pretty well over time and I was talking to an old timer who's selling a 47 ford parts car. My truck isn't setup to pull a car trailer, so I thought a dolly would be a good option maybe 45-50 mile trip.

 

Rent a trailer or pay a tow truck

Jim

 

I used a dolly to tow a one ton truck once...didn't have any problems.

 

Make sure the gear oil is topped up. You'll be just fine. Put the best 2 tires on the back - you know, the ones you can't see the air through the cracks.

 

If it's an automatic check the manufacturer's tow procedure. If it's a stick pull the driveshaft. A friend dolly towed his new to him 65 Shelby 100+ home and when he arrived the trans was junk. The input shaft stays stationary and the main shaft spins with the drive shaft. Without the cluster spinning no lube got to the needle bearings and the end of the main shaft welded itself into the input shaft and then sheared off. I still use the input shaft as a clutch alignment tool.

 

Leave the dolly at home. They talk too much and complain because you aren’t paying attention to them!

 

Own one and used it for a couple 20 +/- mile trips when I was building my coupe with flathead banjo. Worked fine.
Only problem was when a cop followed me for a while. Vehicle wasn’t registered but I guess was the only one getting “excited” about it.

 

Not this time, probably gonna end up being just me and the ol dog on this voyage

 

Tow it backward with the front steering wheel tied in place.

 

Find a guy with a rollback or a trailer. Old wheel bearings can sometimes cause problems on both the dolly and the vehicle being towed. It is his equipment, and insurance

 

Never tow backwards with a dolly. It will start weaving side to side violently!!! I know from experience.

 

https://www.homedepot.com/c/truck-rentals
https://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/Auto-Transport-Rental/AT/

You mention your truck isn't set up to tow a trailer. Can it handle a dolly? Hitch, lighting and such?
A parts car is fairly low risk except if it causes other damage. My truck insurance covers trailer and contents when towing, I checked.

Some will say a chain is fine for 40 miles flat towing. Others will say you gotta do it right or hire a pro. It's your time, money and risk along with local conditions that will push that decision.

 

If you can pull a dolly with your truck; you should be able to pull a U-Haul trailer when you pick up the '47 Ford; oops, meant "Honda Civic".

 

Tow Truck Tom says best bet yet.

Sorry problem here, was the wheel was not secured.
Done many backward tows by tying the steeringwheel.
Always carried an old fanbelt or two.
By looping the belt to the strg wheel rim, At the level of the door hinge
How to:
If the belt is cut, just make a loop and put the ends through.
If the belt is still whole, just loop it pull tight, using a tight fist.
Standing outside the door pull the ends tight down toward the hinge.
With other hand while keeping a tight fisted grip pulling the belt,
shove ( slam ) the door hard to latch it close.
Leaving the window open allows you to verify that the wheel is secure.
Many Many Times

 

It's not really a lot of money to rent a U-Haul trailer and a vehicle to tow it with.

 

Ask some rv’ers flat or dolly towing a car. Backing up is pretty much impossible.

 

I dolly tow behind a motorhome often. Of course it’s a front wheel drive car so no worries about differential or transmission. A quality dolly is easy and safe to use. However being a parts car you really need to know the condition of rear wheel bearings, differential and transmission. At a minimum I’d pull the driveshaft jack car up and insure rear wheels turn freely. A seized bearing or differential will not only ruin your day but possibly those driving around you. Unless your willing to do some investigating I’d hire someone with a trailer or a rollback wrecker and consider it money well spent.

 

True that,,, lives have been lost due to melted bearings
Ask @atch

 

I use a ratchet strap to secure the steering wheel when using a dolly.

 

Isn’t the ‘47 closed drive?

 

Ol

old fords should lock the steering wheel

 

I have towed many, many miles with a dolly behind my motorhome. Of course it was a small front wheel drive car. On a 47 Ford, there is no problem with the rear axle as long as it has lube. The problem is the transmission if it has one. On a standard transmission the countershaft gear is the lube pump. It throws lube all over the inside. When you tow, only the output shaft of the transmission spins and that does not spin the countershaft gear. No lube and you burn up the needle bearings between the input and output shafts.

 

Didn't think of that. U-Haul kind of ****s just for the reason that it won't let me rent a trailer because I drive an explorer. Every other place in town rents the bigger trailers and I have a cl*** II hitch, no electric brakes control.

 

Yep, that's what I've done. A heads up for you, you can't pull their car trailers with one of their pickup trucks. You have to use one of their box trucks. But that gives you lots of room for carrying parts. And it really isn't expensive. And you're all hooked up and ready to roll with good dependable equipment.
Good luck.

 

You are just as likely to burn up a wheel bearing on anything from Uhaul as a wheel bearing on the car itself! Uhaul is by far the worst rental company when it comes to maintenance.

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

Enterprise rents pick up trucks at
some locations that have a 7 way
connector and brake controller
that are intended to tow trailers.

Home Depot rents pick up trucks
and may rent car trailers for local use.

Jim

 

If your truck is not set up to tow a trailer, pulling a tow dolly probably won't work well either.
When using a tow dolly:

The vehicle being towed has 1/2 its weight directly on the street. That means the rear axle, wheel bearings, the drive shaft, and the rear tires on the vehicle being towed have to be up to the task of traveling down the highway the full distance, at the full speed, in traffic, possibly.

The vehicle doing the pulling should weigh more then the vehicle being towed, plus the weight of the dolly. Towing an equal weight or heavier vehicle then the weight of the pull vehicle, is never a good idea.

In most states, a vehicle on a tow dolly is suppose to be licensed (wheels are on the ground). Its possible a ticket could cost more then paying to have it hauled.

If the front tires on the vehicle being towed are not good, or won't hold air for the full time the towing process will take, it will be a major issue securing the vehicle to the tow dolly. The vehicle being towed is usually held onto the tow dolly by securing the front tires to the dolly.

As stated, backing up with a tow dolly is a major undertaking, if it can happen at all.

Loading and unloading a non running vehicle onto a tow dolly can be a challenging experience just by itself.

If you choose to go this way, even though it has been done many times without issues, I still wish you good luck.

 

In the old days before everyone had a rollback, we towed backwards with a regular tow truck with no problem. Late model stuff you wrap the seatbelt around the steering wheel, and old jalopys you wrap a rope around the steering wheel and slam the door on it, then off you go.

 

What @Bill’s Auto Works said.
They were one of our big customers. Unless they’ve changed, the dollys used to be the worst maintained. Loose and or dry wheel bearings, leading to seized bearings on the Highway.
Of course, the customer’s vehicle on the dolly was loaded totally full with more on the roof, so that could be a contributing factor.
They also used bias ply tires on the dollys, but may have upgraded to radials by now.
With no suspension, the tire became the suspension unit, and an under inflated bias tire didn’t stand a chance on a long haul, in the summer. They kept new tires mounted on wheels at their service centers to go out and screw one on.

My son actually had a UHaul dolly wheel bearing seize on the spindle, snapped the spindle stub and put him, his wife and daughters, his Explorer and the towed Honda off the interstate and in to a field.
No injuries, thank God, but a huge vehicle damage claim. Miraculously the vehicles stayed upright, and a fence slowed them down.

Unless you’re towing just across town and going slow, you’re better off finding another method than a dolly. JMHO.