I want to flat tow my 53 Ford with overdrive behind my motorhome. Has anyone ever done this with this transmission? Should I drop my driveshaft or just throw it in neutral and hope for the best?
Pull the drive shaft,or have one of those slip collars that they put in the drive shaft. I have seen those on later model vehicles.I think the RV shops can do that.
One problem with flat towing any distance is that the ring gear pulls the pinion which can create unwanted heat on the assembly. When I flat towed my gasser in the '60s I made up tow hubs that mounted to the axle lugs and with the rear brakes locked would allow the tow wheels to spin freely. I'd advise not to tow any distance even with the driveshaft removed because the rear tires are driving the axle instead of being driven by the driveshaft.
Another thing to consider Passed a guy by 29 Palms in California last week by the side of the road with a wrecker and a really nice (used to be) street rod he was flat towing He had blown out the right front tire on his rod and because his motorhome was so big, he could not tell until he really f*ucked up the front end Trailer it .... Jim
I towed many different late model cars with standard trannys behind our motorhome for years just by putting them into neutral. No problems ever. Legally you need brakes on the car when over a certain weight which varies by state. This in no way means you won't blow your engine, tranny, rear end, or other parts.
trailer or at least tow hubs as desribed above . i used them & had good luck .... *** fogger , i thought i was one of few that had used tow hubs . no money for a trailer !
Article on the Flathead Forum that recommends not to flat tow. The driveshaft spinning the trans output shaft gets no lube unless you overfill the trans and then drain down when you arrive. RB
I,m with the trailer guys. even an open trailer. Yup, the DOT rules are any wheel on the ground need brakes.
That's what I was wondering about... I will drop the driveshaft when I pull it with my motorhome then. Thanks for the input everyone!
You know, it's rather funny that in the 50's and 60's before everyone bought trailers and then enclosed trailers to haul their cars guys flat towed all around the country and never gave it a second thought and that was usually with another car or station wagon rather than a motor home. There were even photos of Grumpy an Dyno Don flat towing their race cars in the early 60's. From having flat towed a bunch I can say one thing about it and that is you can't back up when you have a car on a tow bar without a lot of hassles. A trailer takes care of that issue and is probably the biggest reason guys use trailer now.
Exactly, heck in the 60s I flat towed my 63 max wedge car with a 67 Coronet all over at 75 -80 mph with no problems. Heck we were kids we didn't know any better. Hell my buddies and I used to race to the strip so we could race at the strip.
Yeppers... that's what I intend to do. I am gonna be pulling it with a vintage motorhome and really don't want to use a trailer.
Can somebody take a picture of the tow hubs? I'm too new to this and I'd like to know Thanks -Fernando
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