I'm going to be driving to Virginia to pick up a Trans Am. The car has a T5 manual transmission. If I use a tow dolly and put it in neutral, will it hurt the tranny? Or will the driveshaft need to be removed? Thanks

I would imagine as long as its in neutral, and the parking brake is off (duh!), it shouldnt hurt it. Its usually with autos is when it gets torn up because the pump is not spinning, so you get alot of friction and whatnot on the internals. You could always put the rear wheels up on the dolly, then just make sure the steering wheel locks and drag it like that. Just MAKE SURE the steering wheel locks. Mine didnt, and we didnt even think to check before hand

Do not EVER tow a manual RWD car with the back wheels on the ground. If you really need to do it on a dolly, do what spills said or disconnect the driveshaft. I worked in the RV Industry for 5 years, and several people tried to do this with many different sports cars. These cars weren't made to be towed with the rear wheels on the ground. Try an experiment, I know this is true for all of the sticks I have owned. When the engine is off, and the clutch is out, you can move the shifter into gear. If you are driving down the road, and hit a bump, or the car jars enough, the trans will slip into gear. PM me with more questions.

When I had the T-5 In my Camaro I towed it to the track with a dolly all the time. Make sure you tow with the front wheels of the towed vehicle on the dolly! I tried towing my buddies car the other way and it was a nightmare.

You need the weight of the towed vehicle supported by the dolly.

mine made it 400 miles without issue.
The real key is whether your trans has a fluid pump or not. Most manuals use a splash method to keep lubed. Some will not get proper lubrication if the input shaft is not turning and this is bad!

With a dolly you should always tow front wheels on the dolly, steering un-locked. This is the only way the car can properly follow the tow vehicle around corners. If towed from the rear wheels, you have to drag either the front car tires around the corner or the dolly tires.

- You should never leave the ds in if you're going to flat tow(drive tires turning). It's true, an auto has a pump that is only spun if the motor is spinning. BUT a manual is only lubricated by splash, splash that only occurs if the cluster is spinning. The cluster doesn't turn unless the input is turning, thus there is no lubrication, be it manual or auto trans, unless the motor is running.

You're talking 4 bolts, just pull the ds.

get the picture?

Shagwell is 100% correct here

Dont flat/dolly tow anything other than very short distances with the driveshaft in place on our cars.

later
Jeremy

I would somewhat disagree on the wheels unlock though. Leaving the fronts unlocked makes it much easier for straps to work loose. Wheels unlocked does allow a little more travel for a tighter turn, but depending on the vehicle and the dolly, this is not always good.
I personnally always stop after a couple miles and re-tighten straps. I will re-tighten again after 20 miles or so. With wheels unlocked, it takes several times of driving and stopping to tighten up.
A dolly is designed to keep the wheeels in place without moving at all and unlocked hurts this idea.

I don't get it, i've had a tow truck tow my car a lot (cough, ahem...), and they always pick it up by the rear, and leave the front tires on the ground. This eliminates the PITA of removing the DS.
Is this somehow very different from flat/dolly towing? Like why not lift up the rear, and tow it that way? These cars the steering wheel locks, and the tow guy always puts a strap on the wheel just in case also...

The main reason a tow truck can tow from the rear is that the weight balance will not affect it like it will the dolly. Ever had the weight in the wrong place on a trailer(none on the to) and it sways badly- I have and it can get REAL ugly! The same could happen at high speed with more weight on the trailing tires than on the dolly. Also, if you had front ground effects, wouldn't they get ripped off?

A tow truck can tow from the rear because the lift on the truck allows for the swivel in corners.

If you don't leave the wheels unlocked, either the rear car tires or the dolly tires have to drag around corners, be it tight corners or 3-milers. They don't have the same pivot point, thus one set or the other has to drag sideways to turn. Leaving the tires locked puts un-due stress on the straps because they are then forced to try to stay attached while being drug sideways under the weight of the car. By leaving the steering unlocked, the front tires can pivot, thus allowing the dolly to swivel around corners and the rear of the car will follow.

The dolly tray is the pivot point, which is also in line with the front wheels when loaded.

Hey its a rental dolly who cares right??

...only one problem with that train of thought. All the people who rented it before thinking the same.... if those straps get over stressed, it will be your car coming loose at X mph going down the freeway. And if you read the fine print, you are responsible, not the rental company.
? nothing about the tray pivots. If you are allowing the dolly to pivot under the tires of the car, then you are twisting the straps around. Besides that, you would have very little travel before the point of tryng to pull the dolly out from under one tire/stuffing it under the other, again, over stressing the straps. - This is simple physics. Something has to be left to pivot or you are dragging tires sideways around corners, period.

Ever watch a tandem or especially a tri-axle trailer go around a corner? It's not pretty, and they're much closer than the dolly/rear car tires.

Anyhow, I'm done with this post. The thread has be answered, we're just dragging on.....

What kind of dolly are you using? I use 2 different dollies, a heavy cap and a regular 1 and both have a pivot tray that the car wheels ride on. I have many many miles with everything from compact cars to 1 ton diesel trucks on these dollies and a couple others and have yet to have a problem. It is nothing like a tandem axle trailer because there is a pivot tray to make the turns.

? the regular dollies, such as u-haul's units, just have a plate basically welded to the axle. This is where the car tires sit, strapped down, thus if the steering is left loose, the cars' steering is the pivot to allow it to follow around a corner properly. If the steering is not left loose, there is nothing to pivot, thus one set of tires or the other(dolly or vehicle tires that are on the ground) has to drag around a corner. - With the steering locked on flat plates, the inside tire could pivot in a corner, but then the dolly would have to be able to come out from under the outside tire, the tighter the corner, the more it would have to pull away. The only way for the car to pivot on the skids with the steering locked would be if trays were tied together and mounted on a single swivel in the center of the dolly, thus allowing it to pivot around corners. I'm not saying no one makes a dolly like this, but I've never seen or heard of such a thing.

- if the front tires are stationary, not allowed to travel closer/farther from the tow vehicle, and the steering is left locked, you are dragging tires around corners.

For some reason I decided to attempt to clarify myself one last time. I'm done now, I'm not a physics teacher, I can't explain it any better.

Lets make it easier....how about loading it up on a trailer instead?? Sure the ground effects will get screwed going up or down off it, but HEY who cares they are yours right???

Point is, whether or not there is a pivotal point for the dolly, its best to remove the driveshaft, end of discussion, question answered, ITS DONE.

It has been a few years since I used a Uhaul dolly, so you seem to be right on that, however, The ones I use have swivel plates. The straight dollie described sounds like trouble waiting to happen, maybe that is the old kind or somthing. 1 of the dollies I use is prolly 15 years old and has a swivel plate, so maybe u-haul should get with the times.
I also will agree that pulling the driveshaft would be the best way to tow with drive wheels on the ground, but not always necessary- depending on the vehicle.
Ok, I am done.