Hi. I plan to tow my GSL-SE on a dolly soon over 600 miles, so the rear wheels will be on the ground the whole ride. I did this once allready with the same car, same distance. Last time though, I did not dissconnect the driveshaft or speedometer. All those miles were put on the car that I towed it, and it has run fine. I have two questions. One, will dissconnecting the speedometer from the transmission for this trip cause me to loose fluid from that plug in the tranny? Second, am I really doing any damage by not dissconnecting my driveshaft? The towing company says I should, and I believe the manual states that also, but my car was fine after I towed it the first time.?!? Help.

 

every car company i know of has stated to tow with the drive wheels off the ground. which of course means $$$$ for awd. the extent of damage i don't know but i imagine that the companies know a little bit about their cars so i heed the advise.

 

well, if you disconnect the speedo cable, it may loose fluid I dont know, but then you run the risk of damage to the tranny and everything. If you just disconnect the driveshaft like they say, you wont have to worry about miles, your tranny, or fluid spilling because you will have drained it all already I would say, just go for the driveline.

~T.J.

 

When I bought my RX in Houston, I towed it up to Dallas(not that many miles) on a dolly but I unhooked the shaft and cut off the input shaft of an old shaft and duct taped it in, then I didnt have to drain the tranny or disconnect the speedo(miles didnt really matter in my case, I gutted the car).

 

As long as the steering wheel still locks straight you could put the fronts on the ground. Then tie the seat belt to the wheel so that if the lock fails the belt will keep it from wandering to far.

 

I would remove the driveshaft and drain the tranny.

 

I'm about to tow my RX-7 from NJ to South Dakota; about 2000 miles on a dolly. All you have to do is remove the shaft that goes from the rear of the tranny to the input of the rear differential. That way the rear wheels will roll and the tranny doesn't spin. If the tranny doesn't spin, the speedometer doesn't spin. So you don't need to remove the speedometer. The Haynes book also says that it can be towed with drive wheels on the ground, but it does mention pulling the shaft to be extra safe.

 

well even with a manual tranny when your sitting at a red light with a good clutch push in the clutch then pull up the little plastic surround around the tranny and below the stereo,

now let the clutch out "while in nutral" and listen

hear that?

thats the clutch engaging
while its not enough to stall out the car or sometimes even notice on the tach depending on the clutch you use its still engaging,

no im not saying ok so your gonna get some clutch wear,

no im saying that its putting stress on the drive shaft and rear end and the clutch while in tow,

simple solution,

my first 1st gen rx7 i blew out the rear end,

then i sold it,

the guy came and picked it up on a dolley

how did he get it home 250 miles away

think about it,

how is your alignment?
steering column still lock?

there you go

we later spoke and he had no problems,

all in all i would disconnect the driveshaft but my steering column doesnt lock,

so its up to you

 

On a car dolley, the front wheels can be off the ground. Disconnecting the tranny-to-rear-diff shaft like I mention earlier will keep the trans, clutch, engine, and all that other stuff from moving. Anything else is overrated.

 

I've towed all kinds of RWD manual trans cars on a dolly with them just in neutral. No way in hell I was going to bother pulling the driveshaft on auction cars .

With the engine off, all you're spining is the diff, driveshaft, and output shaft. No worse than coasting around in neutral.

v8kilr's analogy doesn't apply, as the engine spinning the input shaft via the clutch is what makes the noise in the trans at idle.

 

actually the trans will spin the clutch whil the flywheel stays put,

which = friction and loss of clutch pad life,
which is minor but it is stressing the driveshaft.

and all the stress is going in the opisit direction it normally does,

how many auction cars did you tow 600 miles?

im not flaming just pointing out

 

Did you learn that in rotary elite school?

 

damn felix, are we fiesty? down boy.

i don't see why it wouldn't be easiest to just put the rears on the dolly and call it a day. if you're worried about the steering lock failing, tie the steering wheel to the pedals. off you go. no unbolting. no worrying if everyone is right about no damage. hell, since you ahven't responded here i'd guess its already there and we're all wrastlin' over nothing. BOSTON CRAB!

 

If you're renting the Dolly, (and it's an option,) spend a few bucks more and just get the full trailer so you can have all the wheels off the ground.

I am in Miami, and the nearest 1/4 mile track is in West Palm Beach (about 80 miles away from me). Some guys around me who go regularly just bought their own trailer because they go like once a week. Other guys (like me) will just rent a u-haul trailer for the special weekend events.

It's WAY cheaper than towing it that distance if something should break (and things will break) and it won't put unneccessary miles on a car that is mostly track driven.

With the onset my Project Kramer, I have already been looking for a cheap trailer to restore, to have ready for those events. Besides, I'd rather do the highway miles in my Screw than my 7.

Now if the would finally open that 1/4 mile track in Homestead (10 minutes away)...

 

Hello again. Sorry for not replying sooner, I'm moving and my phone line has been disconnected so the only access to the forum I have for now is through the local library. The move is on Monday. Thanks for your replies. I'm still not positive as to what I will do. 1 problem being, it's just me and my fiance' moving and if I unhook that driveshaft, I'll have to somehow push the car onto the dolly, which is a fairly steep ramp, instead of driving it on. I started this thread hoping that someone had dollied there RWD car in the past, with the driveshaft in place, and it was o.k. (besides me). Felix's comments are reassuring. I think right now I'm leaning towards keeping the driveshaft connected like i did when I moved it out here, but maybe unhooking the spedo cable from behind the dash, sort of a PITA, but better then losing my tranny fluid. I've driven the car 11k miles since I last had it on the dolly and about the only thing I haven't had a problem with is the rear end Thinking back, I could of avoided this whole thing by renting a full trailer instead of the dolly! but it's too late for that now. One more downside to the dolly....You can't go in reverse. Making the trip a little more interesting, especially during gas stops.

 

All my issues have been resolved. I got the car carrier instead of the dolly, only because they didn't have any dolly's so they gave me the carrier. What luck. Thanks again.

 

Well, sorted. But there is nothing wrong with driving the car onto a dolley and THEN taking the drive shaft out. But its good you got a carrier.

 

well being a 1st gen FrEaK i have towed afew. and having a dolly helps too well for a short 20-30 mile tow i slap the front end on the dolly and go for a longer tow i put the *** on the dolly and GO GO GO...just make sure the wheel is locked in the straight position

 

Ok, with the rear wheels on the dolly.....what is ground clearnance like on the front end? 86 base (no air dam)


James

 

wow, this is old.

 

Whatever happened to just driving it across country instead of towing it? LOL I know, I know, it doesn't run possibly and ofcourse, its a rotary, I wouldn't trust it that far(unless new), unless I had a support vehicle tagging along side. J/K